We spent a great five days with Beth and Aaron. We arrived on Thursday. Friday was an off day, laundry and catch up. Saturday Aaron drove all of us to Golden Canyon east of Phoenix to the Arizona Renaissance Fair. Fun and interesting people watching!
Sunday we went to Bisbee to pick up a few things there. Bisbee is starting to change again. There was a fire there last winter and between insurance increases and fire mitigation plans, buildings are being sold and businesses are closing.
Monday we went birding at San Pedro House on the San Pedro river. Saw a bunch of good birds including great views at a cooperative black hawk.
I did not take one photo the whole time we were there!
On Wednesday, we moved a whole 57 miles to Patagonia Lake State Park, 6 miles north of Nogales and the border. We were here on our first trip out two years ago. This is a dammed up lake of Sonoita Creek, which is a year-round spring fed creek. So there is tons of bird and wildlife along the creek course. We were here in Feb last time. There are a lot more birds around this time. The park runs bird walks every Friday on their nature trails and we had a good one.
The lake and cottonwood trees
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| Big cottonwood along the creek |
The town of Patagonia is about 5,000 souls. Patagonia is the starting point of the 800 mile Arizona Trail so there are lots of hikers bikers and trekkers around. A couple of galleries, some restaurants and a hotel. Not much to it, but kind of a cool, hippy place. There is a LOT of conserved land around, Nature Conservancy, Audubon and State lands. You can hike the 6 miles from Patagonia town to the state park if you have a mind to.
One of the really cool things that is there is the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. This is a great place for birds of all kinds but especially hummers. The day we were there was cool - high 50's and there were probably 35-40 hummingbirds trying to stay warm by sucking down nectar. It was just incredible to see and hear them.
One day we went up the ridge looking for petroglyphs. Didn't find them, but came down the trail to the creek and into a whole pack of Coatimundi, an odd animal that's a cross between a lemur and a raccoon. There were about 20 of them overhead in the cottonwoods and they went down the trees and up onto the ridge. This youngster got left behind and we watched as he caught up to them. We have been trying to see these incredible animals since our last trip and finally did. Yay!
Saturday we went to Tumacácori Historic Park and Tubac Presidio State Park. Tumacácori has a mission history, first settled by the Pima people and Catholocized by Jesuits and then Franciscans. Tubac Presidio was a fort off and on for a couple hundred years. Interesting for sure.The Prisidio is Arizona's first state park. It is currently surrounded by the town of Tubac and an area full of galleries, jewelry stores and chichi restaurants. Not anything I expected to find there. Tumacácori seems like Tubac's poor relation.
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| Tumacácori facade, bell tower on the right |
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| Interior Sacristy |
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| Carved Door detail |
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| Entry. Amazing doors |
Some of the birds we have seen. All bird photos by Steve.
Roof vigas and shade structure made of ocotillo! Ouch.
Inca Dove
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| Green Tail Towhee |
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| Violet Crowned Hummer |
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| Lazuli Bunting |
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| Black Chinned Hummer |
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| Broad billed hummer, the most numerous |
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| Anna's hummer (I think...) |
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| Cassin's Kingbird |
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| Vermillion Flycatcher |
If you have made it this far...Patagona is a good state park, popular on the weekends with families. It really packs up in the summer I am told. $35/night water and electric. Heated bathrooms, hot showers.
Tomorrow we head to just northwest of Tuscon to a Pima County Park that is just up the road from the Sonora Desert Museum. We will be there until the 11th and then head to Rimrock and Sharon and Kyle's for a week.
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