We say good-bye to all our feathered friends on 12 March, but we will be back in November. We will miss the upcoming busier birding season which is fine with us. We enjoyed the quiet times and the quiet walks during the winter.
Now we will have some free time to go exploring Arizona and maybe do a little birding too. This has been a great experience and we have learned a lot about the wildlife here. If you get a chance to volunteer for The Nature Conservancy, we suggest you give it a try. You won't regret it!
We have firmed up our departure date from Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve to Monday, 12 March. A couple we met in Key West last winter, then again in the spring at Patrick AFB in FL will arrive a week or so before we depart, to take over hosting duties here at the Preserve.
Western Bluebirds
Our tentative travel plans upon departure are a week or two at Saguaro Escapees (SKP) co-op RV park in Benson AZ. We will then use the Subaru to visit some areas of AZ we would still like to see.
From there we will likely visit KOFA SKP co-op RV park in Yuma AZ, followed by Pair-A-Dice SKP co-op RV park in Pahrump NV, and Timber Valley SKP co-op RV park in Sutherlin OR.
Western Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwing
"Who is that masked bird?"
The SKP co-op park visits are part of our continuing examination of a place to use as a "home park" that we posted about in 2011. We have a deposit placed at Saguro SKP co-op RV park in Benson AZ, but want to continue checking other parks as well in case we change our minds on the eventual choice.
Cedar Waxwing
From Sutherlin OR, plans are to visit family in Spokane WA no later than late summer, then likely take the North Cascades Highway to the WA coast. We plan to use our Thousand Trails membership campground plan to travel down the WA and OR coastline at a very leisurely pace southbound. We may then travel south in CA to check out the two SKP co-ops located at Coarsegold and at Aguana. Plans for next winter have not been made yet.
Say's Phoebe
Lesser Goldfinch
We have some new Coatimundi Video from 2 February that you may find interesting. The direct link is at http://www.youtube.com/user/AC7880 , or embedded below if viewing the blog home page.
Dan recently upgraded to a Canon SX 40 camera that has video capability and a 35X zoom.
For a change of pace, he has tried a few short, hand held videos on the preserve. He has ordered a monopod, which will increase the quality in the future over the free hand videos linked today.
