January 29, 2024 to January 31, 2024
Leaving Arizona
Monday
Catching up a bit, let’s record that two days back Rachael took advantage of her last day before her tooth extraction with a hike to Tumamoc Hill and back, getting in some last exercise before she needs to slow down for perhaps the next week. While she’s doing that, I make my last shot at bumping up my bird count before leaving the state by making a final pass through both Silverbell Lake and Sweetwater before biking home by way of Rillito Wash.
Did I find a new bird? No, I did not find a new bird, so the YTD talley stands at 87 - a number that I’m very pleased with anyway. When we left last year I’d seen only 57, so I’m over 50% up on last year’s pace. And, today I set what I think must be a personal best single day result, seeing 42 different species. A momentous day, so I might as well record them:
- At Silverbell Lake (1-20): Great-tailed grackle, American coot, Pied-billed grebe, Great blue heron, Neotropic cormorant, Redhead, Canvasback, Gadwall, Ruddy duck, Ring-necked duck, Ladder-backed woodpecker, Verdin, Abert’s towhee, Northern shoveler, Snow goose, Mallard, Vermillion Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned kinglet, House finch, Gila woodpecker
- At Sweetwater (21-33): White-crowned sparrow, Red-tailed hawk, Lesser goldfinch, Gambel’s quail, Spotted sandpiper, Green heron, Common gallinule, Cinnamon teal, Northern pintail, Yellow-rumped warbler, Song sparrow, Black phoebe, Bufflehead
- Elsewhere (34-42): Rockdove, Mourning Dove, Phenopepla, Cooper’s hawk, Northern mockingbird, Brewer’s blackbird, English sparrow, European Starling, Anna’s hummingbird
And a few photos, because there should be a few; and they make a nice spacer for the next section:
Tuesday
So then yesterday was E-day, when the dentist rids Rachael of her meddlesome premolar. She knows it will be no fun, so she prepares herself for unpleasantness in her usual way by assuming the worst; and as usual she’s pleasantly surprised afterwards to find that it wasn’t as bad as anticipated. The pain is manageable, the swelling is minimal, and she looks basically her normal self (i.e., great!) once the anesthesia wears off and the slumped right side of her face straightens out again. You and she will both appreciate that we’re not seeing a photo here of her slumped face, looking like a Picasso portrait.
Little of consequence happened for the rest of the day other than her taking it easy, me hanging around for moral and material support, and starting to pack up for tomorrow’s long drive to San Diego. Toward the end of the day though I took a pass on Rachael’s soft food diet yogurt and scrambled eggs and drove over to Bacio for a pizza and glass of wine. Sitting at an outside counter on a blissfully warm evening, I was feeling regrets over the fact that we’re leaving this place so soon.
When I got home I went inside to deliver the frozen gelato bar I picked up for Rachael after dinner and then immediately grabbed her phone to go back outside for a shot of the fourth spectacular sunset we’ve seen here in the last four days. Like I said, we’re going to miss this place when we leave.
Wednesday
It’s a 400 mile, six hour drive to San Diego - longer than we like to take, but one that goes as well as we can hope for. Traffic is fast and minimal most of the way, and weather is perfect for a long drive - dry, fair, but partly overcast toward the end so the afternoon glare biking into the sun isn’t bad. We get an early start and are on the road by 7:30, and stop only for breakfast in Gila Bend, gas in Yuma, and a stop at the rest station at the summit above Julian just before the drop to the coast. Rachael’s quite happy with her breakfast choice, a tall stack of soft, easy-chew pancakes that she saves half of for later. I’m less taken with the Space Age Restaurant’s take on a Denver omelet, gooey with American cheese. And I’m really unhappy with myself when we walk from the car to the restaurant and I find the Tucson street parking pass in my pocket. Our host only asked two things of us on departure - leave the dishes in the sink, and leave the parking pass on the table. Idiot.
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Now that we’re in San Diego, I think we’re a little disappointed to be here. It seemed like a perfect spot to stall for three days while Rachael recuperates when we planned it. There are distractions nearby if she feels up to getting out and doing anything gentle - we’re in an apartment just across the street from Balboa Park- and there are several excellent birding locations nearby that I anticipated visiting on a pair of day rides.
But - the weather has turned foul, with an atmospheric river flowing our way that will leave us housebound for at least tomorrow. And the place is just a fairly cramped studio, so it feels a little like we’ve checked ourselves into a jail cell for the next three days. If we could go back and do it again knowing what we do now, we might rather have stayed somewhere in Tucson for a few more days.
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Were checked in by three - not enough time for me to make it down to the waterfront for some birding, especially since we’re in a new time zone and nightfall comes an hour sooner - but time enough to walk over into Balboa Park for a quick look around. Surprisingly though to me at least, I don’t find many birds at all here. There are the crows and a gull that are new for the year, but I’m pretty disappointed when I’m walking back to the room. It’s not helped by the fact that my knees are particularly bad this afternoon, perhaps from the long drive. Then though, I look up and see a small bird way up on the highest point of a tall palm tree; and when I zoom in I see it’s a hummer. It’s a long ways up there, but the light is excellent and I get enough of a shot to see that he’s different from the usual Anna’s hummingbirds like the one I’d just seen earlier. This one’s an Allen’s hummingbird, a very localized species that you only see in the lower Pacific coast.
So, three new birds is a start at least. Last year though I pulled nearly forty birds out of California so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’d better hope for some breaks in the weather soon.
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And, before we leave, one last word of thanks for our stay in Tucson. It’s been great, as usual. I’m sure we’ll be back.
Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 1,497 miles (2,409 km)
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Also glad to hear that Rachael is recovering speedily from her dental surgery. Hope you're not getting drenched by the atmospheric river.
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