Chiricahuas {The Heart of Rocks}

The Chiricahuas. 

I've seen friends post from this "sky island" finding birds, snakes and amazing views, so this was high on my list to explore. The Chiricahua Mountains are just east of Tucson and reaching an elevation nearing 10,000ft, a place where four ecosystems meet: the Rocky Mountains, and Mexico's Sierra Madres, Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. For this reason an abundant diversity of plants and wildlife can be found here, including Mexican species you may not find elsewhere in the US. We began our visit at the Chiricahua National Monument Visitor Center where we were greeted by bold Mexican Jays.

We decided along with our Israeli friends to hike to the Heart of Rocks Loop, arriving via the Lower Rhyolite Canyon Trail, a 7 mile round-trip. Pretty ambitious for our first big hike in a long while. 

We had hardly been walking for 10 minutes when we heard a rattle... A Banded Rock Rattlesnake was just off trail a few feet from us. No worries, it was just telling us he was there as he tried to escape all the scary people! Asher found 2 others during the hike but was unable to identify them.

Pretty soon the trail left the forest and we hiked along the side of the mountain, soon we could see the rock pinnacles standing tall above the canyon. 

 

Once we reached the Heart of Rocks Loop, the kids found some fabulous rocks to climb. The group enjoyed a few snacks and posed for some family photos.

Everyone else was ready to head back, but I was determined to complete the Heart of Rocks Loop, so I continued on alone...in the wrong direction! After about half a mile, I came across a couple, the only other people on the trail, who for some reason told me I was not on the loop trail. I don't know how this conversation got to this, because I had just stopped to take a photo of a lizard, I know it was a God thing! I returned back to my family and then found the actual beginning of the loop trail. I learned a lesson- always double check my GPS location with my phone! It was a beautiful detour, but now I needed to move even faster. 

The views were wonderful and the rock-formations quite interesting. Some have names like "Kissing Rocks", "Big Balanced Rock", and "Punch and Judy", all pictured below.

This place reminds me of Bryce Canyon and its many hoodoos.

The loop took me about 40 minutes to complete and then we began our long hike back together towards the Visitor Center.

We decided to spend the night on the mountain in our rooftop tent. See the next post for more.

Birding Texas {South Llano River SP}

I met a friend of Nicole's at the Biggest Week in 2017 and have been following her on Facebook ever since. She posts amazing photos of birds with great information attached. I was surprised to see she posted from High Island just days before we arrived. Unfortunately we would just miss her. THEN she posted about her visit to a Texas state park with birding blinds. I looked it up and it happened to be right along our path! Amazingly there was a campsite available so I booked it and we headed to South Llano River State Park in Hill Country. 

We arrived with only an hour of light left. As I was helping Daddy back into the campsite, a Painted Bunting (above) was calling from the tree next to me! Wow! Journey grabbed her borrowed camera, (Thanks Alice!) and the three of us walked to the blind that was closest to us (a 5 minute walk). A blind is like an open room with no door and one side made of glass. This allows you to quietly sit and watch birds, and even photograph them without disturbing them. Food and water are on the other side of the glass to draw the birds in. 

The kids were SO EXCITED to see the birds this close! Hummingbirds were all around and White-winged Doves posed nicely. Asher wanted so badly to take photos, so he borrowed my camera. There was so much excitement in the kids' voices as they would call out, "Hummingbird on the feeder! The Titmouse is on the water feature! Sparrow on the rocks!" My heart was overjoyed!

 

Black-crested Titmouse after a bath.

Summer Tanager

Black-chinned Hummingbird

As the light was fading we went to check out a different area where Asher could fish and saw four armadillos out looking for dinner! They were not shy either!

He caught a nice-sized gar!

We heard some Lark Sparrows in these trees. Journey was able to snap a few photos.

The next morning I woke early to hit the trails and all four blinds. The Golden-cheeked Warbler nests in this area, and only travels between here and Mexico, so this was my best chance of seeing one. After watching from the Agarita Blind for a bit, I started up aptly-named the Golden-cheeked Warbler trail, where I did, in fact, find not one, but two! I also found a rare Golden-winged Warbler which was very exciting. Such a striking bird, but sadly, no photos. It was a longer hike than I had expected. When we left the park at noon, I had walked nearly 9 miles! 

I was delighted to get a photo of this gorgeous Golden-fronted Woodpecker at the blind!

Blue Grosbeak (above)        Black-throated Sparrow (below)

After my hike, I went to find my family at the river where Asher was fishing. The kids were eager to go visit the birding blinds again, so that's where we went. We briefly visited the two closest to the campground, then I took them to the Agarita blind where I had seen the biggest variety and lots of buntings. They were most amused with the cardinal who was molting his head feathers.

Indigo Bunting (above)         Northern Cardinal in molt (below)

 

Yellow-breasted Chat (above)   Woodhouse's Scrub Jay (below)

On our way out of the park, we made a five minute stop to the fourth blind. We didn't see anything new, but glad we had a chance to see it. The birding blinds definitely make this park extra special. We'll definitely return!