A Million Dollar View! On Top of the World!

Year 6

Long time readers know I hate interstate highways. These boring roads prevent one from seeing America. Yesterday my policy of driving the backroads of our country paid off in spades, but first you need to know the back story …

Two years ago while driving home from the Grand Canyon to northern Minnesota, I decided to cut through the mountains from Arizona to SW Colorado. I had no idea what the scenery was like, and advance research had not yielded any “must sees”. By chance we ended up in Durango, Colorado and that is how this story begins. In Durango we learned of the Million Dollar Highway. On our first trip we only were able to drive a small portion of the road, and then vowed we would be back. Yesterday we fulfilled that promise.

The Million Dollar Highway (US Hwy #550) takes one up and over the summit of Red Mountain, but in-between there are enough hairpin turns and exhilarating downhills to last a life time. The Million Dollar name comes from the time period when the road was built. Huge money was spent getting a road through the mountains. During our stay in Tucson we kept monitoring the weather in Durango, hoping we would get a clear sun / low wind forecast. We struck pay dirt! Arriving in Durango we learned from our waiter at dinner that we were very lucky. A huge avalanche had closed the road four weeks earlier, and only a few days prior after 20 days of clean-up had the Colorado Department of Transportation (CODOT) been able to clear all the snow, broken trees and boulders from the highway. Apparently somewhat down the mountain this winter there had been over 350 inches of snow, but more on the summit. Spring melt means avalanches. During our drive on the highway we often passed CODOT trucks which were monitoring current avalanche conditions. Hwy #550 had many gates which could have been closed to prevent access. Thankfully all traffic was were allowed to proceed!!!

Here are two video screenshots courtesy of the Arizona Department of Transportation (annotations are mine). This is the highway we drove and was closed for 20 days resulting from the numerous avalanches.

  • Follow this link to watch a video taken by CODOT. The passenger in the heleocopter actually captured the two biggest avalanches on video … the second triggered by the first. The most amazing footage starts at the video’s 1 minute mark. Maximize the video for the best effect!

My pictures and video from atop one of the mountain passes. The three images combine to show the vista we could see from the mountain pass. In the video I scan the same in real time.

Looking back at Red Mountain … site of the huge avalanches (and a video of our descent into the canyon)

Water in the Desert = Birds!

Year 6

While down here in Tucson I birded the known hot spots including Madera Canyon and Catalina State Park where I had repeated sightings of barns owls, this post is about a much lesser known birding location … the “other Catalina”. Approximately six miles north of the state park with the same name is Catalina County Park (eBird link). I had noticed a few eBird reports for this location, and when one report spoke of a small pond I had to try out birding at this location. The wash which runs through the county park is the same wash that ultimately gets down to the state park and bike trails a bit further south. Within the park is a very small pond. As noted, water in the desert equals birds. Better yet, next to the dirt road one drives to get to the gate where one parks (see map at bottom of post) are many horse corrals. In addition to water, small farms always always mean more birds due to the livestock feed and rodents which are attracted to same.

Over the past few days I have birded the county park each morning. My first morning I had the good fortune to meet up with a park maintenance worker, and got the scoop / low down from him. Just be advised this is not a developed park … no playgrounds of picnic area … just public land you are welcome to walk.

Tomorrow we start our trip back north. However, our route will be circuitous. The nasty weather is now exiting the Rockies and Great Plains, and the advance forecast for Sunday looks fantastic for Durango, Colorado. Bring on the Million Dollar Highway!

Catalina Regional Park Birds (link is to county park web site)

Harris Hawk (lifer)

Yellow-Rumped Audubon Warbler (lifer)(a different bird from the Yellow-Rumps of the Boreal Forest in Minnesota)

Ash Throated Flycatcher (lifer)

Cactus Wren

Coopers Hawk

Phainopepla (female)

Salamander (great camouflage!)

Albert’s Towhee

Annotated Map

Bird Curves (Phainopepla)

Year 6

What makes a good photograph? Does one need fantastic equipment? While expensive camera gear certainly helps, the more important aspect of wildlife and nature photography is the person behind the camera. To be a good photographer, one must be dedicated and perhaps obsessive to getting “the shot”.

With subjects like birds which move so very fast, I ALWAYS use burst mode. So much can happen in a micro second. The goal of a photograph should be to create art, not just photograph a bird. Early this morning I followed around five or six Phainopeplas in the hope of getting a good photograph. My constant hiking and positioning was a never ending to effort to get both the sun behind me (and on my subject), and find my target bird on an interesting perch. It goes without saying that I arrive on location around sunrise to get the best light. While the light at sunset is just as good, birds are much less active and harder to find.

Today’s photographic sequence of the Phainopeplas appealed to me because I was able to not only get my subject out in the open (as opposed to buried in a thicket), but also I love the curvature of the branches. Ultimately a little help never hurts when the subject bird performs. Finally, it is not unusual for me to come back from an outing with 500+ images which I wield down to just a few per bird type.

Phainopeplas … Birds and Curves

Upon returning from my three hour hike / birding expedition I immediately switched into cycling clothes. Given the wind was picking up, and was due to build up to 28 mph, it was time to ride. Without delay I took a 12 mile bicycle ride. While the ride was enjoyable, my AirBnB Western Screech Owl did not seem to approve of my getting my bike out of the car port! Uff Dah!

Lord (or Lady) of the Garage … Western Screech Owl

Once my friend realized I was NOT a threat … Zzzzzzz