Kramer's Big Adventure

Western Texas and Westward

We arrived at Davis Mountain State Park on February 2. This park sits at about 6,000 ft elevation and is situated in what is ofter referred to as the Texas Sky Islands. We have camped here before and really like the area. They have some of the nicest birding blinds that we have seen and we saw our first Woodland Scrub Jays of the trip. Since it is so high, it got pretty cold at night with one night down to 20 degrees.

On our first full day there, we took an excursion to the Mc Donald Observatory which is part of the University of Texas - Austin. We went to a Solar Viewing Program and saw live views of the sun including solar flairs and the surface of the sun. The presenter gave us a lot of information about the sun and it was very informative. Then we went on a guided tour of 2 of the many telescopes at the Observatory. The first was the 107” Harlan J. Smith Telescope which was installed about 1939 and is still very much in use today. Our guide showed us how it moves and how it works. Then we saw the Hobby Eberly Telescope which is one of the second largest optical telescopes in the world. It uses 91 hexagonal mirrors to focus images on the receiver. It is all very interesting, but so complex!

Harlan J. Smith Telescope

Some of the 91 mirror in the Hobby Eberly Telescope

Mc Donald Observatory

The next day we went to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute Nature Center and Botanical Gardens. First we took a 2.5 mile hike through the property. The hike took us through many of the different landscapes of the Chihuahuan Desert. Then we went to the Botanical Gardens and saw many native plants and grasses of the area as well as a greenhouse full of cactus that grow in the Chihuahaun desert. It was very nice.

On February 5, we drove 9 hours (quite a long day when you are pulling a trailer) to Willcox, Arizona, where we spent 4 nights. On our first day there, we drove 35 miles south to Chiricahua National Monument, a truly stunning park. It was a beautiful day and the formations in the park are really amazing. We drove up to 6,870 ft Massai Point and hiked a little over 4.2 miles on the Echo Canyon Loop Trail. Some parts of the trail were pretty steep, but the views were fabulous! We saw Mexican Jays on the hike.

Willcox is a well known Arizona wine area and we went wine tasting one afternoon. We went to Zarpara Vineyards and the Birds and Barrels Vineyards. Most of the the wine we tasted was grown in the area. It was fun talking to the owner and other wine tasters. On the way back to our campground, we stopped at Willcox Playa and saw a beautiful sunset as well as many sandhill cranes taking flight.

Birds and Barrels Vineyards

On our final day in Willcox, we drove an hour south to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area. Thousands of Sandhill Cranes winter here. They leave early in the morning to forge for food and then return to the area between 10:30 am and noon. It is so cool to see them land. Lots of Snow Geese Winter here also and while we were there a Golden Eagle scared the Snow Geese and they all took off and flew in beautiful formations for about 15 minutes before landing again. We also saw lots of water fowl, a Rough Shinned Hawk (the first time in 8 years they have seen one in the area) and a Vermillion Fly Catcher.

On February 9, we returned to Patagonia Lake State Park for 2 nights. Mark went kayaking twice and we went on the birding loop trail twice. It was a bit greener and the trail was a little wetter than when we were here in December. We heard a lot of birds, but did not see a lot. We also went to the Paton Center for Hummingbirds and saw quite a few more birds than we did in December including 4 kinds of hummingbirds, a Lazuli Bunting and a Hepatic Tanager.

Violet Crowned Hummingbird

Hepatic Tanager

Patagonia Lake

On February 11, we moved on to Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park on the West side of Tucson. After we set up camp we drove the short distance to Saguaro National Park (West Unit). We went to the visitor center, drove the scenic Bajada Loop Drive and took a short walk on the Valley View Trail. On February 12, we went to the Sweetwater Wetland Wildlife area. We saw mostly waterfowl and a Vermillion Flycatcher. It is a very pleasant area. We also visited Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens where we walked all around the gardens and had a very enjoyable afternoon.

Sweetwater Wetlands

Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens

On February 13 we spent the day at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, which is a combination of zoo, botanical gardens and museum. One of our favorite things there is the Raptor Free Flight Program. We saw a Great Horned Owl, a Crested Cara Cara and 3 Harris’s Hawks fly free and sometimes right over our heads. It is really neat. We also went to the Live Animal Program in their theater and saw a quail, a chuckwalla and a skunk. We walked all through the desert environment and saw native animal in very natural looking habitats and enjoyed seeing native birds in the aviary. They also have a very nice cactus area. It was a fun day.

Great Horned Owl

Crested Cara Cara

Harris’s Hawks

Burrowing Owl

Coata Hummingbird

On February 14, we drove across Tucson to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area in Coronado National Forest. We took the canyon tram the three and a half miles to the top of the canyon and then hiked down. It is so beautiful following the Sabino Creek that we crossed it 9 times on stone bridges. The views are spectacular!

The next day we visited some places that we have never been before. First we went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. It is in the middle of town, but was someones private garden since 1931 and the Botanical Gardens took it over in 1974. It has lots of beautiful shaded areas as well as displays of desert plants. It has a wonderful butterfly house. There was a special display called Frida’s Garden which showed how Frida Kahlo’s garden in Mexico City looked. We liked it very much.

We then went to the Reid Park Zoo with many animal habitats. The South American trail highlighted animals from South America which you do not often see in zoos. They also had most of the animals that you expect to see in zoos like elephants, zebras, giraffes and many more. They had a special exhibit of 40 sculptures, most of them animals, made of Legos by Sean Kennedy called Nature Pop. It was fun seeing them all around the zoo.

On Monday we traveled south to Madera Canyon in Coronado National Forest outside of Green Valley, Arizona. Most of the Canyon is at about 5,000 feet, so the trees and plants are much different than in Tucson. This area is also a well known area for bird watching. We have been coming here for years and really like the canyon. We usually park at a picnic area at 5,400 ft and hike the nature trail down for 2.8 miles. The temperature on this trip was in the low 60’s and it was very, very windy so we hardly saw any birds. At a slightly lower altitude, we did see a Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanagers, Mexican Jays, a Hermit Thrush and lots and lots of wild turkeys. It was a very nice day.