Art & Other Adventures with Narca

Celebrating Our Local CBCs

2012-01-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

This year, again, Alan and I joined the national ritual of Christmas Bird Counts, once more participating in the back-to-back counts for Portal, Arizona, and the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico. The weather couldn't have been finer, with temperatures rising into the high 60s and low 70s.

The Portal count, coordinated by Jackie Lewis, was on Saturday. We hiked out our door and up to the high base of Portal Peak, a big bowl full of old-growth Arizona Madrone trees. Away from the canyon bottoms, much of our territory burned last May during the Horseshoe Two fire. Some regrowth has begun, but a lot of it still looks like the Desolation of Smaug.

Trudging through the Desolation, heading for that ribbon of green at the foot of Portal Peak (All photos except oriole by Narca)

Happily, many of the big madrones had weathered last year's drought, freeze and fire, although only a few still bore fruit this day.

An ancient Arizona Madrone, partly burned out, is sprouting new branches. Go, Life!

Junipers are way off in their cycle! We saw almost no berries (and a corresponding lack of berry-eaters like Sage Thrashers and Phainopeplas), and many junipers were peaking in their pollen production! Who ever heard of juniper pollen at the end of December?? Late February is more normal. Clouds of orange pollen were wafting on light breezes, creating a very sneezy CBC. Come on, hay fever in December?

This especially bright Say's Phoebe was flycatching within the Desolation.

The Vesper Sparrows surprised me by being in the burned area, higher on the mountain than they usually winter.

Several friends joined us––Skip from Maine, Linda from Idaho, Brad from Tucson––and here is Brad's photo of a highlight for our territory, an adult male Scott's Oriole, in all his finery. We've never before recorded one in our yard in December! I don't know whether Mr Scott is very late, or very early.

Scott's Oriole near Portal, AZ (Photo by Brad Tatham)

Sunday's Peloncillo count, coordinated by Nick Pederson, includes the north end of the Animas Valley, where the Diamond A Ranch (formerly Gray Ranch) allows entry for the CBC counters. Our territory was south of Dunagan's Crossing, from the hackberries through Middle Well, for those who know this valley. This part of the ranch had obviously endured a dry summer, and bird numbers were very low. (Other parts of the count circle fared better.)

The Peloncillo count has always shown boom-and-bust cycles, in synchrony with rain and drought. Once in a span of two years, we went from having the all-time national high for Brewer's Sparrows to zero! Such huge fluctuations emphasize why studies of wildlife in desert regions must be long-term to be truly relevant.

This cryptic Great Horned Owl was roosting in an old hackberry tree. He's hoping we don't see him!

Great Horned Owl in the Animas Valley, New Mexico

The Lark Buntings were also fun, as they picked through horse droppings in search of goodies. This male shows a trace of his classy black breeding dress around his bill.

Lark Bunting looking for a snack

Twenty-four! Snowy Owls!

2011-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Snowy Owl at Boundary Bay, Canada (Photos by Narca)

Boundary Bay near Delta, Canada, is hosting a Snowy Owl fiesta this winter. Twenty-four of the superlative creatures were visible from one spot on the day that our friend Jim Shiflett asked me to grab my passport and head north.

The Dyke Trail at Boundary Bay is accessible from 72nd Street.

Boundary Bay is renowned as a migratory stopover along the Pacific Flyway and as an Important Bird Area. Extensive mudflats, beds of eelgrass, and salt marshes support a rich mix of wintering birds and as many as 100,000 migrants, including many Dunlin and Western Sandpipers. And Snowy Owls like a dinner of Dunlin just fine, thank you.

Snowy Owls' feet are feathered all the way to their toetips, unlike the feet of birds from more temperate climes. This owl grooms those all-important foraging tools.

Snowy Owls feed high on the food chain. They mostly feast on small rodents like lemmings and voles, but readily switch to birds like gulls, shorebirds, and even other owl species. They are vigilant, although very few predators bother them: Arctic Foxes, dogs, the occasional Golden Eagle or Peregrine Falcon.

This year Snowy Owls are staging an irruption from their northern haunts and are penetrating regions far south of their normal habitats. Why do owl invasions occur? Some speculate that weather patterns are involved. In some years, irruptions may be caused by a failure of their lemming prey base, but this year's invasion appears to have a different cause. The Arctic experienced a huge boom in the lemming population this past summer, and many more young Snowy Owls are thought to have fledged than is the norm. A pair of Snowy Owls may not nest at all when the prey base is poor, but in a good year a pair can raise up to a dozen nestlings!

The winter food supply up north apparently isn't sufficient to support those extra youngsters, so many owls have moved south. This year's owl invasion is exceptional by any standards. It is even being called a "once-in-a-lifetime" irruption. Nebraska's tally is up to 58 individual Snowy Owls, and Wisconsin's count has surpassed 100. They are appearing in states as far south as Texas!

Will Arizona and New Mexico be adding Snowy Owl to their state lists? This is the year it might be possible! So watch for a big white owl in open country, in agricultural fields, or even on the roof of your local Target, the preferred perch of one owl in Washington this year. I guess that big, flat roof was as close to tundra as the owl could find in its immediate environs. Along the coast, the owls frequent beaches. A few years ago, Jim and I even saw a group in a small clearcut in a montane forest north of Seattle.

Those owls overwintering at a mecca like Boundary Bay should be able to find plenty of food, but, unfortunately, at least some of the owls are very hungry and growing weak. A few are finding their way to raptor rehabilitation centers.

My 6-year-old grandson already knew all about Snowy Owls––thanks to Harry Potter's Hedwig.

Adult Snowy Owls are whiter than young birds, and males tend to be whiter than females.

Immersion

2011-12-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Arizona Sycamore against an impossibly blue Arizona sky

(Photos by Narca)

Fall comes late to southern Arizona. Up north, trees are bare by now and shrouded in ice. Here Indian Summer has drifted into fall, and shifted bit by bit into chilly winter, yet any venture out-of-doors is still an immersion in color.

Richardson's Geranium in autumn dress

Consider Whitewater Draw in the Sulphur Springs Valley northwest of Douglas. Low afternoon light slants across the ponds where a Canvasback naps. Waves of Sandhill Cranes drift in, settling among thousands of their fellows in a dancing, clangorous multitude. Two dazzling Snow Geese catch the sun.

The land glows. We skirt the ponds with my brother. Suddenly a wheeling mass of Yellow-headed Blackbirds returns to their evening roost in the reeds. They announce their coming, loudly. A friend, Steve Laymon, once described the voice of a Yellow-headed Blackbird this way: imagine a Red-winged Blackbird being held under water.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds descend pell-mell to their evening roost.

These blackbirds are mostly males. The males and females tend to migrate separately. Once years ago, I saw a fallout of male Yellow-heads in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, as night descended. They festooned every tree and telephone wire around us. Two weeks later I returned to Chihuahua, and that night a huge flock of female Yellow-heads descended on the city to roost. The males and females were following the same migratory path, but the males were going first, to set up their breeding territories in preparation for their mates' arrival.

A Merlin routs the panicked blackbirds, but soon they settle back in for the night. What form do their dreams take, I wonder? Spilt seed for foraging, safe harbor in the reeds, and––after the cold––the gurgling songs of spring?

Celebrating the Silver

2011-11-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, New Mexico, opened its holiday show. We've come to the 25th year––the silver anniversary––of our art guild's founding. We've been around for a quarter of the time that Arizona has been a state!

The gallery is a not-for-profit cooperative of local artists and our supporters within the community.

We interpret "art" broadly, as is fitting. The guild includes painters, sculptors, woodworkers, masters of needlecraft, workers in glass and ceramics, writers, poets, metalcrafters, jelly-makers, crafters of soaps and lotions and candles, photographers, jewelers, weavers, printmakers, a calligrapher.... The gallery nurtures the creative ferment of our Borderlands community, offers workshops, encourages art for kids, gives scholarships to aspiring artists who graduate from our two local (and tiny!) high schools.

The Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, New Mexico: Looking through into the craft room, beyond a wall showcasing Jean Bohlender's paintings, mosaic tables by Dan Reheurek, and a vase by Mike Garino.

(Photos by Narca)

Yesterday's festivities were enhanced by good conversation over cake and punch. We heard a few tales of the early days, when a local lawyer insisted that a bunch of women opening a gallery in Rodeo wouldn't last the year. (Ah, the value of a challenge!)

One gorgeous cake!

The gallery building itself is a registered historic landmark, an old adobe with walls two feet thick and hardwood floors. It has enjoyed a long, colorful life as general store, bar-and-brothel, and church.

The historic Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo

I've often thought of our local group of painters as the Borderlands School. We are constellated around the Chiricahua Gallery, this small outpost at the edge of the art galaxy, and I like to think that we are doing good work.

Once a very close friend remarked that she wanted to live in the Big City, "where all the important decisions are made." I disagreed. I believe that the important decisions are made in the quietest of places, in our hearts. Artists probe those quiet places.

It's an artist's job to explore the texture of our psyche, to grope for fresh symbols that can revitalize our lives and our culture. Art calls us back to ourselves. It can expose what is rotten and celebrate what is wondrous. Artists who dig deeply, tapping the core of human experience, can produce work that burns with potency, that inspires us all.

Our renewal is at stake.

A serene nicho, highlighting Dan's crosses and art bowl, Susan Hill's wonderful scarf (let's see––how many of these have I bought?!), and Doug Julian's exquisite calligraphy.

Next time you are roaming through Cave Creek Canyon to look for Elegant Trogons or Montezuma Quail, stop in at our little art outpost in Rodeo. See what the locals are up to!

Those silvery 25 years have clearly enriched our Borderlands heritage!

Steamin' Along

2011-11-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

Ordinarily, if Alan and I chase something it has feathers. This morning we rose early and headed up to the Interstate to watch the Union Pacific's historic steam locomotive No. 844 chug from New Mexico into Arizona. At least "chug" was what I expected, but this train was moving out!

The 844 steam locomotive rolls into Arizona, with mighty billows of steam.

(Photo by Narca)

We chased it for a few miles, as far as San Simon. Drivers along I-10 were mightily impressed, judging by the swerving cars and people pulling over for a better look. We leap-frogged the train at various exits, and recorded the event in this video.

This venerable train is here in celebration of New Mexico's and Arizona's statehood centennials. Today it is headed for Tucson. You can check out its full route at this website. The 844 was the Union Pacific's last steam locomotive. It was designed for pulling passenger trains and today is considered the UP's goodwill ambassador, its 67-year-old "Living Legend."

And, just for Milo (whose interest in trains spurred us to get up before dawn for something without feathers): the UP 844 weighs 907,980 pounds and its engine and tender are 114 feet long. That's a grand old train!

My favorite attribute of a train has always been its whistle... heard at night, under a sky ablaze with stars, in a lonely, desolate sweep of land.

Autumn Comes

2011-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

What builds, what informs our sense of a place?

Fresh from yesterday's late-season rain, South Fork in the Chiricahua Mountains is entering autumn. Today I hike up the road, now inhabited by winter birds: the chittering small flocks of Chipping Sparrows, kinglets and titmice. The woodpeckers and sapsuckers are hammering industriously.

A Red-naped Sapsucker is back in his favorite winter tree.

(Photos by Narca)

A Mexican Jay hopes that a picnic is in his future.

A mob of Mexican Jays shadows me, swooping silently through the streamside cypress trees. Across the creek, a large mammal shuffles unseen uphill. Bear? A clumsy deer?

Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii)

Sycamore leaves are rusting into a glorious orange against the deep blue Arizona sky, then dropping quietly into the creek.

The Lemonadeberry (Rhus trilobata) shades into coral and vermilion.

Silverleaf Oak (Quercus hypoleucoides)

A Silverleaf Oak's new leaves are red, too, but they still have a life of greening and photosynthesizing before they fall.

A late-blooming Red Columbine (Aquilegia triternata)

It is mid-day and the butterflies throng to the late-season flowers. Most are Variegated Fritillaries, but they are joined by a few blues, sulphurs, Arizona Sisters, ladies, Red-spotted Purples, one giant Two-tailed Swallowtail, and one of my favorites––a Red-bordered Satyr. Backlit in the sun, the oranges of the fritillaries and the sisters burn brilliantly in a visual echo of the autumn sycamore leaves.

An Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) pauses on a sunlit cypress.

A Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) nectars on an autumn composite.

All these details––all these particulars––tie us to the canyon, with its lichen-coated rhyolitic cliffs. These specific encounters create and deepen our felt sense of this place, in this particular time of its own long life. Autumn comes, after the big fire, after the healing rains. And here we are. Rugged Chiricahua hoodoos. Gallery forest of sycamore and cypress, sheltering life, winding between the high cliffs.

The Island of Streamertails

2011-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Are you thinking it's high time for an adventure? This next spring, after winter's deep snows and deeper thoughts, why not join me in Jamaica?

Jamaica: seabreezes, sun, misty forest, calypso––and those spectacular hummingbirds, the streamertails!

Red-billed Streamertails commonly visit Jamaican gardens.

(Photos by Peg Abbott)

We will base this week-long trip at two mountain eco-lodges, both surrounded by forest and shaded coffee plantations, and both sites lively with migrants and endemic Jamaican birds. Indeed, Jamaica has the greatest number of single-island avian endemics of any island in the West Indies––even more than its much larger neighbor, Cuba. According to World Wildlife Fund, Jamaica boasts more endemic birds than any other oceanic island in the world! That number is around 28, depending on just which splits are recognized. So, conjure up visions of Crested Quail-Doves, Jamaican Owls, Jamaican Euphonias, Jamaican Todies, Jamaican Spindalis and Yellow-billed Parrots––species found nowhere else on earth.

A delightful Jamaican Tody

World Wildlife Fund lists these endemics for Jamaica: 830 flowering plants and an additional 579 ferns; 27 reptiles; 20 amphibians; and 4 mammals including the hutia and 3 bats. Jamaica has over 500 species of endemic terrestrial snails! Of all the world's islands, Jamaica ranks 5th in the total number of endemic species it harbors.

It's a puzzle: why does Jamaica have such high levels of endemism?

Biologists have advanced several possible explanations. The island's habitats span a big elevational gradient, from sea-level coastal strand to elfin forest atop the main ridge of the Blue Mountains. Basic rock types range from limestone in the John Crow Mountains and the Cockpit Country, to igneous rocks and sedimentary shales in the Blue Mountains. Some plants are endemic to just a single limestone knoll! Conditions varied enough across the island that five distinct types of forest evolved. Complexity of soils and of vegetation supports, in turn, a more complex fauna.

Tree fern in the Hardwar Gap of the Blue Mountains

Location is also paramount. Jamaica was never connected to the mainland of Central America. But during the Ice Age when sea level was lower, three other large islands were exposed, and they provided stepping stones for island-hopping organisms. Just to the north of Jamaica, the very big island of Cuba also contributed to Jamaica's richness.

When we consider species richness, we often begin with impressive lists of the numbers of organisms for a particular place. But the true richness of a place transcends mere lists. It lies partly in the complex relationships between flora and fauna and soils, and partly in the lush, vivid sensory overload that tells us we are in the tropics.

Let's explore!

A fledgling Jamaican Owl ponders a human being.

Rustler Park after the Burn

2011-09-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Recently Armando ("Mando") called a meeting in Rustler Park of 21 professionals from the US Forest Service, Arizona Game & Fish, and other agencies to assess the condition of Rustler after the Horseshoe Two Fire and to decide on the best way of encouraging its recovery. Reed Peters represented the newly-formed Friends of Cave Creek Canyon.

What they saw at Rustler surprised everyone. Normally after an intense crown fire, such as the one that roared through Rustler Park, the soil is sterilized by the high heat, and almost no plants grow for a very long time, possibly years. Even the mycorrhizae––the fungi associated with plant roots which allow seedlings to germinate––need to be reintroduced to sterilized soils. ((Usually rodents perform that service!) No one was prepared for the lush growth of wildflowers and ground cover which greeted everyone at Rustler Park, especially around the old campsites and the start of the Crest Trail.

How can botanists account for the unexpected growth? After puzzling over the situation, they settled on this theory: the backburn done about two weeks before the crown fire blazed through must have removed enough fuel that temperatures at ground level never got high enough to sterilize the soil.

Whatever allowed the strong recovery to take hold (and their theory sounds good to me!), botanists are seeing post-fire plants that they've rarely seen here, and the burnt aspen groves are surging with new growth. Reed was impressed with the number of Arizona (Ponderosa) Pines that still show green on the knoll above the campsites. Keep in mind that we've all been expecting the worst at Rustler and Barfoot Parks!

The Forest Service will remove dead trees in the campground, but will leave standing any that show green. Some of the small dead trees will be cut and left as firewood at the campsites. Workers will chip some trees, but not so many that the mulch interferes with the growth of new plants. The goal is to finish removing dead hazard trees by March, when Spotted Owls begin their nesting season. (Yes––a recent census of Spotted Owls in the Chiricahuas showed that not only do adults survive, they managed to fledge young this year as well!)

Spotted Owl (Pen & Ink by Narca)

Visitors returning to Rustler Park will, in time, see other changes. Ramadas are planned to shade the picnic tables, since so many trees were burned in the crown fire. Barfoot Lookout will be rebuilt on the same footprint. The bunkhouse will also be rebuilt. The Forest Service still has the original plans for the campground, which were developed in about the 1950s. People reviewing those plans came away very impressed with the skillfully designed layout and will respect the original work, figuring that the basic design can't be improved. Bathrooms, however, will be improved, especially to make them more accessible. Even brick-and-mortar bathrooms which are still standing will need to be rebuilt because the mortar was so weakened by the heat that they are a danger to the public.

New gates have been installed along various Forest roads, so that the roads can be closed easily whenever driving conditions are dangerous. A new route (a small road) to the Long Park gate is being considered, so that hikers will be able to bypass Rustler to reach the Long Park road even when the campground is closed.

Centaurea on the hike to Long Park (Photo by Narca)

Reed left the meeting (actually, was chased out by a hailstorm) feeling that the agencies' concern for Rustler Park and the Chiricahuas is genuine and obvious, and that great care is being taken in fostering the area's recovery, post-fire.

When will we be able to return to Rustler Park? Rumor is that the road to the top will open on September 24. I'll head up as soon after that as I can, and will post photos here of Rustler and Barfoot after the burn and after the summer monsoon. This news is encouraging!

Datura-Diving

2011-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Our friend John Roser, in his nightly patrols to see what's happening in his yard, discovered that giant Five-spotted Hawkmoths are visiting his massive flowering Datura. Since that discovery, several folks have held nightly vigils in John's yard, starting at dusk, to witness the show.

Sacred Datura unfurls its flowers each night. (Photos by Narca)

The Five-spotteds are very large hawkmoths, impressively bigger than the White-lined Hawkmoths that we frequently see here in the Chiricahua Mountains. They appear at dusk or shortly after, zeroing in on the opening white trumpets of Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii). Datura flowers grow up to 8 inches long, of a size to match the huge hawkmoths that they attract.

A Five-spotted Hawkmoth approaches a Datura flower. If you look carefully, you can see its proboscis beginning to probe the lower flower.

As the moth approaches a flower, it extends its extremely long proboscis into the bloom, then dives right in, wriggling past the pollen-bearing stamens into the flower's interior. There it turns around after a few moments and emerges, no doubt well-dusted in new pollen, which it carries to another flower.

The hawkmoth maneuvers into position, its proboscis now deep inside the flower.

Datura is in the plant family Solanaceae, and the big hawkmoth seems perfectly adapted to be its pollinator. The moth's larval food, likewise, is solanaceous plants. So here we have a good example of symbiosis or mutualism––the plant feeds the caterpillar, and when the caterpillar transforms into a giant adult, it insures the survival of the Datura by pollinating the flowers so that they can set seed.

In we go!

The Datura-diving moth quickly enters the flower and vanishes from sight.

The work of several major scientists has led to our better understanding the mutualism that binds flowers and their pollinators. Let's start with Darwin, who put forth the view that evolution (= change over time in the traits inherited by organisms) is driven by competition. However, in the view of Lynn Margulis, cooperation and mutual dependence play an even greater role. Dan Janzen focused closely on the theory of coevolution between flowering plants and their insect symbionts, based on the remarkable specializations shown by an Acacia and an ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginea; he won the Crafoord Prize for his work in coevolutionary ecology. If the subject of pollination interests you, check out their work, as well as Gary Nabhan's book, The Forgotten Pollinators.

Yes, in the caterpillar stage these beasts are the infamous Tomato Hornworms. Since tomatoes and potatoes are also in the family Solanaceae, they fit the bill for caterpillar food quite nicely. Gardeners sometimes plant marigolds near their tomatoes to discourage the hornworms' interest.

Datura's common name, Sacred Datura, comes from its early ritual use by Native Americans. It is hallucinogenic, but a very dangerous hallucinogen. Adolescents who used the substance in initiation rites regularly died. The plant's compounds can take away vision, depress breathing, cause seizures, and bring on very high fever. Leave it to the hawkmoths!

Hope

2011-08-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post departs from all my normal topics (unless we pull in Emily Dickinson's famous poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers..."). I've been thinking about hope, considering it, tasting it, turning it over.

For a long time I haven't let myself hope for anything. It seems an illusory, fraudulent wisp. It teases. It cheats. It doesn't look squarely at life. It rarely materializes. Better to stay with something solid. Better to stay centered on bedrock amidst the tumult of living, and let the daily tides wash past without hoping for any particular outcome. I tell myself, just breathe. Just stay with the flow of events, emotions, thoughts. Yes, the whole political scene in this country has gone to hell. Yes, species are winking out. Yes, close friends depart. Just breathe, just stay with it.

The downside: I'm feeling worn. Living without hope also erodes joy.

Today a powerful surge of hope welled up, and it didn't feel fraudulent. It felt charged with light and with healing.

My sister sent word of new research on MS (multiple sclerosis) which shows real promise of repairing the ravages of the disease by repairing the myelin sheath around the affected nerves. (My sister is among the many who are dealing with MS.) Click here for a link to that research.

Today's hope feels qualitatively different. It makes me think that we need to refine our language naming "hope." One name for the kind of hope at which we grasp––illusory, cruel, deceptive, fraudulent. And another name for the hope that surges up of its own volition and transforms us with an inner healing, coming as it does from the light at our core.

"Hope is the thing with feathers...."

(Acrylic of Sandhill Crane by Narca)

The Fate of Sir Poopsalot

2011-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

The greater Portal-Rodeo community will no doubt be delighted to learn that our famous tame Gambel's Quail, Sir Poopsalot, who lived the good life in Portal before hurling himself into someone's window, has been given to Gene Cardiff, a museum ornithologist. Gene is taking Sir Poopsalot to California, where he will become not just a specimen in a tray, but a full-fledged museum mount! That is a fitting conclusion to a short but celebrated life.

This Gambel's Quail is a stand-in for Sir Poopsalot. Think of him as an Elvis impersonator.

You should be able to visit Sir Poopsalot at the San Bernardino County Museum before too long (although they may not know him by that name!).

Huachuca Canyon with WFO

2011-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Our immersion in Huachuca Canyon, emerald-green and moist in this monsoon season, was a balm. One of the morning field trips at the Western Field Ornithologists' annual meeting explored this beautiful canyon, which is less often visited than neighboring Garden and Sawmill Canyons. Tony Battiste and Adam Searcy ably led the group.

At the mouth of Huachuca Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains

(All photos by Narca)

Some of the out-of-state folks had never seen an Elegant Trogon, so that species was a big highlight, as were a couple of juvenile Gray Hawks begging frequently and chasing after harried parents.

Immature Gray Hawk in Huachuca Canyon

Mary Gustafson pointed out a field mark on the young Gray Hawk that I hadn't been aware of: look at the tail bands. Those bands become increasingly thicker toward the end of the tail. This mark, Mary says, is reliable for separating young Grays from young Broad-wings.

Elegant Trogon male in Huachuca Canyon

A charming Canyon Tree Frog swam across the stream where it crossed the road. I don't see this amphibian very often. Its eyelids gleamed with glints of gold and copper.

Canyon Tree Frog in Huachuca Canyon

Overall the migrants still seemed low in number, but we did see a number of the resident "trophy" species of southeast Arizona: Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Hepatic Tanager. I saw a Violet-crowned Hummingbird, which appeared to be mobbing something at the back of an oak tree. They will mob Northern Pygmy-Owls, but if an owl was present, it didn't show.

A fair-sized Black Bear in Huachuca Canyon

The decision of how far to walk upcanyon was made for us: a big cinnamon-shaded Black Bear was lapping up berries at the side of the road and was loathe to abandon his feasting spot.

Out on the grasslands, singing Cassin's and Botteri's Sparrows gave everyone great views; a Greater Roadrunner was sunning in a clump of yuccas; and a gorgeous Painted Grasshopper added a burst of color to the scene.

A sunning roadrunner exposes the black bases of its back feathers to soak up more sun.

A spectacularly-marked Painted Grasshopper

As always, the WFO meeting was great fun. About 180 people attended, and both field trips and the science sessions were excellent. The annual meetings are renowned for the appearances of great rarities, with so many skilled field biologists scouring an area, and this was no exception. An Aztec Thrush wowed Homer Hansen's group in Garden Canyon.

Next meeting: Petaluma, California. Go! You'll love it.

Portal, Late Summer

2011-08-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

We've had a full week! Many friends who know the Sky Islands choose the late monsoon season to visit, when hummingbirds are streaming south, nectar-feeding bats cluster around the feeders, and masses of clouds keep the temperatures just about perfect. (Of course the gnats find the temperature perfect too!)

South Fork, singed trees and all, has been the site of much trogon activity this week! (Photos by Narca)

Diminutive Buff-breasted Flycatcher along the Herb Martyr Road

Jon Dunn, our good friend of several decades (!––How can it have been so long?), is in town with his WINGS group, and yesterday I joined them for a fine day in the field. We wandered down Herb Martyr Road, where flash floods the day before had brought new debris across the road, and had also cut a new trench at the Crystal Cave wash, though it was manageable in the big van with its high clearance. After Herb Martyr and a stop at Southwest Research Station for the hummingbird show, we continued to the barricades at East Turkey Creek––the current site for anyone undertaking The Great Mexican Chickadee Quest. The higher Chiricahuas are still closed due to danger from the big Horseshoe Two burn and associated flash flooding.

The day brought many highlights:

We did find a Mexican Chickadee, albeit only one, and not terribly cooperative. Today Jon and friends will make a second try for better looks at The Chickadee. The Chiricahuas are the only accessible locale in the States to find this prize. They also live in a mountain range in the bootheel of New Mexico, but that is on private land and access is difficult, even on the very rare occasions when permission can be obtained.

One of the fledgling Northern Goshawks was broadcasting his wish for a meal. Jon spotted the bird in a pine not far away, and several enjoyed scope views of the youngster before he moved higher up the ridge.

Montezuma Quail covey (Detail from watercolor by Narca)

Returning, one of our folks spotted a male Montezuma Quail, standing stockstill on a rock, not 20 feet from the road. From inside the van, we scrutinized the place until several more of these cryptic birds revealed themselves. It was a family group––a gorgeous pair of adults with about six half-grown chicks in tow.

Acorn Woodpecker at Jackie's feeders in Paradise

After a stop at Jackie and Winston's feeders in Paradise (Juniper Titmouse––yes!), we headed back to Portal. Along the way, a richly-colored Blacktail Rattlesnake decided that the big white van was definitely suspect, and a shower of sound cascaded from its rattles as we photographed the beauty.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake decides that the van isn't trustworthy.

The evening finale brought great views of a little Western Screech Owl and the swooping mass of nectar-feeding bats that visit our hummingbird feeders each night at this time of year. The nearly full moon illumined drifts of cloud in the deep night sky.

Those Challenging Satyrs

2011-08-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

If a group of butterflies comprises 2400 species, we can expect some identification challenges! In the Spanish Pyrenees, I found plenty.

The upper Hecho Valley is rife with puzzling satyrs.

Satyrs are a subfamily of nymphalids, or brush-footed butterflies. These are the pearly-eyes, the wood nymphs, the heaths, the arctics, the alpines. Most of them haunt shady woodlands or alpine fellfields. Tropical satyrs like Pierella can be spectacular.

Great Banded Grayling (Kanetisa circe)

The first Great Banded Grayling I saw looked so much like a big admiral that I initially skipped over the satyrs in trying to identify it. Like many of the other local butterflies, it was nectaring on Pyrenean Eryngo.

Okay, let's try some browns.

The Meadow Brown seems pretty straightforward––although in the Land of Satyrs, that's no guarantee I got it right! We had previously seen it in Poland as well.

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

This Large Wall Brown doesn't quite match the field guide pictures, but it's close. A big part of the problem is that many species are variable across their large ranges. Very focused local field guides are hugely helpful, where they exist.

Large Wall Brown (Lasiommata maera)

The heaths are lovely small satyrs. Dusky and Pearly Heaths are similar. I'm basing this ID on the very indistinct eyespot on the forewing, even though most Pearly Heaths sport a wider white flash on the hindwing. Their larvae feed on grasses.

Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania)

Now we come to the ringlets (which in North America we call the alpines)––genus Erebia, with no fewer than 13 plates in the field guide! In North America we have a hefty 7 species; in Europe, 46 species, plus a wide array of subspecies. That's an astonishing radiation for one genus of butterflies!

I've always liked the alpines, in part because I love the alpine regions where they live. And how lucky is this? The ringlet which allowed the best photography appears to have been a distinctive one, the Piedmont Ringlet, with its very dark under hindwing and bright topside.

A Piedmont Ringlet (Erebia meolans), below shown probing a shoe which must have wandered through something especially delectable.

But the graylings were at the top of the heap for confusing, and especially the choice between Rock or Woodland Grayling. I'm going with Rock Grayling here, based on matches with photos at websites such as www.eurobutterflies.com. The bold white band on the hindwing seems broader and the outer border of that band doesn't mirror the irregularities of the inner border. I welcome comments from lepidopterists!

Rock Grayling (Hipparchia alcyone)

Grayling (Hipparchia semele)

The Grayling is the most widespread of Europe's big Hipparchia satyrs. And it is one that isn't too hard to identify... maybe.

Pyranees Butterfly Sampler

2011-08-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hiking took Wendi, Leona, Alan and me into various nooks of the upper Hecho Valley, a splendid region of the Pyrenees, and one replete with butterflies and flowers. These public trails wind through sectors of the Parque Natural Valles Occidentales, or Western Valleys Natural Park.

In three days, we barely sampled the miles of trails that you could walk. All were in excellent condition. One, straight up the road from Hotel Uson and past Boca de Infierno, passes dolmens and other artifacts of prehistoric humanity.

The butterflies were exceptional! Here are a few:

Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) in the upper Hecho Valley

(Photos by Narca)

The Old World Swallowtail is the type species of the genus Papilio––the first one to be described by Linnaeus, who devised the system of classiflying organisms into related groups. Despite the common name, this swallowtail occurs at higher latitudes across the entire Northern Hemisphere, including North America, so it has a classic Holarctic range. Most of its populations are in good shape, although it is a protected species in some countries like Austria, the UK, and India.

Its cousin, the Apollo, is a tail-less swallowtail, closely related to the parnassians of montane North America. They swoop rapidly across the mountain slopes, and I felt lucky when this one deigned to pause briefly on a composite.

Apollo (Parnassius apollo)

The highly prized Apollo is considered threatened by the IUCN. Finland is among the countries declaring it endangered. Its decline is likely due to a combination of factors, including habitat change and––in some areas––over-collecting. Locally, automobiles are a factor, notably in South Tyrol, Italy. Because the few Apollos remaining in Finland and Sweden are restricted to limestone soils, it is thought that acid rain may also have contributed to their decline. Where limestone moderates the effects of acid rain, this beautiful butterfly continues to soar across the mountain meadows.

Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia)

Any real butterfly experts out there, help me out! I think that this is a Heath Fritillary, but frits are subtle beasts, and my field guide is none too clear. If so, it is a species doing well in several parts of Europe, but not in the UK, where it is one of the rarest British butterflies. (After 30 years of conservation efforts, British stewards have seen rebounds at Blean Woods National Nature Reserve.) Its host plants include plantains, speedwells, Common Cow-wheat, foxglove, and toadflax. (Note that in North America we would call these smaller fritillaries checkerspots or crescents, but in Europe they are all called fritillaries.)

A female Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus, a.k.a. O. venatus)

Sunning on a rock is another Palearctic species, which ranges from Europe across Asia to Japan. The Large Skipper is the sole European member of a genus that is more diverse in North America. One of the grass skippers, it is shown here with a leaf of its larval food plant, grass. Like other typical skippers, its caterpillar constructs a leafy shelter by curling a leaf, then stitching it with silk. The young caterpillar hides inside its leaf and feeds.

Skippers are part of a lepidopteran lineage separate from other butterflies. They differ in having hooked antennae clubs and larger eyes. They have a very sturdy look, with strong wing muscles which support wings that are usually smaller in proportion to the rest of their bodies. Within the skipper family, a basic division is between the grass skippers, like the Large Skipper above, and the spread-winged skippers, like the intriguing Marbled Skipper, pictured below.

Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)

Attractive Marbled Skippers are reminiscent of North American powdered skippers. Their host plants are mints, including Stiff Hedgenettle or Yellow Woundwort (Stachys recta) and Mountain Tea (Sideritis scordioides). Both plants are thought to have medicinal value: they contain antioxidants and also counter inflammation and microbes. Sideritis is used in Greek cuisine. These two plant genera are very closely related, and genetic studies may eventually show that they belong in the same genus.

Many mysteries in the relations between organisms remain to be unraveled! Taxonomists should have job security for a very long time––for as long as the public values a deep understanding of nature.

Wikipedia gives a list of butterflies of the Iberian Peninsula, including some photos and range maps.

Coming next: those challenging satyrs!

New Life

2011-08-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

A quick flash to Portal, Arizona, before we continue with Spain: This morning's walk up the South Fork road with long-time friends, Chet and Irma, affirmed that new life is thriving there.

Just below the South Fork bridge, a Wild Plum is fruiting. (Some people call this tree a Wild Cherry. Either name works for Prunus americana.) Feasting on those fruits were a family of American Robins and a juvenile Elegant Trogon. It is good news that at least one of the few trogon pairs that attempted to nest this year has successfully raised their chick. Any birders headed up South Fork will enjoy watching this tree, to see what might be attracted to the bounty. It is immediately next to the road, on the creek side, a short distance below the bridge.

Wild Plum (Prunus americana) in fruit

(Photos by Narca)

A mother Coati was attempting to corral her rambunctious kits and lead them away from the bipedal, optic-laden strangers coming up the road. Nursing worked to catch their attention for about 2 seconds, but there was too much world to explore!

They don't herd any better than cats––better just carry them by mouth!

Stash them on a tree trunk.... Maybe they'll stay put there.

For 5 seconds, anyway!

Silver-washed Fritillary

2011-08-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

I hadn't anticipated the sheer visual impact of masses of Silver-washed Fritillaries nectaring on masses of dusky purple Pyrenean Eryngo.

A Silver-washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia, joins a Five-spot Burnet Moth to nectar on Pyrenean Eryngo, Eryngium bourgatii.

(All photos by Narca)

I came home wanting to learn more!

The distinctive silver wash is on the underside of the greenish hind wing, an area that is spotted in most fritillaries. The four stripes on the top forewing of the males are actually androconial scales, or scent glands, used to produce pheromones that females in theory find irresistible. Their courtship flight is spectacular: the female flies in a straight line, while the male performs loop-the-loops around her, showering her in scented scales.

A male Silver-washed Fritillary nectars on Spiny Thistle

(Carduus acanthoides).

Just one more photo...

Among the largest of European butterflies, these woodland fritillaries are unusual in that the female does not lay her eggs on the larval host plant––various species of violet––but instead places them in crevices in the bark of a nearby tree, usually an old oak. Caterpillar hatchlings consume their egg cases, then spin a silk pad on the tree, attach themselves to it, and go straight into hibernation, deferring their feeding until spring.

With warm March weather, the caterpillars emerge from their crevices and find violets to feed on. When the caterpillar matures it creates a chrysalis, and emerges as an adult about 3 weeks later, in early summer. Their flight period is June through August.

Okay, just one more...

We encountered Silver-washed Fritillaries in good numbers throughout the mountains, both in the Pyrenees and the Guadarramas. Apparently they were in decline in several European countries for a couple of decades, but have been making a comeback in the past 10 to 20 years. Being a powerful flyer, this fritillary is well able to recolonize locales when they again support suitable habitat.

This big, graceful, strong-flying butterfly occurs from Sweden to North Africa, and from Ireland to China and Japan––a classic Palearctic range.

This research has had an added benefit: it solved the identity of another fritillary among the photos––the female Silver-washed Fritillary!

Female Silver-washed Fritillaries lack the striped sex brands on the forewing and aren't as bright an orange.

The Pyrenees!

2011-07-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Pyrenees in the Hecho Valley (Photos by Narca)

As we drive into the Hecho Valley in the Pyrenees, nor far from the border between Spain and France, the grand massif rises around us, and wildflowers cloak the slopes. We've arrived at the peak of summer, and it is very, very beautiful.

Hotel Uson, a guesthouse that serves breakfast and dinner

We stay at a rural guesthouse, Hotel Uson, perfectly located for exploring hiking trails and finding Wallcreepers. Our hosts, Lucía and Imanol, point us in the direction we need to go, with explicit instructions for finding a Wallcreeper territory which they are familiar with. All we need to do in order to stay on the right trail is follow the red and white markers.

Easy, right? We've allowed three days, just in case.

The Wallcreeper is a Grail bird, with wings that flash maroon, black and white. It occupies a niche unlike any other bird's: it creeps like a nuthatch across the face of immense cliffs. Perhaps it is the combination of rarity, beauty, and lifestyle that so sets it apart from other birds, and makes seeing one an imperative.

We've looked for Wallcreeper in China. We've looked for it in France. We looked for it once before here––just up the road from Hotel Uson, at Boca de Infierno––in spring, when the site lived up to its name, the "Mouth of Hell." We searched then, with no chance of success, in the teeth of a fierce late spring storm which blew sheets of horizontal snow between us and the cliffs frequented by Wallcreepers.

Trail at Gabardito Reserve

Our first morning we set out from Hotel Uson, following the precise directions to the parking area at Gabardito Reserve, only a few miles away. The red and white flagging is obvious, and we follow it, remarking how well-marked the trail is. But the 2-kilometer walk we're expecting seems a lot longer than 2 kilometers! Hours later we finally find a cliff, and it seems remotely to fit the description of The Territory. It is late afternoon, and we've enjoyed flowers, butterflies, and Lammergeiers. We vow to clarify matters and return!

Lammergeier, or Bearded Vulture, a Grail species for many!

Next day a big footrace happens. It turns out, all that flagging was marking the route of the race. Our markers are little peeling rectangles of red and white, painted at rare intervals on rocks.

But our kind hosts have corrected our idea of where to walk, and we return by a much shorter route to yesterday's cliff, and continue a little further around it. There indeed is the Wallcreeper Cleft-in-the-Cliff––and there is the Wallcreeper! It has been worth every hour of effort over the years!

A Wallcreeper territory

The Wallcreeper frequents a deep cleft in the cliff face. He forages around plants that cling to a precarious perch, and we think we see the location of the nest, as he returns occasionally bearing food. Once he chases the kestrel that is nesting nearby on the same massive rock wall. Once two Wallcreepers are visible.

A female Common Kestrel approaches her nest, showing warm tones in her tail.

The Wallcreepers come and go on foraging forays. They appear tiny on the gray immensity of the cliff face. We spend hours savoring them––and their environs.

Red-billed Choughs also nest nearby.

Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vultures, Red-billed Choughs, Alpine Swifts, Crag Martins, and Lammergeiers all soar overhead.

Coal Tit, a cousin to our chickadees

A Coal Tit hammers on a seed. The very air sparkles. We find an immense lily, which I'm still trying to identify. Butterflies are abundant. (I'll do a separate post on them!)

You'd probably enjoy seeing what a Wallcreeper looks like. I've added an arrow to help. They aren't easy to find, are they?

The Grail (Computer-enhanced Pen & Ink by Narca)

Segovia

2011-07-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

Segovia is an ancient walled city topped by the Alcazar, or royal palace. It fully deserves its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Leona, Wendi, Alan and I spent a day wandering its maze of narrow streets and marveling at the exquisite craftmanship in the details of the old buildings.

Segovia's magnificent cathedral––the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain

Segovia's deepest roots are Celtic. The settlement next fell into Roman hands, and Romans built the 2000-year-old aqueduct which today dominates the approach to the old walled city. The city's fortunes waxed and waned over the centuries. Its location along major travel routes led to its becoming an important center of trade for wool and other textiles.

Segovia's 2000-year-old Roman aqueduct, complete with Common Swifts

Segovia is deeply entwined with the birth of the Spanish nation. Here Isabella I was proclaimed Queen of Castille and León in 1474. Her marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon united the core of what became the Spanish nation, a feat that was cemented by their conquest of the Moors in Granada at the end of 1491. Isabella brought public order and effective reform to her kingdom. One day a week the monarchs made themselves available to hear the problems and complaints of their people.

The Alcazar, where Isabella was proclaimed queen

Ceilings in the Alcazar are a marvel...

... and doors across the entire country are works of art.

A store's window display in Segovia

Legend is that when Columbus approached the Royal Eminences in the throne room of the newly-conquered Alhambra, Ferdinand laughed at the notion that the Earth was round. But Isabella gave Columbus her jewels to finance his voyage.

Their union fused two major dialects as well, and gave birth to the Castillian Spanish that is spoken today. (Many years ago, I studied the origins of Spanish as part of being a Spainish major. We read the Spanish classics––Don Quixote, Don Juan and La Celestina––in their original form, rather like reading Chaucer in Old English.)

Segovia's golden age came in the late Middle Ages, when the Jewish population took learning and commerce to new heights. (All that came to an end with the Spanish Inquisition, when harsh treatment of the Jews was initiated by Ferdinand and the friar Torquemada.)

This street sign marks the old Jewish quarter of Segovia.

The city's fortunes may have waxed and waned, but one constant has likely been the swifts that swoop overhead, feasting on airborne insects. Hundreds of Common Swifts still nest in the aqueduct's nooks and in various crannies across the old city.

And, to top it all off, Segovia and Tucson are sister cities!

But can you imagine approaching Tucson in summer as a Conquistador, wearing that?!

Village Storks

2011-07-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

If you drive the back roads (and even not-so-back roads) in Spain during the nesting season, you'll still find the iconic village storks, their immense stick nests decorating church steeples and farm houses. These are White Storks, and they have nested in small Spanish villages for as long as there have been villages––and probably since the ice relinquished its grip on Europe! Twenty-five-million-year-old fossils from either a White or Black Stork have been found in Kenya. Their lineage is ancient.

White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) nest atop a church's bell tower.

(Photos by Narca)

Chicks are well cared for. Adults were reported by Lefebvre, Nicolakakis and Boire to deliver water to their young by squeezing moss, thereby dripping water into the beaks of their chicks––an example of tool use.

Juvenile White Storks

The enormous nests often turn into apartment houses: smaller birds like House Sparrows and even European Rollers will claim a nook of the nest for themselves.

With a wingspan up to 8 feet across, these huge, heavy birds depend on thermals to carry them on their long-distance migrations. If you were able to fly south with the migrating storks, you might end up on the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania, striding amongst the Wildebeest and towering over thousands of Thomson's Gazelles.

An adult White Stork, dignified and stately

In the Iberian Peninsula, an estimated 40,000 pairs are considered to be secure, although they have suffered some declines due in part to changes in agricultural practices. Elsewhere, storks have declined in many regions. Conservation and reintroduction efforts in Europe are returning storks to former strongholds like the Rhine River Valley, where their population had declined to the point of vanishing. Perhaps a quarter of the world population nests in Poland. Other very strong centers for breeding White Storks are the Ukraine and Lithuania.

Butterflies in the Sierra de Guadarrama

2011-07-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

The Sierra de Guadarrama towers between Madrid and the ancient Roman town of Segovia (our next destination). Forests of pine and Holm Oak cloak the slopes. Any of several wide places in the road give access to hiking trails, and we find a couple of very rewarding walks: Pinar de la Barranca and Los Montes de Valsaín. Both are alive with birdsong and dozens of butterflies.

Pine forest at Pinar de la Barranca (Photos by Narca)

Although it is a treat to renew acquaintance with Spanish birds, the insects really grab my attention. Wendi spots this spectacular, bizarre beast: a Spoonwing, or Thread-winged Antlion. It is a relative of dragonflies. What fun to run across a category of creature that you never suspected to exist!

A Spoonwing, Nemoptera bipennis

The butterflies fall into recognizable groups: fritillaries, pierids, coppers, blues, swallowtails, skippers.

Marbled Fritillary, Brenthis daphne

Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, is a close match to our angled-sulphurs.

(WHY was the venerable name of Brimstone abandoned? Not all of the angled-sulphurs even have angles, and the former name applied to one of ours, Ghost Brimstone, was so much more evocative!)

This lovely pierid, the Black-veined White, has translucent wings.

Leona finds a scintillating treasure trove of three copper species, most nectaring on a rayless composite.

A male Scarce Copper, Lycaena vigaureae, nectaring on Eryngium, is as lustrous as coppers come. (This one was photographed in the Pyrenees.)

A female Purple-shot Copper, Lycaena alciphron gordius

Female Purple-shot Copper

A male Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas

Small Copper male

Iberian Marbled White, Melanargia lachesis, is actually a satyr.

Satyrs and blues are especially diverse in Europe. In contrast, the skippers are few and much more easily sorted than in North America.

Our short hike at Montes de Valsaín produced a Eurasian Dipper along the stream and this wonderful nymphalid. Those are serious eyespots, enough to startle any predator!

Peacock Butterfly, Inachis io

Art in Madrid

2011-07-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

On this trip to Spain, Wendi, Leona, Meeka, Alan and I added a few days in Madrid in order to visit two of its world-class art museums. Usually Alan and I are so taken with wild places that we bypass the human artifacts, but it doesn't really take much encouragement to pull me into an art museum.

Okay, so the birds still catch our eye! Common Swifts ply the skies over Madrid, here seen from our apartment. (Photos by Narca)

Madrid's finest offerings include the Prado and the Thyssen museums. The famous Prado has classic collections, with an emphasis on Spanish art (surprise!) from 1100 to 1910. It also has rich collections of German, Italian, French and British work dating from about 1300 to 1800. There you will see plenty of Old and Newer Masters, including van der Weyden, Memling, Hieronymus Bosch ( think Garden of Earthly Delights!), Brueghel, Dürer, Raphael, Titian, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, El Greco, Caravaggio, Zurbarán, Murillo, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya––and, yes, Rembrandt. One of the Prado's most famous pieces is Las Meninas by Velasquez, a painting so admired by Picasso that he devoted painting after painting to his interpretations of Las Meninas.

For me the show-stopper was a marble sculpture of a veiled woman's head. Usually I can see how an artist arrived at the final piece, but this bust was completely mystifying. The face was delicately visible beneath the draped veil. Without touching it, I couldn't figure out how the effect had been achieved. How deeply was the marble cut? The very rock appeared translucent, with the face glowing under the marble veil.

As satisfying as it was to see, in the flesh, pieces that I had studied years ago in art history classes, the Prado does not cover my favorite period of art. The Thyssen does!

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum houses the remarkable private collection of a single family, often considered to be the world's most important private art collection. Indeed, it is not to be missed! Spain acquired the collection (valued at about $1 billion) for $350,000,000 in 1992. Out of 1600 works, about 800 are in the main collection, housed across the street from the Prado in the Palace of Villahermosa––itself a beautiful neoclassical building.

The Thyssen collection spans 800 years of mainly European art and is presented chronologically, beginning on the top of three floors with works from the Renaissance and Classical periods, continuing all the way through Cubism, Avant-garde, and Pop Art. Each piece is a carefully-chosen gem by artists that include Van Eyck, Dürer, Holbein (portrait of Henry VIII), Rembrandt (the self-portrait!), Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Murillo, Hals, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Miró, Dalí, Mondrian, Hopper, Cézanne, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, Rodin, and many more.

My favorites at the Thyssen included the French Impressionists and North American painters like O'Keeffe, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargeant. I was riveted by Van Gogh's self-portrait. Several Degas pieces are outstanding: we are all familiar with his masterful depictions of dancers, but racehorces? I hadn't known of that one, and it's a winner.

As exquisite as the early masterpieces are, it is a great relief to move from their gloomy colors into the fresh, lively colors of the recent era, and into the loose (but still masterful) brush strokes of, say, Homer's beach scene.

I wonder what the actual colors were, at the time the early pieces were painted? Were they really so uniformly dark? Or have aging varnishes and impermanent paints caused them to darken over the centuries?

We try to preserve miracles of accomplishment and for a while may stem the flow of change, but in the end... change comes.

Each of these museums requires at least a day to see, and both are closed on Mondays. You will find it best to buy entry tickets on-line before your visit, to avoid standing in long lines. Or investigate the Madrid Tourist Card, which includes free entry to these museums, as well as other benefits, and is valid for a year.

A Starbucks is strategically located near the museums. (The Starbucks app shows all the locations in Spain, for die-hard connoisseurs.) But we also found, mainly in Barcelona, an incredibly rich, thick Spanish mocha, so do experiment!

The Metro––subway––stop closest to the museums is Atocha on Line 1. We found the Metro easy to use (though visitors are cautioned to be wary of pickpockets). If several people are traveling together, or if you'll use the Metro for a number of trips, it is less expensive to buy one 10-ride ticket and share it. It is fine for more than one person to use that type of ticket. Just pass it back to the next person after you've cleared the turnstyle. (Another Metro line runs from the international airport to downtown Madrid.)

The Plaza Mayor, with living statues and other street performers, was about 4 blocks from our apartment.

As for lodging in Madrid, we found and booked on-line a self-catering apartment in the heart of the old city, near the La Latina Metro stop. This lodging was less than most hotels would cost for the four (at times, five) of us and included a well-supplied kitchen, wireless router for internet, and washing machine. Three nights cost 453 euros, for an apartment that could have slept 7 people in beds (and more in more creatively-contrived berths). Location was excellent.

To contact this company, email info@tourismrent.com. Catalín was our contact, and he spoke excellent English.

Our apartment in Madrid, on Calle de los Estudios

In the sultry summer evenings, we ambled through the neighborhood of our apartment, where tapas bars, street performers and sidewalk artists abound. One fellow, painted gray, impersonated a statue that silently clowned with passers-by.

For food, we alternated between sampling tapas and restaurants, and picking up food at nearby grocery stores. Try the Limón y Nada lemonade! And the ciruela––prune––yogurt. A classic, easy Spanish breakfast is a slice of good baguette bread, spread with olive oil and topped with tomato and cured Spanish ham. Think I'll have some now....

Preview

2011-07-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Friends!

Very soon I'll be posting accounts (with photos) of our recent journey to Spain: the Pyrenees at the height of blooms and butterflies, complete with Wallcreepers; the fantastical Gaudi architecture of Barcelona; tips on travel in that marvelous country. But for today, here is a quote from Mark Twain:

"I've been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."

As we travel, we learn that most of the potentially upsetting stuff resolves into treasured experiences. When something unexpected occurs, I wake up. What gift, what new possibility, is hidden in this sudden shift, when plans go awry?

South Fork, with Trogons

2011-06-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Today the annual census of Elegant Trogons in Cave Creek Canyon was allowed to happen, under an exemption to the Forest closure issued by District Ranger Bill Edwards. (Thank you, Bill!)

Rick Taylor will be releasing the final tally when he has pored over the data, but it appears to be quite low this year (not surprising). Roughly 8 trogons were found––all of them in South Fork, and none in the main canyon. That is surprising! In a more normal year, the tally would be twice that, and in one year, Dave Jasper found 21 nests.

After the fire (Photos by Narca)

Several of us were stair-stepped up South Fork, beginning with Terry Morgan and Karen Walz along the road and up to the bridge, then including Maya Decker, Heidi Fischer, John Yerger, Morgan Jackson, Alan Craig, Peg Abbott, me, and Richard Webster at the highest elevation above Maple Camp.

My territory ran from about 1/3 mile below Maple Camp, up to that much loved site, and it happened to be the most intensively burned part of South Fork that any of us saw. Even there, however, the burn was mostly moderate, and several of the big maple trees look as if they will survive, even though many other trees growing on that same terrace have been reduced to charcoal.

A surviving maple, with Maple Camp behind it

Maple Camp vignette: a maple leaf caught in Arizona Pine bark

A hazard tree at Maple Camp

These photos represent the most intense burn that I saw, so take heart! The overwhelming sentiment among the others in our small group was that the burn wasn't as bad as they had expected. (It was pretty much exactly what I expected.)

Only a few patches of green relieve this more intense burn, approaching Maple Camp. Fire also ran up the peak behind.

Another fairly intense patch in the South Fork bottom, but even here some of the sycamores retain green leaves.

This Sotol, with its root mass, rolled down from the cliffs when Horseshoe Two burned through South Fork Canyon.

Very striking was the new growth on many of the burned trees. A few root masses were burned out, but most of the trees will likely survive (if they survive the continuing drought). Burnt mounds of Deer Grass were sending up new shoots. Scorched Rocky Mountain Maple, Arizona Walnut, Velvet Ash, Arizona Sycamore, Arizona Madrone, Sandbar Willow, and several species of oaks were all sprouting tender new leaves. One clump of Golden Columbine bloomed. Grape vines were emerging. False Indigo was sprouting abundantly––when that flowers, it will be a big bonus for butterflies in search of nectar.

An Apache Pine regenerates needles

This charred Arizona Walnut wears an anklet of green.

Butterflies themselves were very scarce. I saw a single small satyr, a single Red-spotted Purple, a single Two-tailed Swallowtail.

Red-spotted Purple, photographed in a more clement year

The center of my territory was the trailhead for the Burro Spring Trail. A small but good chain of pools attracted butterflies, dragonflies, birds, foraging Yarrow's Spiny Lizards, and one Cliff Chipmunk. Miraculously, Speckled Dace survive there. In the last 6 months, these tiny fish have endured severe freezing, extreme drought, and now the fire.

Speckled Dace in a small pool at the Burro Spring Trailhead

Although the canyon seemed quieter than wont in my area, a pair of Painted Redstarts and a pair of Dusky-capped Flycatchers both gathered food for nestlings. An American Robin was gathering nest material, perhaps for a second attempt. A Northern Pygmy Owl called upslope, and a Zone-tailed Hawk sailed past. A young male Arizona Woodpecker was near adults. All these signs of new life were heartening.

When the trogon flew in, he came silently. For a few moments he paused in a scorched maple, then continued silently downstream, to be seen by Peg in the adjoining territory. Farther down, Alan saw a pair of trogons just above the Bathtub; those were both calling.

The only Elegant Trogon I saw today, a male with a soot-stained tail

Peg and I both felt like witnesses to a friend's travail. There seemed little we could actually do, beyond acknowledging the canyon's wounding, its survival with challenges still to come, its great importance as a place in our lives. I once met a group of Chiricahua Apaches as they emerged from the South Fork Trail, having just gone up canyon to drum for their ancestors in that sacred landscape. Many people, having hiked even once in South Fork, feel the place's indelible mark on their spirits.

South Fork is resilient. It survives, with trogons.

Amid the desolation, a yucca blooms.

A Night of Nighthawks

2011-06-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last night at dusk I stepped onto the balcony of our Roundhouse, and Lesser Nighthawks were drifting silently all around in the dim light, floating in the still air, suddenly quick as they found an insect. How very peaceful. Life is returning to its deep, quiet ways.

Lesser Nighthawks nest on arid slopes below our house.

(Pen and ink by Narca)

"It's Kinda Nice To Win One"

2011-06-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight fewer lights gleam on the horizon at the Fire City next to the Chiricahua Desert Museum, north of Rodeo. The nomads are pulling up stakes, some to head home, some to relocate in Willcox for the next stage of the fire work.

Horseshoe Two Fire map on 22 June 2011

Just look at that ﬁre perimeter––they are still saying 95% containment, but it looks a lot like 100% to me! That lovely black line means that the Horseshoe Two Fire isn't going anywhere, but it doesn't mean that it is 100% out.

District Ranger Bill Edwards noted at last night's community meeting that the ﬁre won't be out until the rains come––hotspots are still burning within the perimeter––and the current closure of Coronado National Forest won't be lifted until the Forest has received a soaking of at least 1/2" of rain, Forest-wide. Although many of us are impatient to see the mountains for ourselves, the continuing closure is wise, both in the interest of public safety in the burnt areas and for some degree of prevention of more human-caused ﬁres in the unburned areas. The record dryness of fuels is still unprecedented.

Today the ﬁre crews planned to make "signiﬁcant progress" with mopping up hotspots and rehabilitating the effects of suppression. Bulldozer work on the Whitetail road is nearly ﬁnished. BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) crews were working today in the southern region of the ﬁre, and other crews were being ﬂown into the interior to assess the severity of the ﬁre there.

A last early morning briefing at Fire City (Photo by Narca)

In the more recently active MM Division, mop-up is continuing before rehabbing can start.

In Chiricahua National Monument, hazardous trees are being removed. The southeast corner of the Monument burned at the highest intensity. Much of the rest of the Monument received a low-to-moderate burn. The prescribed burns that had been conducted in the Monument in recent years were an important factor in moderating the burn there.

Today was a busy day for air operations, as they repositioned to Willcox, along with the Type 2 team which assumes command tomorrow morning. The ﬁre city at Chiricahua Desert Museum north of Rodeo was being dismantled today, and the bulk of the teams is moving on.

Ranger Bill reviewed the work of our departing ﬁre team led by Jim Thomas, the third Type 1 team to work on Horseshoe Two during the first 7 weeks of its duration. On arrival, they inherited a high-intensity blow-out which charred treasured regions of the Chiricahuas, including Rustler Park, Barfoot Park and lookout, and Onion Saddle. When they arrived, the ﬁre was racing north, menacing Whitetail Canyon, Pinery Canyon, Chiricahua National Monument--all of the northern region of the Chiricahua Mountains. High winds generated ﬁrestorms in places like Whitetail Canyon. Yet in spite of serious challenges, we are told that overall the ﬁre team maintained a low-to-moderate intensity burn by using techniques like firing ridges in the evening, so that ﬁre would back more slowly downhill into canyons, to meet the oncoming body of the ﬁre. Without that active management, a far higher percentage of this range would have burned at high intensity. So the Type 1 ﬁre teams managed to moderate a very, very bad situation. We were told last night that many of the "old ﬁre dogs" had never seen conditions this extreme.

Not only is the Portal-Rodeo community grateful for the ﬁreﬁghters' work, we are also glad that it happened without any serious injuries. Their safety record received high praise: during 169,000 work hours (so far) in difﬁcult terrain, there were only 8 minor injuries.

As a post script, I should say that ﬁre danger continues in any unburned areas of our communities, even given the Forest closure. We still have lightning storms on the horizon, and groups of illegal entrants are still being seen about every other day, according to Bill Edwards.

Just yesterday our next-door neighbors found a brand new campﬁre in the oaks next to our home, obviously built by illegals. Their ﬁres are easy to identify by the nature of the trash left behind--the labels in Spanish on empty tin cans, the burlap used by drug runners to carry loads of marijuana, the ragged discarded blankets. (Now... about that program for allowing workers to enter legally, thereby eliminating at least one big part of the problem....)

Relief, Tempered

2011-06-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to restrain that feeling of relief, just in case the Horseshoe Two Fire has more surprises in store, but as of this morning the beast is 90% contained and burning only at the north end in fuels that are increasingly sparse and discontinuous. Yesterday, June 20, was the first day that Horseshoe Two did not produce a towering column of smoke.

North end of the Horseshoe Two Fire on 21 June 2011

A solemn moment came in this morning's fire briefing, when crews learned of the deaths yesterday of two firefighters who were working on the Blue Ribbon Fire in Florida. Everyone observed a time of silence. The firefighting community is tightly bonded. The names of the two men have not been released, but they worked for the Florida Division of Forestry. The Blue Ribbon Fire started last Thursday and had been declared contained, but flared again yesterday.

Rich Harvey, the Incident Commander in training, was eloquent in pointing out the dangers that all the crews face. He asked the assembled crew bosses what they had heard when the meterologist said it is going to be hot. "Did you hear dehydration?" Apparently some of the more dangerous situations leading to fatalities include being isolated in a quiet part of a big fire; they include times of transition between teams; they include times when the danger seems minimal, and crews let down their guard.

Weather today in the Chiricahua Mountains is expected to be similar to yesterday's, except that the wind is shifting to come from a more northerly direction. Today the diurnal wind will be blowing lightly upslope and up canyons, and is expected to be the most erratic on the lower western edge of the fire near Division B. Dust devils could bedevil the crews working there. (Scroll down to yesterday's full fire map to see the location.) Wednesday and Thursday are both predicted to be days of "excessive" heat.

Most of the perimeter is probably secure, although patrols will continue to search out and destroy any hot spots. Fire teams strive to have a 300 ft black line at the perimeter of a fire, because that usually prevents further spread. (I hope that is still the case, in this year of unprecedented conditions of dryness and wind.)

Rehabilitation is a big theme today. Crews will be hauling out equipment, clearing roads of down trees, removing debris in Cave Creek Canyon (in anticipation of possible flooding) and otherwise eradicating the visible effects of fire suppression.

Tonight a wrap-up meeting with the departing Type 1 fire team will be held at the Rodeo Community Center at 6 PM. Come say thank you!

Under the bluest sky we've seen since May 8, Portal Peak towers above my house. Mostly blackened, it also shows a few patches and streaks of green.

(Photos by Narca)

As Horseshoe Two winds down, it has so far burned 223,214 acres, making it Arizona's fourth largest fire in historical times. If you notice the differences between this morning's and yesterday's maps of the north end, you will see that this morning's has been refined to include slightly less land burned.

The fire season is far from over, even though our big Horseshoe Two is mostly roped and tied. We in Portal are still very concerned for our friends in the Huachucas, where the Monument Fire is expected to burn down Carr Canyon today, toward Highway 92. Lightning that precedes the monsoon in Arizona hasn't even begun. Fire is ravaging seven states––Texas, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Colorado, California and Arizona––and is springing up in others as well. Mary Christensen told the briefing that 146 new fires have been reported just today in Florida and Texas. Texas is in the midst of record drought. Overall, this is the worst year ever recorded for wildfires in the US. Stay safe. Send rain.

Wow! The Fire Lines Held!

2011-06-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's raging wind, which gusted to about 50 mph, created serious challenges for fire crews working on both the Horseshoe Two and the Monument Fires. In the Chiricahuas, those lines actually held! Incident Commander Jim Thomas congratulated the firefighters, saying that the success was the culmination of days of hard work well-done at the active north end of the fire. The crews held onto key terrain, and Horseshoe Two is "still in the box." As of last night, this fire had burned 213,511 acres and was 80% contained.

Map of the Horseshoe Two Fire on 20 June 2011

Yesterday's wind blew from the west, pushing the fire east into Emigrant and Wood Canyons, where it eventually stalled in lighter, discontinuous fuel. Last night during calmer conditions, fire crews mopped up in Marble Canyon and extended the fire edge in Division PP.

Detail of Horseshoe Two Fire map on 20 June 2011

During the high winds, crews were monitoring all the cooler regions of the burn as well, taking no chances that flare-ups would send fire brands aloft to start new fires.

Today the crews plan to secure Wood Canyon, Keating Canyon and the Heller Ranch, and to mop up in Marble Canyon.

A high pressure weather system is building, and light (but potentially erratic) winds are expected from the west and northwest. Temperatures will be slightly cooler in the 90ºs and relative humidity is rising, perhaps as high as 14% overnight. (Yesterday on the Monument Fire a RH value of 0 was recorded!) So conditions will be much more favorable for managing both fires, although firefighters will still need to be careful of surprises caused by shifting, erratic wind, which could raise fire whirls (dust devils carrying flame). Dryness of fuel is just as extreme as it was yesterday.

Air support should be able to fly today for both fires. The air operations chief cautioned that erratic, 20 mph gusts today could still be problematic, so air crews need to be careful.

On other areas of the Horseshoe Two burn, rehabilitation continues today with significant mop-up slated for the interior of the Chiricahua Mountains. Crews will concentrate on rehabbing the area from Paradise south.

Our third Type 1 team is in the process of transitioning to Stan Benes' Type 2 team from the Northern Rockies, which will assume command of the fire on Thursday. A wrap-up meeting for the Type 1 team is being scheduled for 6 PM tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Rodeo Community Center. Watch for an announcement! It is the community's chance to thank the departing crews for their long hours of difficult work, conducted in the highly professional manner we've seen in all the Type 1 teams that have worked here.

Sign in downtown Portal (slightly embellished)

(Photos by Narca)

We are so, so close to seeing an end to this ordeal in the Chiricahuas. Let there be no surprises at this late stage!

Yesterday evening, it was possible to listen to the meeting in Sierra Vista about the Monument Fire, using the Volke website for streaming events over the internet. Click on "Volke" if you want to sign up for future events.

Yesterday was very intense for folks in the way of the Monument Fire. Fire whirls cast fire brands across Highway 92 in several places, and the live audio feed from the scanner that tuned into radio used by fire crews was full of pleas for help at several locales. The Facebook page for the Monument Fire was in a state of pandemonium, but the voices of firefighters on the radio sounded cool-headed and professional.

Plenty of help is on the way for our friends in Sierra Vista. The Monument Fire is the #1 fire priority in the nation. The National Guard is coming, primarily to help with jobs like security of evacuated areas, because they aren't trained to do the actual firefighting. Fort Huachuca will be receiving help from other bases as well. Now that air support can fly, the fort and the fire team have plenty of craft to put into the air.

I was amazed to learn that the Antelope Fire (which consumed 2000 acres north of the Monument Fire before it was contained) was started by a spark from the blade of a bulldozer striking a rock. In retrospect, crews are actually glad for that fire because it created a good blackline on the base, according to a speaker at last night's informational meeting.

As of last night, the Monument Fire had burned 26,956 acres and was 27% contained.

Coronado National Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch said at last night's meeting that the Forest has assembled a fire team to advise them not just on the current fires, but on approaching the Forest as a whole, during this season of unprecedented fire danger. Their exact goals weren't clear to me. He also said that meterologists are not seeing any indication of the monsoon's arrival very soon.

That seems slightly at variance with the rise in humidity announced at this morning's Horseshoe Two Fire briefing. We always look for a rise in humidity preceeding the onset of the summer rains. In fact, the indicator I use is the appearance of tarantulas. Male tarantulas emerge when humidity rises, because they can more easily sense the presence of females still tucked into their burrows. Usually a rain follows the tarantulas' emergence by 1-3 days. So if anyone starts seeing tarantulas, let us know!

Mary Christensen, information officer for Horseshoe Two, said this morning that a delay in the rains will enable more rehab work to be done here before possible floods come. (But in the Huachuchas, a delay could extend the burning!)

We are seeing more wild refugees driven down from the burnt areas of the Chiricahuas. Bears have been visiting feeders around the town of Portal, and one found us last night. Another evening visitor was this Striped Skunk. Water put out for wildlife has been bringing in everything from Gray Foxes to Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes. One big diamondback (at least 5 feet long) spent a half hour sucking water from a leaky faucet.

Quick Update on Horseshoe Two

2011-06-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Last night and early this morning, fire crews working at the north end of the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains were able to tie in a line from Emigrant Canyon to Buckhorn Basin and to strengthen this line before the wind arrived. You can see these canyons labeled on the fire map from yesterday's post.

That wind is a huge challenge today, for the Horseshoe Two as well as the Monument Fire, but as of today's meeting at noon, the lines were holding. The horrific wind has shifted from blowing from the southwest to the west, and that shift is favorable for the Chiricahua fire.

In Sierra Vista, I'm guessing that the same shift will instead drive fire down the canyons and toward town. A witness posting to Facebook just wrote, "Carr Canyon just exploded––the fire's coming down the side of the mountain faster than a person can run––I hope the crews got clear before it blew up."

Monument Fire Article

2011-06-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

While I await more up-to-date information on the Horseshoe Two Fire, click HERE for an excellent article by Tom Beal, Fernanda Echavarri, and Tim Steller of the Arizona Daily Star on the Monument Fire. The Star is updating its website regularly.

Today's winds are causing serious problems for the firefighters. Air support in Sierra Vista has been grounded since 9 AM due to wind gusting to 50 mph at the ridgelines. Here in the Chiricahuas, we are experiencing the same winds, and new smoke is billowing in the north, where the Horseshoe Two Fire is still active.

Judging from the Monument Fire Facebook page, Sierra Vista is in the midst of a hellacious crisis. A fire "blow out" was reported in Miller Canyon, and the advancing front has crested over Carr Canyon and is well established there. All pre-evacuation orders are now mandatory, all the way east to the San Pedro River, south of Buffalo Soldier Trail, and north of Ramsey Road.

Monument Fire (Photo by Monica Lervold)

HERE is a link to a map of the recent evacuations.

Breaking Camp in Rodeo

2011-06-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

A major milestone has been reached with the containment of the western perimeter of the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains. Now the only very active part of the fire lies in the north, and the big fire camp in Rodeo is going to begin to break down today. The main operation will be moved to Willcox, closer to the active northern perimeter and closer to supplies. However, Rich Harvey cautioned crews that at this point expectations are for a quick finish––and it isn't over, until it's over. He noted that the only surprise now would be a bad one, and no one wants to see that. So, patiently, the work continues.

Horseshoe Two Fire map for 18 June 2011

The hand-hatched areas in the north represent last night's operations.

The western edge of the fire is now contained, except for mop-up.

In the west at Divisions A and B, the fire line was joined and a burnout completed that held through the night. Mop-up remains to be done, to insure that no hot spots flare and start new fires. The mop-up along any recently active containment lines is rather more important today: today is another day when weather flirts with red flag conditions, but a really big blast of wind is expected the following day. (That is very bad news for the Monument Fire in the Huachucas!) Crews want to be certain that the west side of Horseshoe Two is completely buttoned up before the next really big––and unseasonal––wind arrives.

Even today, wind is expected to blow at 17-27 mph in the valley and 30-40 mph on ridges. At 35 mph, a red flag is triggered, and air support is grounded because flying becomes too dangerous.

At the north edge of the planned containment line, the night shift anchored the fire line at the Mulkins Ranch in Emigrant Canyon, and crews plan to extend that line today across the north, in order to catch the body of the fire there as winds drive it north. Big winds, especially tomorrow, will be deflected by topographic features, setting up very dangerous conditions for firefighters. Squirrelly winds could spin the fire 180º and bring havoc to all the plans. Growth potential and terrain difficulty both remain extreme.

The crews working last night to complete the fire line in Divisions A and B were well into their burn when suddenly four undocumented aliens burst through the flames and ran out of the fire (apparently uninjured), and past the firefighters. (The crew called Border Patrol.) The crews are used to clearing areas as much as possible of deer and cattle before firing a line, but these folks don't live along the border, and they were surprised indeed by the illegals. Harvey advised anyone igniting fire to yell, "¡Pásela!" before firing, to try to shoo hidden people out of danger.

Containment lines at the perimeter have all been built, but 14 miles of line is indirect, which needs to be reinforced and burned out.

Detail of active northern region of Horseshoe Two Fire, 18 June 2011

Rehabilitation is underway in the cooled interior of the fire, including in Paradise. Hazardous trees and roads are being taken care of in Whitetail Canyon.

When the fire camp is moved, 25% of the crew will remain in the Portal area, based at the fire station. 25% will stay at Ash Camp. 50% will be at the new Incident Command Post in Willcox (I believe at a high school, but check that). This third Type 1 team is transitioning now to a Type 2 team, so the worry about Horseshoe Two has downgraded to the next level. The new team will shadow the current team in order to learn the local situation, and will take over officially on Thursday. Meanwhile the BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) team is also engaged here.

Recent statistics for the Horseshoe Two Fire: 206,314 acres burned; 70% contained. The figure on size is old, and should be updated soon. For the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista: 19,335 acres burned; 15% contained.

The situation in Sierra Vista was complicated yesterday by new fires at Antelope Road and Garden Canyon. I've been told that the two new ones were contained, but not before one of them burned a short distance across Buffalo Soldier Trail. Inciweb today says that the Antelope Fire was 95% contained by 5 PM, at a size of 1000 acres.

The Monument Fire's run east along Hereford Road, toward the San Pedro River, was stopped. Intense bombardment of Miller Canyon with retardant was reportedly successful in calming this most active region of the fire. Fire lines are being constructed from Carr Canyon to Fort Huachuca. North of Miller Canyon, fire lines are being prepared for a possible burnout, if that is deemed necessary in order to hold the fire.

Up-to-the-minute information is being posted to the Facebook page on the Monument Fire. However, many untrue rumors and panicked entries are also being posted, and the main impression readers gained from it yesterday was a sense of utter chaos.

Some good news is starting to filter in that the homes of several friends have survived the Monument Fire, so far. Others, like entomologist Noel McFarland, face big losses. Word is that Mary Jo Ballator's Ash Canyon B&B did survive, one of only two houses in that location to be spared. Does anyone know how Tom Beatty in upper Miller Canyon fared?

The Fires, Mainly Horseshoe Two

2011-06-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Progress continues on containing the Horseshoe Two Fire (now at 184,198 acres) in the Chiricahua Mountains, although challenging conditions also continue as we face another red flag day, when winds from the southwest are expected to gust above 35 mph. At the 6 AM briefing to fire crews, the meteorologist noted that already this early in the day, winds on ridges were over 30 mph, even though in the valley it seemed calm. Last night––a time when winds usually die down––there were gusts to 40 mph.

Horseshoe Two Fire map for June 17, 2011

In the southwestern part of the fire (divisions A and B), the burnout continues in John Long and Rucker Canyons, and a great deal has been accomplished there. But the job isn't yet finished, and crews were cautioned that with these winds and the unprecedented dryness of fuel, the fire can still jump containment and go anywhere. Containing this part of the fire perimeter is within reach, but not yet in the bag. Work has progressed in Division B to the point that crews there are waiting for Division A to also make it to the point that the open perimeter can safely be pinched off.

Detail of active western part of Horseshoe Two Fire

The trickier and more difficult job is at the north end of the fire. Fire is established in upper Wood and Emigrant Canyons. Here in the north, several canyons are lining up with the wind, setting the stage for possible high-intensity runs in Wood, Buckhorn, Maverick and Emigrant Canyons. Mountain peaks to the south of that line of canyons could deflect the prevailing wind, generating down-canyon flow. We have on our hands another day of extreme fire behavior.

Detail of active northern perimeter of Horseshoe Two Fire

At the northern perimeter line, crews have begun to fire the flat lands, to create a blackline that will hopefully arrest the oncoming body of the fire. Firing has been difficult and very slow because firefighters are working into the prevailing wind; great care has to be taken that firing operations don't spread north but instead accomplish what they are trying to achieve: setting up a solid containment line. Securing this northernmost perimeter is key to beginning work in Division MM. So if winds allow, more burning out will proceed today, focused on Buckhorn Basin, Emigrant Canyon and Marble Canyon. If winds don't allow, crews will focus more on structure protection at local ranches.

Mop-up work continues along the contained western perimeter and in Chiricahua National Monument. Whitetail Canyon is cooling; the danger there has probably passed. Crews working in the burnt areas will be rehabilitating any damage from suppression efforts. The Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has arrived and begins its work today. They will identify the highest priority areas for rehabilitation.

The big repeater in the Rodeo area being used for radio communications will be moved today closer to Bowie, because the primary need is now at the north end of the Chiricahuas.

Competition for fire crews and other resources is becoming more intense as other fires menace the region. Horseshoe Two currently has 1335 fire personnel. Crews currently on the job were asked whether they are interested in extending their work period from the normal 14 days to 21 or even 30 days. The need is extreme this year.

Bill Edwards confirmed to me this morning that the Monument Fire in the Huachuca Mountains has again jumped Highway 92 at Stump Canyon. At last report, it was roaring toward the San Pedro River, but has been held south of Hereford Road. As our neighboring mountain range, the Huachucas will be subject to the same extreme fire behavior and red flag conditions today that are expected for the Chiricahuas.

The Monument Fire has burned 18,580 acres and is 15% contained. There has been a big, much-needed jump in the number of fire personnel on the job, up now to 764. At the north end of the fire, a line is being prepared from Hunter Canyon to Carr Canyon. Forest Road 4781 is being prepared for a potential burnout. Another meeting to inform the Sierra Vista community of progress on the Monument Fire will be held this evening at 6 PM at the Windemere Hotel.

Barfoot Now a National Natural Landmark

2011-06-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

Barfoot Park, long loved by birders, herpetologists, boy scouts, and hikers in the Chiricahua Mountains, has been designated a National Natural Landmark in a directive signed yesterday by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. It joins 590 other locations which have received this honor since the program was established in 1962. The program singles out the best examples of our country's biological and geological features, whether in public or private ownership.

Former view from Barfoot ridge, not far from the Short-tailed Hawk nest

(Photos by Narca)

How bittersweet! Anyone following news of the Horseshoe Two Fire will know that Barfoot was incinerated a couple of weeks ago, in a high-intensity blowout. However, Bill Edwards (District Ranger for the Coronado National Forest) believes that the elements that made it a site of national importance are still present, and that Barfoot will recover, given time. Indeed all of us hope that.

From the press release: "Barfoot Park in the Chiricahua Mountains of southern Arizona supports an unusual mix of Sierra Madre and Rocky Mountain flora and fauna that includes four pine species and 18 other tree species. It also includes more than 15 acres of talus slopes, along with three meadows and two permanent springs. The landmark encompasses 680 acres of federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service."

The talus slopes are the U.S. epicenter for a very rare rattlesnake, the Twin-spotted. Forested slopes are home to a rare butterfly, the Pine Satyr, which barely enters the US from Mexico. Did they survive, I wonder? Will Pine Satyrs have to recolonize from Mexico, once habitat is again suitable? Some day will Short-tailed Hawks again nest on the high ridges?

Pine Satyr above Barfoot Park, July 2010

Silene laciniata, or Mexican Pink, in the high Chiricahuas

Young Short-tailed Hawk sketched at nest above Barfoot Park

(Ballpoint pen by Narca)

Six places in all were added to the roster of National Landmarks. In addition to Barfoot, they are Golden Fossil Areas near Golden, Colorado; Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs, Colorado; Kahlotus Ridgetop near Kahlotus, Washington; Round Top Butte near Medford, Oregon; and The Island at the confluence of the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers in eastern Oregon.

Valuable Websites on Fire and Drought

2011-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

Amy Stirrup brought this website to my attention: http://www.azein.gov. It has more complete information on the three raging Arizona wildfires than can be found on inciweb. The Monument Fire, in particular, has been frustratingly difficult to learn about.

Another very interesting website monitors drought across the US: http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html. As you can see, southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, a big swath of Texas, and a few other regions are in the grip of exceptional drought, beyond even the "extreme" category. (Thanks to Gary Rosenberg for sending the link to this website.)

Here is an image for June 14 from the National Drought Mitigation website:

Our current extremity is also caused by the exceptional deep freeze of last winter, which killed or damaged many plants, leaving the landscape so dry (in conjunction with the drought) that fire crews on the Horseshoe Two Fire have found 1000-hour fuel that dried out enough to burn in less than 1 hour, a situation never before encountered.

No-o-o-o, environmentalists aren't responsible for these fires or their severity, contrary to some of the rants being broadcast by people with an agenda. No group of humans is yet capable of inflicting freeze and drought on the land! But 100 years of fire suppression over large areas is a likely factor. Agencies like the US Forest Service have been attempting in recent years to reintroduce fire to fire-adapted landscapes through prescribed burning, at times when a low- to moderate-intensity burn can be achieved, but we are still way behind the game.

Community

2011-06-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

During disaster, people come together. We connect more deeply with each other. And the disastrous big fires raging in Arizona are no exception. Our friends are invaluable, as we stand together and nurture each other during crisis.

From my farflung net of friends come a couple of offerings for today's post. Brad Tatham happened to be flying over the Chiricahua Mountains on June 14 and snapped these photos out the airplane window. On this day, the smoke columns were rising from a burnout in Rucker Canyon and from Chiricahua National Monument (a column that was visible all the way to Kolb Road in Tucson). Forest between the major smoke columns has already burned.

Horseshoe Two Fire in Chiricahua Mountains, June 14, 2011

(Photos by Brad Tatham)

Yesterday I was hearing from friends caught up in the fast-growing Monument Fire in the Huachuca Mountains in Sierra Vista. Getting real news of that fire from official sources has been extremely difficult. Even the inciweb.org site failed to list it for many days. (I've been wondering if that was because the Type 1 fire team called to the job had its hands so full, and because the scene was so chaotic as people dealt with the Ash Canyon firestorm, that at first accurate information couldn't be condensed to the standard digests usually posted on inciweb.)

Several friends, refugees from Ash Canyon, were gathering at Casa de San Pedro B&B in Hereford, a truly lovely place where we often settle with our tour groups. Peg Abbott (with the help of Bob Rodrigues) decided to pitch in with a nice meal for our friends (and friends of friends) who found shelter at the B&B after evacuating their homes, so Alan and I grabbed a few treats from Trader Joe's, and drove into Sierra Vista in late afternoon to join them.

As the Huachuca Mountains loomed larger, we could see the Monument Fire burning at the crest of Miller Peak, and then heading down the east slope of the peak––even though it was moving into the wind. Conditions are so dry in the mountain ranges of southeast Arizona that fire is behaving in ways rarely seen, including following fuels into the wind. That has been happening in the Chiricahuas, and now we see it happening in the Huachucas as well.

Descriptions of the firestorm that hit Ash Canyon sound like another example of a huge column (20,000 ft+) of superheated air, fire and smoke collapsing on itself, as started to happen in Whitetail Canyon in the Chiricahuas. Now word is slowly trickling out about the aftermath of that firestorm. It appears that at least 40 homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Part of the problem of assessing the situation is that going in there is still dangerous. Meanwhile homeowners live with acutely uncomfortable anxiety, as they wait for word of the outcome. So far it appears that Bob Behrstock, Karen LeMay and Ted Mouras have homes to return to. However, hot spots are still flaring, and it is too soon to be certain of anything.

The latest statistics for the Monument Fire: size is 9,300 acres; 17% containment. For Horseshoe Two: size is 184,198 acres; 60% containment.

And today? The wind continues to blow, creating red flag conditions. The Monument Fire continues to spread in the high country of the Huachuca Mountains and to force evacuations, and in the Chiricahuas, the fire crews continue to attempt to moderate the intensity of Horseshoe Two Fire and to contain it within a backburned perimeter. Due to extradordinary conditions, these aren't normal fires.

But last night? Last night was a very welcome respite from the tension of dealing with disaster. Thank you, Peg! Thank you, Karl and Patrick. It was an excellent evening.

And the Fire Burns On

2011-06-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

The meterologist at today's fire briefing said that winds will again blow today at 20-25 mph, creating squirrelly conditions in some of the canyons, especially in West Turkey Creek and Pinery. Heat is increasing and will be over 90º today, with extremely low relative humidity of 3-5%.

Horseshoe Two Fire map at June 14 briefing

The fire may be pushed further south in the southwest corner (section B). As extreme conditions continue, with record ERC values of 110-112 and 1000-hour fuels burning in the single digits, extreme behavior can continue, and the fire lines continue to be very dangerous to work. In the northern division PP, fire crews expect to see independent torching of trees and groups of trees, but no significant runs, unless winds again gust unexpectedly.

In one bright bit of news, the burnout on the west has been carried to the perimeter in division DD. After a hard-fought effort, crews managed to contain it there. Mop-up work remains to insure that there are no troublesome flare-ups.

Detail of fire map showing finished burnout in DD

and progress in Chiricahua National Monument

In Chiricahua National Monument, a slow prescription burn continues, ignited from the ridges. From the heights, it burns slowly down, creating a burn of much lower intensity. Fire is in lower Rhyolite Canyon. The difference between this type of fire management and uncontrolled fire is graphically illustrated by the difference between the post-fire condition of South Fork (where low-intensity burning was achieved) and the Rustler Park-Barfoot Park-Onion Saddle area (which was mostly cremated in a huge, uncontrolled, high-intensity run). As horrific as the amount of burning appears on the fire map, and as huge as the area covered is, much of that which was backburned is low to medium intensity. Soils there will be in better shape, and recovery should be faster.

One of the inciweb photos shows a Yellow-eyed Junco alive and well in the ashes of Rustler Park.

Some news of the Monument Fire was announced. They are hoping for a containment date of June 18. I'm guessing that control has been easier there because, unlike the Horseshoe Two fire, it started in the low country instead of up high, and so was more manageable at the very start. Time––and wind––will tell.

Wynne's Photos

2011-06-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've added Wynne Brown's photos to her account of the Horseshoe Two Fire's run through Whitetail Canyon. To see them, scroll down to the first (lower) of the two entries for June 12.

The Summer of Fire

2011-06-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Smoke from two regions of the Horseshoe Two Fire on 11 June 2011.

To the left is smoke from the West Turkey Creek area; to the right, from Whitetail Canyon. (Photos by Narca)

Firefighters confronting the Horseshoe Two Fire in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains continue to encounter unprecedented fuel dryness. The values being found for both dead and live fuels are lower than ever before recorded in a wildfire.

Those record dry conditions are shared by the other Sky Island ranges in southeast Arizona. The record freeze last winter damaged or killed many oaks and pines, further drying them, and that damage (coupled with extreme winter drought) has greatly intensified the fire danger. We've all been holding our breaths that the other magnificent ranges will be spared the inferno being experienced by the Chiricahuas and the White Mountains, but a new fire began yesterday afternoon at the southern terminus of the Huachuca Mountains, in Coronado National Memorial, and already it is described as "massive." It was estimated at today's briefing to have burned about 3,000 acres in less than 24 hours. There were low whistles among the firemen when they heard how fast it has moved. (For comparison, Horseshoe Two grew to over 9,000 acres on the first day, when it was subjected to 50 mph winds.)

I'm not in a position to add solid information about this new Monument Fire, other than to say that friends living in Ash Canyon have already been evacuated, and as they left, they could see fire on the ridge above Ash Canyon. We have had no lightning. This fire, like Horseshoe Two, was human-caused, and the Coronado National Memorial was closed to public entry at the time the fire began. It lies along the Mexican border, and the fire began in the US just a short distance from the border. As with Horseshoe Two, the evidence implicating illegal entrants is entirely circumstantial. (But, duh!)

Returning to what is happening in the Chiricahuas, weather today is expected to be like yesterday's, only hotter. That means another day of wind at 30-35 mph on the ridges and 20-25 mph in the valleys. Conditions are likely to slip into another red-flag alert. Most of the fire movement is expected to be in the north, where it has reached Cochise Head. The planned fire perimeter lies along Marble and Emigrant Canyons in the north; terrain here should be much more manageable for holding the line.

Map of Horseshoe Two Fire on 13 June 11

In Whitetail Canyon, mop-up operations continue, to assure that residents are safe when they are allowed back in.

In the active western perimeter, winds will likely continue to eddy, causing erratic and unpredictable fire behavior. Yesterday some fire moved across the line in high wind just west of the monument, but it was contained, and crews this morning did not seem concerned about that breach.

Detail of active north edge of fire, 13 June 11

About two-thirds of Chiricahua National Monument has now burned, including Bonita Canyon up to Massai Point (a larger area than shown on the map, which doesn't reflect work done during the night). Crews have been carefully igniting ridges and letting the fire back down into the canyons in order to achieve a lower-intensity burn.

Today and tonight, firing operations will continue in the monument and in the section marked "Div B" on the upper map.

This rather beautiful map shows the progression of the Horseshoe Two Fire since its inception on May 8 through June 11, with the early period given in cooler blues. The fire now stands at 148,505 acres and is 48% contained. The estimated containment date is still June 22. The fire's growth potential and terrain difficulty remain extreme.

Arizonans will never forget this summer of fire, beyond all the bounds of what we've known before. And what happens, I wonder, when the pre-monsoonal lightning storms arrive?

Extremes

2011-06-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

At last night's community meeting with the fire team, Rich Harvey (an incident commander) emphasized the extremes which the firefighters are encountering in their dealings with the Horseshoe Two fire––unprecedented in his 32 years of experience. (Very likely, firefolk on the Wallow and Murphy Complex fires are finding the same extremes.) None of the professionals in this Type 1 fire team have ever seen such dry fuels.

Dead fuels are classified as 1-hour fuel (like grass), 10-hour fuel, 100-hour fuel, and 1000-hour fuel (a big, down log). 100-hour fuel takes 100 hours to dry out enough that it will burn. Here in the Chiricahuas, 100-hour fuel is burning in only 3 hours, and that low a value has never before been seen by this team.

The amount of strong wind is blowing minds. Red-flag day follows red-flag day, and today we have another. Strong winds push fire into strong uphill runs, creating crown fires that take out stands of trees. The amount of energy being released in one hour's worth of crown fire in the Chiricahua Mountains is the equivalent of the energy released by an atomic bomb. Such a fire chute occurred when Horseshoe Two raged in only 3 hours from the Saulsbury Saddle line, up to and through Onion Saddle.

Yet, even with those serious extremes, a mosaic burn is being achieved in many areas through use of techniques that moderate the fire's growth and spread, including lighting ridge fires at night to back slowly down into canyons, and meet the oncoming fire before it rushes up those same ridges. Of all the techniques tried by the teams so far, the backburning is working best on this fire, under these conditions. Moderating the fire not only promotes a mosaic burn, but also protects soils for future regrowth.

A photo of the junction of Rustler and Barfoot roads showed many of the big trees still intact, so some of the mosaic burn still happened, even in this intensely-burned high country.

We also learned more about one crew boss's experience as they battled the holocaust in Whitetail Canyon, a situation vastly complicated by constantly-changing high winds that demanded the utmost in quick responses and flexibility. Plans had been carefully laid for protecting Whitetail, including a line laid by hand that joined the back road into Chiricahua National Monument, a dozer line, and structure protection. Then a big blast of wind from the south changed everything. One juniper flared and sent firebrands in all directions, and fire jumped the lines. A column of blazing hot smoke rose thousands of feet into the air, then rolled and started to collapse. That is a firefighter's nightmare, because a huge collapsing column sends fire everywhere as superheated smoke hits the ground. The worst-case scenario was narrowly avoided in Whitetail when another big wind gust suddenly straightened the column. Firefighters were beaten back from Whitetail by these volatile and dangerous conditions; when they were able to return, they found that the sprinklers and other structure protection in place had saved 18 of the 20 residences there.

A similar extreme event happened further south along the western flank of the fire, when the fire was being pushed upcanyon by very strong wind, which suddenly entered another canyon with different orientation, and sheared the fire column 180º, setting the entire column (thousands of feet high) to spinning. Suddenly the fire turned into the faces of the crew there.

These events involving collapsing columns of fire and smoke are quite rare, and this is only the second time in this operation chief's career that he has ever witnessed one.

One photo graphically illustrated why residents and other people are not yet being allowed back into the burned areas: a gaping hole where a tree once stood was still burning deep in the ground. Fires can burn into big root systems for days, making the terrain dangerous.

More than 1200 fire personnel are now working on Horseshoe Two. They are on the lines 24 hours a day, in two shifts. People in the planning department have longer days than those out on the fire lines: they are spending 16 - 20 hours a day working on strategy, as the fire moves and conditions constantly change.

The new planned perimeter lines are out in the flats, with much lower fuel supply and easy terrain. There they should finally be able to fully contain this fire. Rich Harvey said that they estimate that Horseshoe Two is now 45% contained. He is cautious about calling a fire contained because, "If I say it's contained and something happens, they name it after me and I'm in big trouble."

Other agencies help and advise the fire teams. US Forest Service staff are interested in resource protection, and they make sure that important details like the locations of crucial habitat and Spotted Owl nests are considered when fire plans are formulated.

The fire bosses said that two weeks of working on a fire like Horseshoe Two is worth years of experience of working on more normal fires.

Whitetail Canyon: a Firsthand Account

2011-06-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

by Wynne Brown, Guest Author

All hell broke loose soon after I sent my last update. The wind picked up to 50-60 mph gusts that afternoon and blew so hard that it was hard to stand upright. The light in the Grills' barnyard turned copper, the sun disappeared, and the smoke was so thick we could barely see Blue Mountain, much less The Nippers, Split Rock, or Maverick Peak. It whipped anything that was smoldering into flame, junipers exploded, and burning embers flew as far as 3 miles, igniting the ground, trees, dead stumps, and dry grass wherever they landed.

Horseshoe Two from Portal on June 5

(All photos by Wynne Brown)

Whitetail became an inferno. Watching the smoke and, once darkness fell, the western glow, we knew for sure that every structure there HAD to be gone.

Jhus Canyon burning on June 7

A fire team member arrived just before dark to assess the defensibility of the Grills' ranch and let us know that although the fire probably wouldn't get here, we should be prepared to evacuate just in case. So we scrambled to devise a list of who would release which livestock, which horses would go where, what truck/trailer combination would hold our combined 8 dogs and 7 cats, what about the chickens and the lame calf, where would the llamas go––and would the 2 camels load in the stock trailer?

Peeking in the window as fire approaches

Peter and Frances were able to set up a generator on the pump that feeds the cattle waterer and the house, and our first showers in a week were very welcome. Clean or not, none of us slept much Wednesday night.

Thursday at 4:30 a.m. one of the firefighters pulled into the driveway to let us know two residences had burned and some other outbuildings. In the dark and smoke, he'd had a hard time identifying specific places (all our houses were coded: mine is structure #3)––but he was pretty sure Al's and my places were OK.

The rest of Thursday was more dense smoke, more clearing flammables away from structures, more fire team trucks pulling in and out of the driveway, more discussion between the Grills and the fire team about using their pond for helicopter dips or just filling tenders, multiple trips to the hill a mile away to check cell phone messages and make calls, and most of all, trying to get real information about damage to our homes. The assessment team couldn't get into Whitetail, which was still burning with flaming trees continuing to fall, hot rocks rolling down hillsides, stumps bursting into flame, the road thick with engines, tenders, and busloads of hotshot crews. I talked to a firefighter later, who grinned and said, "Yeah, we took some heat!"

By suppertime, Columbus Electric put in a new power pole so that this ranch could have power and the phone. Hallelujah!

On Friday (yesterday), the sheriff's office informed me: My barn burned, but my house is fine.

Remains of a barn

Thanks to the structure prep crews and the heroism of the firefighters who kept returning to the blaze after being beaten back by the heat, torching trees, and smoke––my house looks exactly the same as it did the week before all this started. The hay barn is nothing but a pile of roof metal and twisted rebar, but the tack shed, the Merhow horse trailer, the straw bale pump house, Jim's ATV and trailers, his office across the road––they're all fine.

Two of the 18 Whitetail residences burned.

Although the official rule is still no non-fire personnel in the area, two safety officers and the crew boss knew about Jim's stroke, knew that I needed to get to Tucson, and kindly arranged to take me into the canyon, as long as I promised to stay in the truck.

Until the turn-off into Jhus Canyon, everything looks normal, as long as you avoid glancing at the gray mountainsides above it. I had no idea it's so rocky....

After Jhus, the grassland is dotted with blackened patches, but Darrow Richins' cows looked healthy as they grazed on what dry grass is left. Once you cross the last cattle guard before my house, the devastation begins. Some areas look mostly OK, others are a black and white photo where the tonal range extends from tree trunks of deep black to ash-white ground. Some of it looks so different that, without my mailbox, I wouldn't have recognized my own driveway. In other areas, the mesquites still have drooping leaves of sooty green, and although the ground is bare and gray, the remaining junipers look as if they may make it.

The aftermath

My composter totally melted away, the garden hot box looks like a Salvador Dali dripping watch, the hay under the llama shelter is incinerated––but the big beautiful juniper I park under looks fine, and the 1000-pound bale in the slow feeder is unsinged under the hill horses' shelter.

The house sits in an oasis of green––and the firefighters even watered my petunias and marigolds.

On the surface, it might seem that the past six weeks have been nothing but loss: I've been laid off, my dog had to have her leg amputated, my partner had a stroke, and Hell roared through my property, destroying my barn.

Yet, my gratitude list is nearly endless. I still have a house, I still have Jim––although our life together will be very different than it was for some time to come––and I still live in a beautiful, if wounded, area.

But, most of all, I live in a buffer zone created by the loving, caring kindness of friends.

Thank you, all of you!

[And thank you, Wynne, for sharing your account with our community of concerned friends, both local and global! Wynne will send photos when she can, so check back in to see those too.]

Walt Anderson's Photos of Horseshoe Two

2011-06-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Walt Anderson is a long-time friend and fellow artist who teaches at Prescott College. He was in Chiricahua National Monument when the Horseshoe Two Fire jumped containment lines at Saulsbury Saddle and raged through Rustler and Barfoot Parks. His photos document that awesome, terrible event.

Smoke boils over the distant Chiricahua Mountains.

(All photos by Walt Anderson)

From Chiricahua National Monument

Horseshoe Two Fire from Sugarloaf in Chiricahua National Monument

An unearthly light filters through the smoke from Barfoot.

Barfoot in flames

The glowing dot after the inferno is Barfoot Lookout.

Current Fire Strategy

2011-06-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the wind was calmer, and fire crews working on the Horseshoe Two Fire (which has burned for more than a month in the Chiricahua Mountains) were able to gain some ground in their efforts to contain this fire. Today's fire map shows the areas of active fire (red boundary lines) and of the planned containment boundary (dotted black lines).

Fire map on 11 June 2011

The original plan called for stopping the fire in the interior of the Chiricahuas at several key ridges and points. However, given the unusually extreme conditions of dryness and wind, it has not been possible to contain the fire within the rougher terrain. In high winds (of which we've had plenty!), whirlwinds of fire cast embers a couple of miles away from the main fire, and create new fire starts. The primary places where containment efforts are working are down in the flats at the base of the mountains, and that is why the new fallback lines are drawn so far away from the currently active fire. The crews are bringing the fire to them, where it can be managed.

Within the Chiricahua National Monument, fire is burning in Jesse James Canyon and upper Rhyolite Canyon. Here standard suppression tools are not being used, beyond protecting structures and possibly igniting fire on ridges, using helicopters, in order to create a lower intensity burn. Suppression tools carry their own impacts, and here fire is mainly being allowed to burn through the monument, and fire lines are going around it. The very rugged cliffs and hoodoos should afford some natural barriers to fire, and it's my hope that a mosaic burn can happen, as long as wind remains calmer while fire is moving through the monument.

Detail of Horseshoe Two Fire entering Chiricahua National Monument

In Pinery Canyon and West Turkey Creek, the fire was active yesterday due to wind flow through the canyons, but it was constrained by water drops.

Detail of active fire in West Turkey Creek area on 11 June 2011

At the far northern edge of the fire, lighter fuels will be running out, and segments of the perimeter line are being connected to achieve containment. In Whitetail Canyon, mop-up work continues today.

Better news is that some of the big trees in the Rustler Park area survived. Apparently not many, but some is better than none, which was originally feared to be the case. In other areas, glimmers of green remain. We won't really know the condition of the high country until the smoke clears, ashes settle, and the first rains start to revive the burn. Raymond VanBuskirk hiked Bear Canyon behind our house, which burned intensively during the first night of the fire, and found a few big madrone trees still alive.

A community meeting with the fire team is set for 6 PM tonight at the Rodeo Community Center. Joining them will be representatives from the Coronado National Forest, National Park Service, and State of Arizona.

As of this morning, the burn covers 134,615 acres and is 45% contained. 23 structures have been destroyed, most of them outbuildings. 1,153 people are working to put out the Horseshoe Two Fire.

A Burning Question

2011-06-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

As one of the hotshot fire crews finished their work at Rick and Lynne Taylor's house in Whitetail Canyon, their neighbor walked past, and was asked this question: "What is the ratio of sugar to water for filling these hummingbird feeders?"

Now that is an unusual level of care being taken!

Magnificent and Calliope Hummingbirds

(Acrylics by Narca)

Homecoming to the Horseshoe Two Fire

2011-06-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening as we dropped down Granite Gap into the San Simon Valley, plumes of smoke still churned from the Chiricahua Mountains. Homecoming is bittersweet.

Smoke from Whitetail Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains

(Photos by Narca)

Horseshoe Two continues to surge north and west, driven by erratic––and sometimes unpredicted––winds. Crews have come to expect the unexpected: wind blows when little wind was forecast. Fire burns into the wind as well as with it. Steep terrain is crisscrossed by canyons which suck wind into the inferno, against the direction of prevailing winds. Fire can sprout anywhere as it spots up to 2 miles away from the body of the fire, creating very dangerous conditions for the firefighters.

In Whitetail Canyon, whirling fire jumped the line and destroyed some residences and outbuildings. The sheriff is in the process of contacting our neighbors who suffered that loss. Among those whose homes are safe are Rick and Lynne Taylor, Jim Brown, and Tom and Debbie Collazo. Wynne Brown lost her hay barn, but her home and other structures are intact. (She very characteristically saw a positive angle: the barn wasn't big enough anyway!)

Breach of the fire line means that crews have to drop back to the next defensible place, shown by dotted lines on today's fire map. The new goal in the north is to prevent Horseshoe Two from reaching Fort Bowie National Historical Site. The fire is burning into Chiricahua National Monument, and work continues there with the goal of protecting both the monument's resources and its structures. The fire's growth potential remains extreme, and the difficulty of the terrain is still extreme.

Fire map for the 10 June 2011 briefing

This fire is setting new local records right and left, not only in sheer size (now estimated at 128,652 acres), but also in categories such as low fuel moisture. Fuel that would be expected to burn for 10 hours before drying out is instead drying in a single hour. That is extreme. The overall burn index is 95%: this measurement is the ignition probability with wind factored in. So a spark falling on fuel would ignite fire 95 times out of 100. That is extreme. Many of the indices used by firefighters are at an all-time high for this locale, the Chiricahua Mountains.

While we are focused on our local inferno and damage here, the national media is focused on the Wallow Fire burning in the White Mountains, where similarly extreme conditions apply. As of June 10, the Wallow has burned 408,887 acres, mainly in pine forest, and is only 5% contained. Of more than 4,000 residences, 67 have been lost.

A third big Arizona fire, the Murphy Complex, is burning east of Arivaca and west of Tubac. It is moving through grass, shrub and oak habitats, has consumed 68,033 acres, and is now 75% contained.

Given the extreme dryness and unusually windy conditions, it has not been possible simply to extinguish these raging fires. The fire crews have instead had to use all their skill to moderate the fires wherever possible. When the fire jumps lines, control is lost and a much more severe burn results. Where it has been possible to moderate the fires' intensity, a mosaic burn is being achieved. The burn in South Fork was reportedly well-controlled and moderate. Elsewhere, crown fires are causing replacement of entire stands of forest.

One of the major fears about climate change in the Southwest is that forest types such as spruce-fir which need moister conditions will be driven completely off the tops of the mountains. We will lose those refugia and the animals and plants tied to those communities, and thus suffer a loss of richness, a loss of biological wealth.

I have heard scientists' predictions about the changes in store for the Southwest, and about fire being a mechanism for bringing about those changes. But somehow I didn't expect it to happen all at once, in a few short months. Most of us aren't geared to accept drastic change at the speed of light.

Faced with change and crisis, most of us grieve what is lost. We rage. Acting from anger, we assign blame. In the midst of our reactions, we need to be sure that any blame is correctly assigned. It is very difficult to know with 100% certainty who set these fires. (In the case of the Wallow Fire, the cause is thought to be an escaped campfire.) However, authorities do need to recognize the communities' frustration with the matter of designating a cause. On the one hand, the responsible individual may never be known. On the other hand, an employee of the Coronado National Forest told a Portal resident this spring that 12 of the last 18 fires in the Chiricahuas were set by illegal immigrants. By that accounting, Horseshoe Two is fire number 19, and circumstantial evidence points to that same origin. Yet no official statement ever supports what we are told unofficially. That dissonance breeds trouble.

I agree with Rick Taylor that one way to prevent many of these fires is to institute a good workers' program that allows people to enter the country legally for a specified amount of time in order to work. With a legal program in place, participating workers would avoid the hazards of illegal entry, and many fewer people would seek a way through these mountains. And a hypothetical 12 of the next 18 fires might be prevented.

Although most of the community is solidly supportive and appreciative of all that is being done to help, I have come home to find talk of conspiracies between Border Patrol and firefighting agencies. Seeing conspiracy is usually delusional and paranoid. But given the lack of real political discourse, and the use of anything to further a political agenda, the current mistrust of agencies is not surprising. People caught in the middle react, sometimes without logic or solid judgment. We need to rein ourselves in, stay as balanced and calm as possible. Long sieges are very wearing.

The fire crews are willing to face firestorms with the intention of salvaging what can be saved from incineration. They are operating with complete transparency, as anyone who attends the briefings can judge. Blaming the fire-fighting tactics for causing additional damage shows a lack of understanding of what is needed to moderate (and ultimately, contain) the fires during this season of extremes. And to the fire team: if we need to learn more about the rationale behind the strategies in play, please educate us. Knowing more helps to dispel ungrounded fear. (The well-grounded fears are bad enough!)

From South Carolina

2011-06-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

You know you have been around intense fire way too much when you arrive in the gracious Deep South, and see the stately magnolias, and dogwood, and flowering crepe myrtle, and all you really see is ladder fuel. The wide expanses of lawn, however, are cropped so short by foraging lawnmowers that they would never carry a ground fire.

A new Type 1 fire team has rotated in, our third, so we are now in the fifth week of the Horseshoe Two Fire. The new team is headed by Jim Thomas and is based in the Great Basin. They are taking on a fire that has burned 100,200 acres and is only 55% contained. They are entering a community that has been under great stress for a month, after repeated evacuations, and which is stricken by the grievous loss in recent days of a number of our most treasured places, as the fire broke through containment lines and ravished the high country.

Yesterday the fire burned through Methodist Camp, which hosted a symposium on the Sky Islands in 1992. (Our memories are embedded in the landscape.) The structures were saved. Flames were still a couple of miles from Whitetail Canyon when the last fire update was posted.

Some of my friends are upset by the amount of backburning which firefighters have used to try to gain control of this marauding, volatile fire. It is true that the strategy carries risk, and that in some fires, and in less experienced hands, it has done more harm than good. However, in the case of the Horseshoe Two Fire and the extreme conditions we are dealing with, I don't see that there was another real option. In the hands of the Type 1 teams, the backfiring has gone remarkably well. I never believed they could hold the backburns in the howling winds, yet time after time they managed to moderate the fire's intensity and to stop it along a great length of the perimeter.

I would encourage anyone feeling anger at the fire's damage to go to the early morning briefings for the fire teams. You will be listening rather than questioning, but you will gain a more grounded sense of what the crews are facing, and how the strategies are being applied, than you will at the meetings held for the community (although those also can be valuable).

Wrenching News

2011-06-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

I don't think I can report dispassionately the latest developments in the Horseshoe Two Fire, raging in the Chiricahua Mountains. When the fire jumped containment lines near Saulsbury Saddle, it roared through Rustler Park, Onion Saddle, Barfoot Park, and the high ridges so familiar to everyone who has roamed the high Chiricahuas. I am hearing from friends who are heartbroken. It is too soon to know just what has been lost.

In the other direction, fire raced in high winds through the village of Paradise, toward Whitetail Canyon, and Helen reported that last night Jhus Canyon was burning, next to Whitetail. So far people's homes and historic structures like the George Walker House in Paradise have been spared, thanks to thorough preparatory work by fire crews.

After the two weeks of very hard work by Dugger Hughes' Type 1 fire team, they have to feel terribly disheartened at the end of their rotation here, to see the fire escape because two firebrands were thrown by high winds, and started new fires 1.5 and 2 miles away. But without their valiant efforts, the outcome would have been so much worse. We likely would have seen the eradication of communities too.

We have been very focused, understandably, on the crisis in our backyard. Similar fires are raging throughout drought-stricken Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. The Bear Wallow Fire near Alpine AZ just started, and yet blew to over 100,000 acres in just two days, as it roars through pine forest on the Mogollon Rim.

South of the border in Mexico, the entire Sierra Madre Occidental has been going up in flames, and Mexico does not have the resources which we have to deal with fire. So it is all just burning. "Sierra Madre" means the "Mother Mountains" and they are the heart of the habitats we so treasure in the Chiricahuas and other sky islands of the Southwest. The Sierra Madre has been an evolutionary cauldron for New World pine trees, and oaks, and madrones. They are the home of Eared Quetzals, Mountain Trogons, Thick-billed Parrots--and, of course, people.

You can see the extent of the fires on Google Earth. Many Norteamericanos have traveled the rail between Los Mochis and Chihuahua City, which runs through Copper Canyon and Tarahumara country. People in Portal have often sent supplies--ranging from clothes to school supplies to vitamins--to the mission school in Creel (visits which ceased when violence in Mexico escalated to the point that friends in Mexico advised against further trips for the time being). That region is burning. I may have missed something, but so far I haven't seen a single report in US newspapers about the plight of our neighbors to the south and the immense fires they are suffering.

The Border communities that are bearing the brunt of problems associated with illegal trafficking (fires, killings, home break-ins) are also communities with deep ties to Mexico. Many of us have travelled there for decades. We have led tours there, working with Mexican co-leaders. Our schools have exchange programs. Our biologists have worked with Mexican biologists to monitor and conserve species that are important to both countries, whether jaguars, or waterfowl, or parrots, or native fish, or prairie dogs. The cross-border relationship is vibrant, mutually beneficial, and highly valued.

We can affirm our continuing goodwill and friendship with Mexico while still acknowledging the serious border problems. It is important that other regions of the US understand that the border problems are real and must be addressed. Distant problems are all too easy to ignore. Please know that the outcry in Border communities is not based on prejudice, for the most part, but on actual, serious problems, which must be dealt with for the good of the whole country.

Mexicans are and have been our friends, and we lament the crises they are now suffering--crises of drug-related violence, of rampant fire, of economy.

The Long Siege Lengthens

2011-06-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

As we thought we were seeing an end to the fire and its attendant stresses (with containment being predicted for June 22), the Horseshoe Two Fire has broken free of containment lines to move across Rock Creek Canyon and northeast toward Paradise, East Whitetail Canyon, and Chiricahua National Monument. The Monument is temporarily closed to visitors, and residents of Paradise and Whitetail are being evacuated––again, in the case of Paradise. One Whitetail resident was told yesterday that the fire was "still a day away" from her home.

Unexpected high winds caused the fire to jump to the north side of Rock Canyon, generating flame lengths 200 feet high in a veritable firestorm. (At the start of the fire on May 8, Barney Tomberlin––one of Portal's volunteer firemen who tackled the new conflagration––also estimated those initial flames to be 200 feet high and the convection column of smoke to be 20,000 feet high.)

Those appalling flames released embers that caused two new fires to start near Saulsbury Saddle, more than a mile and a half from the containment lines. One of those new fires had grown to 400 acres by yesterday morning.

Firefighters had to disengage from working the line in Rustler Park yesterday because the danger was too great. (Thus far, there have only been 7 injuries, thankfully all minor.)

News from the southwest part of the fire was better: the burnout along a 6-mile stretch of Tex Canyon Road was finished yesterday. That part of the perimeter is more secure, although smoke from the operation was very heavy and contributed to the pall that continues to shroud the northern end of the Chiricahuas, making breathing very uncomfortable and difficult for residents there.

The overall fire size is now 86,140 acres and is considered 50% contained (a drop from yesterday's 75% containment figure). The fire crews had begun to scale back, and now 825 personnel remain of the 900+ that were here a few days ago. With the new menace from the fire, will that scaling back continue?

When a crisis is viewed from a distance (right now, South Carolina), questions multiply. If any of our Portal friends send more information today, I'll post it.

What friends have been sending me is a link to the New York Times article questioning whether the fire was started by illegal immigrants. In the strictest sense, it is an accurate article. The only proof is circumstantial. However, the article also seems to diminish and discount the actual, daily effects of illegal immigration and smuggling on our communities, among them the settlements in and around the Chiricahua Mountains.

I would like to challenge the New York Times to send a reporter to live in one of our Border communities for a year, interacting frequently with Border Patrol, and then to write an investigative article about the real problems caused by illegal traffic of both humans and drugs. It sounds like Pulitzer Prize material to me.

Fire News: Photos of South Fork

2011-06-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

Now at over 70,000 acres, the Horseshoe Two Fire burning in the Chiricahua Mountains has become the 6th largest fire in Arizona history, and is expected to grow to about 90,000 acres before it is contained.

Low-intensity burn in South Fork

(All photos by Rose Ann Rowlett)

Rose Ann Rowlett sent these photos and a report on her recent visit to South Fork, in the company of Linda Peery (USFS biologist), Salek (a hydrologist), and community members Dave Jasper, Richard Webster, John Yerger and Reed Peters. Linda was asking local bird experts their advise on avoiding harm to nesting cavities as the USFS prepares for expected floods during the summer monsoon.

Burn at the South Fork trailhead and picnic area

Burn from the South Fork bridge

A few (not many) mature riparian trees will be removed in South Fork and the main Cave Creek Canyon, in order to protect bridges and the town of Portal from some of the more serious ramifications of flooding. Rose Ann was encouraged by the competence and concern she saw in personnel who will be working with rehabilitation of the canyons.

May 31 fire map

Detail of West Turkey Creek / Saulsbury Saddle region

Detail of area to be burned out in Rucker & Tex Canyons

Current, ongoing burnouts in Rucker and Tex Canyons down to Highway 80 and in the West Turkey Creek area are expected to be completed during the next week, finally achieving containment of this very intense, extensive fire.

Smoke over Portal and Cave Creek Canyon, 31 May 2011

At last night's community meeting, folks from the BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) team talked to the community about measures that they will be taking to help the recovery of the Chiricahuas during the coming year. Right now the team is mapping the burn so they know where the fire burned intensively, moderately or at low intensity.

The monsoon itself will determine what happens in the aftermath of the fire. The best scenario would be a gentle start with patchy rains, moving from lower elevations to upcanyon. The team will advise Cochise County on what needs to be done to protect the town of Portal, which is in the county's jurisdiction, and not the BAER team's. (It will be interesting to see whether local government is as responsive and competent as the federal fire and BAER teams have been.)

Fire crews have accomplished what has often seemed impossible under these windy, dry conditions. The last big winds, Wynne said, gusted to 60 mph! I'm hearing from many people that "they are my heroes!"

A Hard Wind

2011-05-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

I've been encouraged by reports in the past few days that intensity of the Horseshoe Two Fire burning in the Chiricahuas has, for the most part, been carefully managed to achieve a low-to-moderate burn in many of our most treasured locales. The balance between a controlled and a rampant fire, between hope and fear, between panic and calm, has been delicate. The skills of the Type 1 teams and all the support staff have been pitted against the exceedingly dry conditions--and the wind. Always the wind.

Reed Peters reports that today's briefing to the firefighters was more somber than most, because of the danger posed by today's continuing strong wind. It is expected to blow from the southwest at 15-25 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph.

Fire Map on 30 May 2011 (Photos by Wynne Brown)

The main concern is holding the fire line between Saulsbury Saddle and West Turkey Creek, so that it doesn't jump into Pinery Canyon or Whitetail Canyon. One Whitetail resident, Wynne, was cautioned that Whitetail may have to be evacuated if the fire breaches Saulsbury Saddle. In addition, should that happen, the burn size could be as large as 100,000 acres. (Right now it stands at about 60,000 acres.)

High winds will ground even the big helicopters, thus hampering efforts to hold the fire line.

Detail of the Saulsbury Saddle-West Turkey Creek area

Reed writes, "The constant smoke in Portal has been an added factor to everyone's unease. Most nights this past week there was an inversion, with the smoke lying thick in the canyon during the night, and lifting somewhat during the day."

If the fire can be held today, the next few days are forecast to be calmer, so we should get some respite.

The ranchers say that a windy spring is forerunner to a summer monsoon, rather than summer drought. If that truism holds, and the amount of wind is any indication, the monsoon of 2011 should be a humdinger.

A post script: the fire lines held, even with wind gusting in excess of 45 mph! Very good.

Take Heart!

2011-05-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Reed Peters called today with encouraging news about the Horseshoe 2 Fire burning in the Chiricahuas. Dugger Hughes and members of his Type One team feel that they have turned the corner, and are able now to actively manage the fire, instead of just reacting to its twists and turns. That is especially good news in the light of the continuing strong, gusty winds.

Most of the perimeter lines are finished, and ongoing burnouts are moderating the fire's intensity. Lines and burnouts have been holding, even in the high wind. The fire team is cautiously optimistic.

Today South Fork was again an area of concern, as a hotspot there suddenly flared and ignited the opposite slope. Resources were again focused there today to protect this critically important riparian habitat. A burnout is planned for Wednesday at the junction of South Fork and the main Cave Creek Canyon, as well as south of the research station.

Firefighters are continuing to monitor areas like Paradise very closely.

The next major priority will be the southern edge of the active fire, still backing into Rucker and Price Canyons, and expected to burn all the way to Highway 80. Buck Wickham estimated that 60-70% of the fire burning in the trees is doing so at a low intensity, achieving a beneficial burn. That news is good indeed.

The area burned stands at over 44,000 acres.

838 firefighters and support staff are now working on Horseshoe 2--and we thank each one of you! You are doing a magnificent job under very difficult conditions.

Pablum

2011-05-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

My effort to learn more about the current state of the fire from the information officers brought only this pablum:

"Our efforts continue to focus on providing for pubic and firefighter safety and minimizing resource impacts where we can do so safely and effectively."

More will come when I actually learn something!

From Afar

2011-05-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

It has been unsettling trying to keep abreast of the fire news from several states away! As we drove east, smoke followed us deep into New Mexico, until night covered all.

Peg Abbott, Carol Simon and Richard Webster have all published various reports on last night's community meeting. In short, the Horseshoe 2 Fire will be with us until the monsoon rains come. Given the speed and intensity with which it can spread when wind-driven, that is a very alarming prospect.

Burnout operations are being prepared in Rucker Canyon, to try to moderate the fire's intensity. However, from there the fire is likely to burn all the way to Highway 80, the highway that runs south to Douglas.

In the high country, the area burned in the 1994 Rattlesnake Fire is burning again. All of the standing dead snags will be removed when next we are able to return to tha Rustler Park road. That grim reminder of the old fire will be gone, but we'll have plenty of new reminders, and there will be plenty of new snags to be used by nesting bluebirds (when their foraging habitat recovers to the point of allowing their return).

News continues to be good for the burn's progress in South Fork and Cave Creek Canyon. A second blackline is planned for the Herb Martyr area.

The next Type 1 fire team is due to rotate in very soon. The community sends its heartfelt thanks to the people who have been working so hard on behalf of the Chiricahua Mountains and the communities clustered at its feet. We also welcome old friends back to the community: Dugger Hughes was the incident commander who, with his Type 1 team, saw us through a critical period of last year's Horseshoe Fire.

Hope and Ashes

2011-05-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday smoke choked Portal and the north end of the Chiricahuas. Peg and Reed both attended this morning's briefing, and passed on the information to me. I hope to add to this post a fire map and more detail, but for now will write the gist of the report, while trying not to tinge it with the unease that bubbles up whenever we are even one step removed from the groundtruth of an event.

First the positive news: the burn in South Fork continues to go very well, with a low intensity fire backing down the slopes at those points where it has entered the canyon. Much of the lower portion of South Fork is not yet burning.

In the Middle Fork and main Cave Creek Canyon, crews yesterday laid a blackline 300 feet wide and a mile long, stretching from Pogo Hill to near the Herb Martyr picnic area. Frankly, I'm in awe of the skill it must have taken to lay that line without losing control of it, given the wind that raged yesterday afternoon. Strong, gusty wind caused suspension of air operations for much of the afternoon.

In keeping with the Type 1 teams' strategy of long-range planning whenever possible, structures in Paradise are being prepared to face the fire, and a notice warned residents of Paradise that they may have to evacuate in the next 24 hours. Right now, that notice is precautionary, and Paradise is not yet under immediate threat.

The high country is faring badly. Fire is uncontrolled in the southwest corner of Horseshoe Two. The road into Rustler Park has been closed. We expect Saunders Peak, with its old-growth, high-elevation forest, to burn completely. Historic Cima Cabin, built by the CCC, has been wrapped to try to preserve it. That area will also burn.

Now for the big problem: a major wind event is arriving soon. Winds will come from the southwest and are aligning with a number of important drainages. The firefighters expect to see chimneying firestorms, which will torch entire stands of forest. Conditions will be extremely hazardous for firefighters.

To draw back a bit from that very alarming scenario: Bill Edwards, our District Ranger, applied perspective based on the region's fire history. Dendrochronologists like Tom Swetnam at the University of Arizona have studied fire history as recorded in tree rings. Widespread fires have been the norm during years like this, when a very strong monsoon season is followed by an extremely dry winter. Most of the plant communities are fire-adapted and we expect them to recover, given time.

However, mixed coniferous forest which occupies the most mesic, north-facing slopes of the high Chiricahuas, is not fire-adapted. An event like the Horseshoe Two fire could push that community (and its Mexican Chickadees, Yellow-eyed Juncos, and Red-breasted Nuthatches) right off the mountain top. Time will tell.

Last week, I read one of Tom Swetnam's papers. He noted that, although these plant communities are mostly fire-adapted, the frequency of catastrophic fire that we have been seeing in recent years probably has not been equaled in the previous 400-500 years. As fire-adapted as most of our plants are, they are still being terribly stressed, and fire-sterilized soils do not support much plant life for some time.

A second aspect of the Horseshoe Two fire is unnatural: the timing of the fire. Normally our fires are ignited by lightning just before the rains start, and the monsoon soon extinguishes them. (Swetnam thinks that the earlier role of Native Americans in igniting fires is exaggerated.) This fire, ignited almost certainly by illegal immigrants, came too soon.

Horseshoe Two is already the biggest fire to have burned in the Chiricahuas in historic time. With the coming strong winds, it is going to grow much bigger still. Some of the jewels of the range, such as South Fork, appear to be coming through the crisis in a healthy fashion, and that is very good. Much of the rest is--or will soon be--ashes, to be washed away in the flood events that usually follow catastrophic fire.

What then? Wait, hunkered down in the lee of a boulder, for rain and a rebirth?

When times are grim, I turn to art, remembering Nietzsche's words: "We have art so that we shall not die of reality."

The Burn-out in Cave Creek Canyon

2011-05-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

At this morning's briefing, the fire crews were told that the burn-out operation in the South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon is proceeding so far at a low intensity. That is very good news.

After the briefing, with smoke from Horseshoe Two Fire

(Photos by Narca)

Right now our weather is transitioning from a high pressure system (with mild wind) to a major deep pressure system, now building in the Pacific Northwest. As that low pressure system moves across to the north of us, it will bring high winds again. So the crews are doing everything they can in the next two days to accomplish a low-intensity burn-out in critical habitats, before the wind can once again control what happens on the Horseshoe Two fire. The relatively light winds today are predicted for about 10 mph, with gusts to 25 or 30 mph. Winds continue to blow mainly from the southwest.

On the day of origin, Horseshoe Two ran north for about 7 miles during a single day, while in the grip of high winds. Right now the fire is about 2 miles from reaching the American Museum of Natural History's Southwest Research Station. The distance seems small to me (after seeing just what this fire did on the first day!), but the difference now is that the fire teams are in place and actively controlling the intensity and speed of the fire.

Fire map for May 16

Yesterday a team working in the Herb Martyr area found a more direct checkline that they can use to moderate the fire. Repellant has been laid, and preparations continue today to back the fire into the basin. A backing fire burns moderately, with mostly low flame height, and achieves a beneficial burn. A fire rushing uphill is much more extreme and can torch entire stands of trees. So the crews are backing fire into South Fork and into the main Cave Creek Canyon. So far, so good. If work goes as planned, the backburn from the research station area may be lit off tonight.

Today's major operations. Red dots are hotspots. Purple dots were hotspots, now cold.

Conditions remain very dry, and last night there was only a poor recovery of relative humidity, to about 15-16% overnight. It will be back in the single digits today. The fire behavior specialist exclaimed today that this fire continues to surprise him by the way it is following grass fuels, no matter what the wind does. This is anomalous behavior, due to the extreme dryness of fuels. Today's probability of ignition will range from around 80% when cloud cover is present, to 100% when the clouds burn off. (That is the measure of how likely a fire brand is to ignite more fire, should it land on fuel.) This anomalous behavior increases the risk to firefighters.

To the north, east, and south, the fire perimeter is holding very well and getting cold. The burn-out to Horseshoe Canyon road has been completed and the fire team is happy with how it went. Patrols check these areas regularly.

The black borders on this map are considered secure.

Most of the fire activity continues to be in the western region. Aerial ignition will continue along ridges in the vicinity of the fire's spread, to slow it by creating fires that back down the ridges to meet the main fire. Terrain in the high country is very difficult to work from the ground, so air operations are focused there. Snowshed Peak has burned, and the fire has not yet reached Chiricahua Peak.

Teams will be visiting Paradise today and evaluating the readiness of homes there, in case the fire gets away from us during the next high winds.

The statistics are these: 26,502 acres burned; 20% containment so far; 630 people working with the fire crews; and a total of $4.4 million spent so far.

A newspaper article which ran yesterday in a Tucson paper's online edition stated unequivocally that illegal immigrants started the Horseshoe Two fire. Apparently Border Patrol agents had tracked four illegal aliens to the point of origin of the fire. Much of the article was biased, but the assertion is correct that the fire was checked from burning into Portal on the first day by the large, heavily-grazed pasture of the Three Triangle Ranch, although the bulldozer line put in by the fire crew also was important. I walked part of the bulldozer line, and it is obvious that part of the fire stopped there.

My reporting on this blog is going to change after today. Alan and I are leaving for a trip to Eastern habitats. Raymond VanBuskirk will stay in our home while we are gone, and he, Peg Abbott, and Reed Peters will continue to attend the early morning briefings whenever possible, and send new information that I can post when internet connections allow. You will be treated to new perspectives on events here. I, however, won't have the same personal grasp on developments that comes from attending the meetings and observing firsthand how well a really skilled, professional fire team handles a crisis like this one. Together with my friends, we'll do our best to keep everyone informed.

Leaving right now is very difficult, yet I do need to get out of the smoke, and we have been planning to see faraway friends and family for some time. We are, at least, leaving the outcome in good hands.

The Better Scenario

2011-05-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

At tonight's public meeting, those gathered received a realistic appraisal of the current state of the Horseshoe Two fire, with an emphasis on how it can work if everything goes right.

As I said in an earlier post, the term "burn-out" is scary. And a burn-out is planned for South Fork and a portion of Cave Creek Canyon, as far down the canyon's north-facing slope as the main road. However, it is not a question of lighting a new fire that will rush upslope to meet the one now burning down. The Type 1 team's full skill is being directed at controlling the intensity of the fire and setting up checkpoints where the possibility exists to limit its spread.

Here is how that strategy is being applied in South Fork: the crews first laid down retardant where they wanted to limit the fire's spread, and then lit a fire along the unburned ridge above South Fork, opposite the burned slope. The newly set fire then burned slowly downhill and met the upcoming fire. After a day or two of applying this strategy, a mostly beneficial burn is being achieved in upper South Fork. We don't yet know the final outcome, but so far the plan is working in that spot.

South Fork is being burned out, but every attempt is being made to keep the burn at as low an intensity as possible.

Smoke from South Fork at sunset, May 15

(Photo by Narca)

The next step being prepared is aimed at checking the fire at the research station in Cave Creek Canyon. Lines are being laid, but it is too soon to light a backfire there just yet. First the fire burning towards Cave Creek has to get close enough that the backfire doesn't cause more problems than it solves when it is lit. So at the moment teams are waiting in that region until they judge the balance to be just right for meeting the oncoming fire. The backfiring could happen as soon as tomorrow, depending on developments.

The teams are under pressure to accomplish as much as possible before the next bouts of strong wind arrive. We've gained a little purchase here: the high winds originally predicted for Monday are now expected on Wednesday, so we've been gifted two extra days before the wind could again gust to 45 mph.

That is a quick update. I plan to attend tomorrow morning's briefing to the fire crews as well, and will photograph the most recent fire map for you.

Sobering Times

2011-05-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

O'Leary, remember when the drought a few years back was especially intense, and you organized a rain dance among the ladies of Portal and Rodeo... and it rained? We really, really need another rain dance.

My dear friends, my community, as you will hear at this evening's 6 PM meeting at the Rodeo Community Center, the fire has progressed to a very serious turning point, triggering a shift in strategy among the firefighters. Horseshoe 2 has crossed the bottom of South Fork and is now burning uphill toward the Herb Martyr Road, the Southwest Research Station, and Cave Creek Canyon. Firefighters have retrenched, and the new checkline along this northwest fire perimeter will be the road through Cave Creek Canyon.

Fire Map at crew briefing on May 15, 2011

With the exceedingly dry fuels and winds predicted from the southwest, blowing steadily at about 10 mph and gusting to 25 mph, there is little hope of stopping the fire before Cave Creek Canyon. Our best hope lies in slowing the fire's advance and in reducing its intensity through very careful, very patient back-burning. This back-firing will be happening today in the Herb Martyr area and possibly in Cave Creek Canyon. (I wasn't clear about when the Cave Creek Canyon portion of the blacklining will begin.) All homes within the threatened area have protection in place.

Detail of fire map at crew briefing on May 15, 2011

From the main Cave Creek Canyon road, the firefighters will attempt (against the wind) to deflect the fire from the lower canyon and into the high country, to keep it away from Portal. They will also attempt to hold the fire along a ridge coming off Centella Peak, in order to keep it out of the East Turkey Creek drainage.

Positive accomplishment can be reported from the southern perimeter, where partial burn-outs north of Horseshoe Canyon Road continue to be conducted, and that line has been holding. More remains to be done, and crews hope to have a chance to do more firing there tonight, before wind strengthens again on Monday. The eastern perimeter and northernmost boundary remain secure.

The current plan is to hold the fire south of the Cave Creek Canyon road, east of Chiricahua Peak, north of Horseshoe Canyon Road, and west of State Line Road.

The community may be facing more evacuations in upper Cave Creek Canyon over the next few days, particularly around the research station. I expect that matter will be addressed at this evening's meeting. Hold together, everyone. If you are in the area now threatened, please be prepared to leave, taking your animals, your valuable papers and computer, any irreplaceable pictures, and prescriptions. If you need help or feel overwhelmed, please let others know. We'll take care of each other, and pull through this.

Today's numbers: 22,110 acres burned; 20% containment; 614 people working on the fire; no structures lost; 3 injuries, 2 of them apparently sprained ankles.

Expect the fire behavior to be very active today and tomorrow. It's a time of testing for us. Reach out if you need to.

Progress on Horseshoe 2 Fire

2011-05-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

[If you've noticed that a couple of my most recent posts have disappeared, it is because Google's blogging platform was compromised, and has been out of commission for about a day. I'm hoping that the missing posts will reappear soon.]

Last night the most obvious (and spectacular) development in the Horseshoe Two fire happened along the south part of the eastern perimeter, where crews burned out land between Owl Butte Road and the oncoming fire. (Local residents who were blanketed in smoke, take heart: there was a bonus in addition to protection. Your road, at least, is now graded!) Results were excellent, and the eastern and northern areas of the fire perimeter are no longer considered dangerous. Today teams will be mopping up there, patrolling and extinguishing hot spots.

Alicia and Tom Davidson, and their mini-horses, live in the back-burned area. They reported a frightening night of fire, but also found the firefighters to be very professional and skilled, to the extent that they were even able to sleep once everything was underway.

A map of the Horseshoe 2 Fire on May 13, showing how it dwarfs and has curled around last year's Horseshoe Fire.

The most active and most worrisome corner continues to be in the southwest: holding it is key to holding the fire, and it is now the number one priority. Part of that corner (upper South Fork) fronts against the 1994 Rattlesnake burn, and a combination of the old burn and high cliffs are holding that edge rather well. But the fire is trying to spread south and west from the old burn, in country that is exceedingly difficult to enter. Today while the wind is calm and air support can be used, the fire team is dropping water there to slow the spread. You can see the critical points on this map.

Detail of fire map on May 13, 2011

Another worry is the finger of fire reaching into upper South Fork (indicated on the map above, "Major effort here too"). A crew hiked into South Fork yesterday to reconnoiter, and today they will anchor a line between two cliffs to attempt to stop that advance.

Along Horseshoe Canyon Road, crews will continue to build fire lines today and to prepare for burning from the road and fire lines, back to the spreading fire, to contain it there at the southern perimeter.

Up in the northwest, fire is slowly backing down into Cave Creek Canyon at Cathedral Rock, but it has not yet reached the point where it can be dealt with directly.

As for the numbers, 14,700 acres are estimated to have burned so far, and containment stands at 15%. 602 people have now come to join the effort. Today in the air attack, two heavy water tankers are on loan from Ft. Huachuca. In addition, 2 light, 2 medium and 3 heavy helicopters are working.

Bill Edwards, USFS District Ranger, addresses the firefighters

(Photos by Narca)

Bill Edwards, the Douglas District Ranger for the Coronado National Forest, talked to the fire crews at this morning's briefing about the biological value of what they are fighting to save. Initially the focus was on saving homes and the village of Portal, as the greatest threat loomed there. Now that the public is relatively safe, and the fire has entered deeper into the Chiricahuas, the focus has shifted to minimizing the damage that this fire could do to the rich biodiversity. Bill spoke to the firefighters of the biological significance of the Chiricahua Mountains, of the high density of nesting raptors here, of the rare plant and animal communities, "so that you will know what you are fighting for." That biodiversity is also a primary economic base for communities in southeast Arizona.

Fire is a natural element in the local ecology. What isn't natural is the frequency of unseasonal, human-caused, catastrophic fire we've been experiencing. I've been researching fire ecology and adaptations to fire, and want to get into that in a later post. But for now, one tidbit of information lightens my heart: Arizona Madrone is indeed fire-adapted. Many of the burned madrone trees should root-sprout after fire. So although we may have lost some magnificent old-growth madrones when the north face of Portal Peak (behind my home) burned a few days ago, at least some of them should survive. It may be a few years before they bear berries again, but eventually Portal Peak will once more have food in the autumn for trogons and Eared Quetzals. (It was here that we found the only Eared Quetzal to be recorded so far on a US Christmas Bird Count, back in the winter of 1999-2000.)

Portaleños Come Home

2011-05-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Overall, the news about the Horseshoe Two Fire is positive. Threat to the Portal area of the Chiricahua Mountains has lessened to the point that residents were allowed to return home this morning. We have all been unloading and unpacking!

Wind has subsided greatly, aiding firefighters today in their efforts to control the conflagration, estimated at this morning's briefing to be 10% contained.

The greatest fire activity now is at the southern perimeter, where fire has crossed south of the road into Horseshoe Canyon. Today's milder winds are predicted to come from the west, a shift in direction, and to gust up to 20 mph at the peaks, a big improvement over the past two days. A concern voiced this morning was that westerly wind could push the southeastern perimeter into grassy lowlands, a very "flashy" fuel type, and create another strong run of fire. Hence, preparations are underway in that area to build fire lines, including back-burning if possible into the oncoming fire, to create a fire line that will hold.

On the western perimeter, fire was rolling downhill into Cave Creek Canyon between Cathedral Rock and Skull Rock, and the fire crew today set out to anchor a fireline between those two sheer cliffs, to prevent (we all hope) further incursion into Cave Creek Canyon.

After this dry winter, the moisture content of both dead and live fuels is very low, and probability of ignition is estimated at 85%. So far about 10,000 acres have burned.

Tonight a formal briefing is scheduled for 6 PM Arizona time at the Rodeo Community Center.

Our friends in Rodeo have really come through, showing great kindness and hospitality to all of us evacuees. Izzy and Ramon Escobar, Izzy's sister, and other Rodeo folk have manned the Rodeo Community Center's evacuation center and cooked all the food given to people who sought refuge from the fire. Izzy said that they never had to ask for any supplies, because donations began to arrive immediately from all over the region, without anyone's asking. The Food Basket, an organization in the Sulphur Springs Valley, provided us with ample food. The American Red Cross provided cots and bedding. And our good friends in Rodeo provided the labor, the organizational skills, and many, many offers of spare beds. Thank you so very much! Those tasty meals and cozy beds kept us going, and your concern and camaraderie met a different kind of need.

Although the threat here at the north end of the fire is now much less, the fire is far from over, and people living in other parts of the Chiricahuas (indeed, in the entire Southwest) may still face the situation we have just come through. And our firefighters are still fighting a very dangerous fire.

Here at the northern perimeter, the bulldozer operator and his crew, who put in the fire line 1/3 mile above our home and the Luckadoo's, did so in the midst of raging fire and high wind. They carefully judged just when the dozer could plow a little further, and then quickly pulled him back whenever gusts of high wind brought a surge of flame too close. This is dangerous work. Only the willingness of these firefighters to put themselves in peril saved our homes. They are continuing to work on this very treacherous Horseshoe Two Fire... and this is just the beginning of what has already been an exceedingly volatile fire season throughout the Southwest.

How can we possibly thank them for what they are willing to do to help other people and to safeguard as much as possible our greatly treasured landscapes like the Chiricahuas, teeming with wildlife?

You will never hear it officially, but the origin of this Horseshoe Two Fire and last year's Horseshoe Fire is identical, near Burro Springs, along a trail frequented by illegal immigrants and drug runners--and only rarely by hikers. So when, exactly, are we going to solve our immigration problems?

What Today Brings

2011-05-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today has been busy--apologies for the delay in posting!

Like other friends who are having nightmares about the Horseshoe Two fire, I woke with a searing mental image of our house, engulfed in flames. That worry, fortunately, was far from reality. Last night's very cool, calmer weather dampened fire activity considerably, and when I rushed outside at dawn, the Chiricahuas, viewed from Rodeo, lay serene in the dawnlight, no longer smoke-shrouded.

John Roser and I attended this morning's briefing to the fire teams. Yesterday's accomplishments included work to clear the fire lines which had been established during last year's Horseshoe One fire, plus hand work to establish fire lines deemed the most urgent. High winds limited use of aviation, although some drops of water and slurry occurred before they had to be discontinued. (A big orange patch decorates the hillside just behind our house.) Very importantly, a bulldozer cut a line just above the Luckadoo's and our houses, and that line stopped the fire spread, likely saving our homes and those of other people living below us. (The fire came within about a quarter-mile of our place.)

At the briefing, the meteorologist predicted a "red flag" day, from noon till about 7 PM. Winds were expected to be similar to yesterday's, with gusts up to 50 mph. And it is indeed windy, but up until now it has seemed slightly calmer (but windy now!).

Today's major concerns are two: the fire is very close to wrapping around the southern end of last year's Horseshoe Fire. Teams will attempt to prevent that. Should it happen, South Fork and all of Cave Creek Canyon would be extremely vulnerable.

The second major vulnerability is the north edge, close to Portal, and resources will be focused there as well. During the day today, that region has looked reassuring.

The western edge of the active fire is being held by a combination of last year's burn and the rocky cliffs. The eastern edge, fronting Rodeo and the San Simon Valley, is less worrisome because the fuels are substantially less. The goal is to hold that line at State Line Road, with protection of course for all structures west of that line.

I have a photo of this morning's fire map and will post it as soon as I can get to a computer besides the iPad! It shows the new fire, after little more than a day, dwarfing last year's Horseshoe Fire, which burned under much wetter conditions for weeks! This map has also been posted at local information centers, such as the board at the Portal Store.

After the outcome of today's strong winds is known, the recommended evacuation will be re-evaluated. Stay safe, everyone!

The First of Many Meetings

2011-05-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

At tonight's meeting with the Forest Service and firefighters from the Type 1 fire team, the Rodeo-Portal community learned the team's current basic strategy for dealing with the Horseshoe Two fire. This fire is a handful, as many are proving to be across the West, where extremely dry and windy conditions prevail. In one day, Horseshoe Two has burned about as much ground as last year's Horseshoe Fire accomplished in weeks. That is an astonishing contrast.

Last night as Alan and I loaded our two vehicles with our most valued items, the fire lit the night so that I did not need a flashlight to avoid rattlesnakes, and the fire roared constantly in the background. (Miles away in Rodeo, DiAnn Matteson was also hearing that roar.)

Given the active fire behavior and erratic winds gusting up to 50 mph, the firefighters' professionalism and hard work is already striking: they were able to restrain the fire's movement today along the active eastern and northern perimeters, and so far have protected the homes in the fire's path (ours being one of them). Considering the extreme conditions, they did remarkably well.

Along the fire's western edge it is burning into last year's burn, and that is slowing it down, so that it has stayed thus far along the crest. Although flames were visible from the research station, it did not move into Cave Creek Canyon today. Because of the previous burn and current wind direction, the eastern and northern edges are the most active fronts for the moment.

Tomorrow we face another day of high winds. If that challenge can be successfully met, the next few days should give us a bit of a break as the wind lessens.

Neighbors are helping each other, offering a place to stay to evacuees, being sure that those less able to deal with hauling belongings are secure. A heartfelt thanks to all for your generosity and hospitality, and to the emergency teams who are steering us skillfully through rough days.

If I learn more at tomorrow's briefing, I'll add another post. We in the Chiricahuas appreciate all the concern being expressed by the larger community... and we certainly empathize with other communities across the West who are facing what may be the most extreme fire season in memory.

Horseshoe 2 Report

2011-05-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

After thinking the fire was so far away, we got a midnight call to evacuate, at first said to be mandatory where we live a couple of miles from Portal. (Actually, Arizona does not have mandatory evacuations.) People in Portal proper received the same call about 3 AM. Fire fighters are beginning their work. A type one team has arrived and they worked on their plan early this morning. Roads are being closed.

Alan and I spent most of the night packing artwork, computers etc, then drove to the base of the hill and tried to sleep in the car for an hour or so. Soon, too soon, a red sun burned in the east. The fire was still above our house, so we returned briefly for a shower and breakfast.

Fire has burned about 8000 acres, the entire northeast face of the Chiricahuas in a single 24 hour period. It was burning about a half mile directly above our house when we went back up for breakfast. Rumor is that flames were also visible from SWRS. Wind is gusty. I found wireless at Chiricahua Desert Museum, to make this post, but will have to add photos later.

Evacuation

2011-05-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

In haste, as we just received a midnight call to evacuate. The flames are indeed visible from our house as the fire approaches the environs of Portal. Time to pack the computer!

Horseshoe 2 Fire: Deja Vu

2011-05-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today a fire began in the Chiricahuas and quickly blew into a large burn. It apparently began in upper Horseshoe Canyon, close to the origin of last year's Horseshoe Fire, and is being called Horseshoe 2. A Type 1 fire team has been dispatched and will arrive here in the morning.

Horseshoe 2 Fire on 8 May 2011; the peak on the left is Portal Peak.

(Photo by Narca)

Last year, the fire started in a very menacing fashion, and then settled after a few days into a relatively sedate, well-mannered burn. But last year we'd had a winter of very high rainfall, and the vegetation was wet.

This year, conditions are vastly different, after an extremely dry winter. Winds have been blowing all spring, and are forecast to continue to be sustained this week, with gusts predicted at 45 MPH.

The Sulphur Canyon area lies downwind, and homes in that area are being evacuated right now. We are of course worried about our friends and neighbors in the fire's path.

No lightning has been detected; the fire is almost certainly human-caused.

Tom Arny very aptly characterized the view of the fire from Rodeo as "apocalyptic."

Uh-oh: our neighbor 1/2 mile away was just told to evacuate. The wind has shifted and the fire is "completely out of control."

Hermit Thrushes

2011-05-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

We're seeing two races of Hermit Thrushes right now in the Chiricahuas, slipping quietly along the edges of trails.

Hermit Thrush taxonomy is complicated and unresolved, with roughly 10 races. Whatever the finer divisions, they do resolve into three basic groups: the bright Eastern forms, with their tawny flanks; the grayer, paler subspecies of the interior mountain West; and the more variable races of the Pacific Coast.

When we're used to seeing one of the races, a different form can easily fool us into thinking we're seeing a different species of thrush. Look for the warm reddish tones on the tail!

Auduboni is the race that breeds in the high mountains of southeast Arizona, where their ethereal songs lend a special magic to dawn and dusk in the forest. Other than that, I haven't fit our birds into their appropriate groups yet, but have noticed this: the thrushes that overwinter are very pale, with light spotting on their breasts. Here is a photo from today's walk of our familiar race.

A paler, local race of Hermit Thrush (Photos by Narca)

And for the past three weeks or so, this darker, brighter, more heavily spotted migrant has been coming through. These photos, also taken today along the trail from Sunny Flat Campground in Cave Creek Canyon, show the migrant Hermit Thrush.

If any Hermit Thrush expert would like to shed light on exactly what we're seeing, please do!

Whatever the name of the race, the Hermit Thrush's song is arrestingly beautiful. Listen for it during nesting season!

Red-faced Warblers

2011-04-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

... Someone is watching us!

Red-faced Warbler (Photos by Narca)

Red-faced Warblers are truly stunning. They are arriving now in the Chiricahuas, although many of them are still foraging at low elevations or moving with big mixed flocks in the higher mountains. Soon they will settle down on their breeding territories in the higher Chiricahuas, where they are most likely to be encountered in montane forest near streams and on cooler, north-facing slopes.

Soon the females will arrive (as with many migrant passerines, the males arrive first) and very quickly will choose their nest sites and begin to construct nests in holes in the ground.

Male Red-faced Warblers, like this one, are slightly brighter than females.

The BNA account by Thomas Martin and Patricia Barber mentions that males have never been seen helping the females to build a nest, although they will sometimes build an alternate nest nearby, which isn't used for breeding. Usually the nests are completely concealed, often by a roof of vegetation, a log, or a rock. Here the females lay their clutches of about 4 or 5 eggs. Occasionally an unrelated female will slip an egg into another female's nest.

Cover art for the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas

(Acrylics by Narca)

The young warblers fledge about 12 days after they hatch, but remain dependent upon their parents for tasty insects for perhaps a week. Estimates suggest that 75% of broods are successfully raised to fledging––a high rate of productivity!

Owls, Tiny and Merely Small

2011-04-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last night, Dave Jasper and I joined Gerry, Peter, and their friends from the West Midland and West Sussex bird clubs in Britain, in search of two of the special owls of Cave Creek Canyon––the Whiskered Screech Owl (a denizen of Mexico's oak-pine forests, which barely reaches the US) and the Elf Owl (imagine a lilliputian owl the size of a sparrow!).

The sycamores around the Portal post office are a traditional territory of Elf Owls, with generations of owls at that site having entertained and amazed generations of birders. This year we have a quandary. Last winter's storms broke off the branch which sheltered the most recently-used nest cavity. We have not known, until now, which cavity the Elf Owls would choose next for their chick-rearing.

As we approach the area at dusk, the Elf Owls are already vocalizing, and Dave and I home in on their calls. An owl drops from a high cavity in a nearby sycamore, and we can see the female's tiny visage at the new nest entrance. The male quickly returns to give her prey, most likely an insect he has caught.

An Elf Owl with Katydid Prey (Watercolor by Narca)

This new nest isn't quite as close and in-your-face as last year's, but it's easily visible from a public area, and thankfully not on the back side of the trunk. (These owls are quite used to seeing people, and not in the least fazed by their celebrity. The proof is in the owlets that fledge each year.) So, in Portal, the season's nightly Elf Owl show begins!

We continue up into Cave Creek Canyon to look for the Whiskered Screech Owls. Their habitat overlaps a bit with that of Western Screech Owls. The Whiskereds are usually higher in the canyon. When we arrive at a stopping point, we hear the Whiskereds as soon as we step out of the van. This territory, too, is familiar: it has also been used by generations of owls. I've never seen this nest, but Dave knows the nest site from his years of helping Helen Snyder to comb the canyon for owl nests––research that established Cave Creek Canyon as the place with the highest known density of nesting raptors in North America, about five times the density of the Snake River Birds of Prey Area in Idaho.

Soon Dave's flashlight (AKA torch to the Brits) catches the gleam of eyeshine from the calling Whiskered Screech Owl, and the group enjoys a lingering look at the lovely little owl, his beak clearly greenish-yellow instead of having the blackish cast of a Western Screech Owl's bill.

Whiskered Screech Owl at a Day Roost

(Watercolor by Narca)

The magic continues with an unproductive stop for Common Poor-wills, but with a magnificent field of stars overhead, here under some of the darkest skies in North America.

Sycamores in the deep of night (Photo by Narca)

I am also impressed anew upon seeing Dave's skills, acquired through years of guiding all the kids at Camp Chiricahua, applied so effectively to adults. (Hey––I fell into line! And so did the owls!)

Snakes!

2011-04-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been very full, all days afield with friends and clients. A few days ago on the road to Barfoot Park, high in the Chiricahuas, a faint buzzing like an angry bee announced the presence of a tiny Twin-spotted Rattlesnake (Crotalus pricei) at our feet, doing its best to get out of the way. (We let it!)

Twin-spotted Rattlesnake (Photos by Narca)

Then today's hike with Alan, Carol Comeau, and John Roser on the Ash Springs loop brought a close encounter with one of the most beautiful of snakes, the Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana). John spotted it: he tends to look down for snakes; I am usually looking up!

This mimic of the Western Coral Snake is usually diurnal and, when it emerges from under rocks, is on the move, for it actively searches for food instead of waiting in ambush for prey to pass by. Sonoran Mountain Kingsnakes feed mainly on rodents and small lizards. We see only a few each year, so this one was a treat!

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake

We had been worried that the extreme deep freeze experienced by the region this winter may have killed many reptiles. A few species, like Clark's Spiny Lizards, may have been especially vulnerable because of their hibernation habits, and we have yet to see any of those emerge. But at least the state-protected Twin-spots and the fabulous Sonoran Mountain Kingsnakes seem to have survived the extreme cold snap.

A Cautionary Tale

2011-04-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

B Alvarius's comment from last post reminded me of a modern day Tall Tale, set in the bootheel of New Mexico at what was then called the Gray Ranch, a fabled ranch sprawled across the Continental Divide, which 20 years ago was owned by The Nature Conservancy. TNC found a partner, a private foundation, to take over ownership and management, because the Gray was too expensive an acquisition to keep. Its cost impacted all their other programs, across the board, and finding a new owner who held the same vision for the land became a high priority. They were in the midst of that search when Alan and I arrived to live on the ranch as volunteers, helping TNC mainly with docent and science programs.

High on the list of prospective new owners were Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, just married. Indeed, they spent their honeymoon at the ranch. (Later, on occasions when Alan and I stayed in "their" room, it was rather like sleeping at an inn in a bed once occupied by Abraham Lincoln.)

Jane thoroughly charmed everyone at the ranch, mainly by simple kindness shown to all. Our friend Ben was thrilled to have the honor of taking her around the Gray, and showing her the flora and fauna. It was the time of year when the luscious, red cactus fruits were fully ripe, and Ben was explaining that they were edible, quite tasty in fact. Jane expressed interest in trying one, so Ben speared one with his pocket knife and set about peeling it. When he turned to present it to Jane, he was horrified to see that she had just plucked one and was popping it, unpeeled, into her mouth!

Cactus fruits are just as spiny as the rest of the plant. The spines just aren't big, and they are very hard to see. These minute glochids grow in clusters across the entire surface of the fruit. Unpeeled, a cactus fruit is big trouble! Ben said that they spent the rest of the day, to his utter dismay, trying to remove the glochids from Jane's mouth!

Flowering Cane Cholla, source of the culprit fruit

(Photos by Narca)

In addition to that folly was Ted's memorable comment. On a later trip, the TNC manager Geoff took him on a long 4-wheel-drive outing around the ranch's Animas Mountains. It is the sort of road that can break an axle, and it took them all day to reach the Culberson Camp at the southern end of the mountains, via the long route. (There is much quicker access, too!)

The Culberson is an old adobe with no electricity and with walls two feet thick. A windmill pumps water for the house. Originally the headquarters of the Culberson Ranch, it was incorporated into the Gray when George Hearst and his partner were cobbling together the immense ranch. The Culberson also served as the requisitioned headquarters of General "Black Jack" Pershing, when he was pursuing Pancho Villa across the Borderlands.

Alan and I lived at the Culberson during our year on the Gray Ranch, and we were living there when Turner visited.

When Geoff and Ted Turner bounced into the yard of the Culberson after their long drive through the wilderness of the Animas Mountains, Ted took one look at the old adobe and said, "You'd really have to get along with your wife to live here!"

Culberson Camp in winter, on the Gray Ranch

Sign of the Times

2011-04-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last month, we stopped at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on our way home to Portal. The park newsletter was organized differently this year. Several wide columns sported headings such as:

"What To Do if You Have 1/2 Hour" in the park... "1 hour"... "2 or 3 Hours"

A half-hour?! Oh my. A little rushed, are we?

A young Organ Pipe Cactus, Stenocereus thurberi

(Photo by Narca)