We continued our twelve day multi-generational journey in a 31 foot RV from Sedona to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, an easy 120 mile drive that took less than three hours. Near the entrance to the National Park, our granddaughters were excited to see an Elk grazing along the road.
After securing our rig in an ideal location at the north end of Grand Canyon Trailer Village, we wasted no time taking the ten minute walk to the Visitor Center at the very edge of the Canyon. The children wanted to see the IMax introductory film, but the projector was broken. We talked to a Park Ranger who told us that California Condors had been reported at Hopi Point, so we planned a visit for the next day. We lingered at the South Rim to observe sunset from nearby Mather Point.
The ever-changing play of colors on the rocks to the east was beautiful, but the clear sky to the west plunged the foreground into shadow and lacked the interest that would have been provided by a few clouds. When the sun went down it was as if someone had simply turned off the lights.
In my haste to eliminate the large number of 25,000 KB RAW outtakes among those that had filled two 32 GB compact flash cards, I inadvertently deleted that day's only bird photos, of two Scrub Jays that posed in a dead tree near the Visitor Center.
The next morning I set out on my first walk in the woods adjacent to our RV. The first bird I saw bears a close resemblance to the Boat-tailed Grackle, a Florida species. It is a Great-tailed Grackle, feasting on a pine nut.
I walked a more few yards, passing a staff parking lot when I realized that a very large (12-point) bull Elk was staring me right in the face. A second smaller one was just behind him. I froze and snapped a few shots, then they both ignored me, moved along the edge of the lot and resumed browsing on tree branches. Soon, a third bull joined them.
I continued down a dirt path through the mixed pinyon-juniper and Ponderosa Pine woodland, keeping an eye on the Elk who followed me erratically among the trees along the path.
Our camp was at about 7000 feet elevation. Although nighttime temperatures had dropped into the high 30s (F), the sun was quickly warming me up, and I stood silently for a while in the shade of a thicket of Pinyon Pines. Suddenly, I was surrounded by the wheezy squeeze-toy calls of a flock of a dozen or more Pygmy Nuthatches.
The nuthatch calls seemed to attract a few hummingbirds. From the cricket-chirp sound of their wingbeats I could tell that one or more were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. However I think this one represented the Black-chinned species.
An Ash-throated Flycatcher also responded to the commotion.
A harsh, strident call revealed the presence of a Steller's Jay.
The pattern of white stripes on the Steller Jay's head varies gradually, being more sharply defined in the eastern part of its range and absent from birds in the northwestern US.
Mountain Chickadees appeared, as if out of nowhere.
On the way back to the RV, I did not see the Elk again, but a Violet-green Swallow roosted in a tree just long enough for me to take its picture.
A shadow of a large bird passed overhead and I looked up casually, ready to dismiss it as a Turkey Vulture. But no-- it had a white band on its tail. It was a Zone-tailed Hawk, known for its ability to hide in a flock of Turkey Vultures, making it easier to surprise smaller birds, mammals and lizards that constitute its prey.
Our granddaughter Graciela has already stolen my thunder by writing about what happened just a bit later that morning, so I will stop here!
On the second morning of our stay in Grand Canyon Trailer Village, I did not need to stray far from the door of our RV to see some interesting wildlife.
A Western Bluebird posed for one of my favorite images of the trip.
A dripping faucet at an adjacent vacant RV parking space attracted birds and mammals, among them a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers.
These western Hairy Woodpeckers have very few white markings on their wings as compared to the eastern form. Their larger size, proportionally longer and heavier bill and lack of black markings on their outer tail feathers distinguish them from the similarly-plumaged Downy Woodpecker.
A Steller's Jay stopped for a drink.
The next morning a cow Elk visited the puddle and then paraded right in front of our RV.
A Black-throated Gray Warbler foraged in the Pinyon Pine that partially shaded our vehicle.
Nearby, a fledgling Western Bluebird begged to be fed.
The female parent responded.
Both parents rested on an overhead wire.
Lesser Goldfinches were common.
Later that morning, armed with the long lens (100-400mm zoom) lent to me by my son-in-law, we boarded the free shuttle westward to join a second that took us along Hermit Road to Hopi Point, where we hoped to see California Condors.
At Hopi Point, we had a magnificent view of the formation known as Battleship Rock.
We then walked the trail along the rim westward to nearby Powell Point, where we met "Condor Bob" George and another researcher. Bob was busy answering questions about the huge birds, which are raising one chick in a cave on the west side of Battleship Rock.
The researcher is pointing a directional antenna towards the cave in the west-facing far end of Battleship Rock. He detected no signals, and said that the opposite side of the rock at El Tovar Hotel was where they usually spent the day. Both parents had brought food for the chick, so it was unlikely that they would show up again until nightfall.
The cave is visible in the lower left portion of this photo-- click on it to see a marker and also obtain enlarged views.
The next afternoon, expecting only landscape photos and also to save weight, I left the telephoto lens back at the RV as we went sightseeing on the shuttle bus to viewpoints along the eastern part of the National Park. We returned earlier than expected, and made an unplanned visit to the El Tovar Hotel overlook. As soon as I looked down I saw three California Condors far below. The light reflected from their wings as they soared along the east side of Battleship Rock. My only image, at a focal length of only 105mm, shows them as distant white specks. One is in the upper left corner and the other in the lower right. (Click on the image to highlight the location of two condors).
This was the best of several photos, cropped and highly enlarged, of the condor in lower right. The condor is flying towards the camera. Reddish light reflects from its bald head and a there is a highlight on its left wing due to reflection from the ID tag.
California Condor populations steadily decreased during the 20th Century due to loss of habitat, poaching and poisoning by lead in ammunition used in predator control and hunting. They disappeared from Arizona in 1924. They were listed as an endangered species in 1967. Their numbers continued to decline despite a captive breeding program, and in 1987 the 22 remaining condors were captured.
"All hope for condor recovery was now placed on captive breeding programs, and the task was formidable. Because recruitment into the population is very low, captive breeding techniques were developed in which eggs are removed as they are laid, usually causing the captive condors to lay a second and sometimes third egg. The extra eggs are incubated and chicks are raised by caretakers using a hand puppet shaped like a parent condor head. The puppet prevents the young condors from imprinting on people. Condor chicks that are not raised by puppets, are raised by their parent birds..." (More at California Condor captive breeding programs)
"As of April 2013, 73 condors soar over northern Arizona and southern Utah. Many of them frequent Grand Canyon, especially during the summer. They come from all four captive breeding locations. But more importantly, a number of them come from wild nest caves in and around the Grand Canyon..." (More at
http://www.nps.gov/grca/naturescience/california-condors.htm#CP_JUMP_366045)
Mary Lou and I have just returned from a twelve-day 1300 mile trip in a 31 foot motor home with our daughter, her husband and their two daughters. We started out in Phoenix, Arizona and explored south to Tucson and Tombstone, then looped up to the northern end of the state, venturing into southern Utah. The campsites had either no WiFi or such limited bandwidth that the Internet was generally inaccessible. Cellphone was not available in some of the far northern reaches of the state, especially in canyons. Although it was not a birding trip per se, there were many opportunities to observe the bird life. I was able to fill two 32 GB flash cards with over 2,000 photos but now face the task of reviewing, selecting and processing the images.
My intent was to report on the adventure in an orderly fashion, so I started working on the images from the first few days. It was very slow going, and there have been demands on my time since returning to Illinois. Happily, our granddaughter, who recently turned nine years old, asked if she could compose a blog about a walk we took while camping in Grand Canyon Trailer Village. We were located at the far northern edge of the campground, next to the forest and within walking distance of the South Rim of the canyon. I was only too happy to agree, though I had to search for photos to illustrate her adventure in the pinyon-juniper woodlands that surrounded our campsite.
These are Graciela's words:
We are out taking an RV trip in Arizona. After one night at a motel in Phoenix, we drove the RV to Tucson where we stopped at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It was so hot I was burning up. We walked the trails and I found an Elf Owl in one of the exhibits. It flew down and picked meal worms out of the fingers of a volunteer.
One exhibit had a Roadrunner. I had never seen a real one before.
There were neat things such as Spotted Geckoes, Rock Rattlesnakes and Leaf-nosed Bats. We saw an Ocelot but it was sleeping and mostly out of sight. There was a Gray Fox hiding in one of the exhibits. A Bobcat woke up and popped out of hiding.
The next day we went to Tombstone where it rained for the first time in many days.The people ran out in the rain and really liked getting wet.
We are now visiting the Grand Canyon for three days and will go on to Lake Powell for three more.
We visited some very high places out on the edge of the Grand Canyon. We looked for California Condors but could not see any.
There are are woods right near our campground and Grampa wanted to go for a walk to see if there are any elk. Earlier in the morning he found three elk.
I wanted to bring my little kitty Mimi and Gramps said yes. The very first thing I saw was a bluebird, but I did not know it was a bluebird. At first I did not see the blue but I absolutely positively knew it was not a robin. It was smaller than a robin. I called Grandpa over and said "Gramps come here, I found a bird!" He came over and said "By golly that is a bluebird." Then he told me that bluebirds were relatives of robins. He took a picture and after he zoomed in on the picture I could see it had a blue back.
Western Bluebird.
A little later we saw another one and it had a much more blue back.
I discovered something that looked interesting and told Grampa, "I found a place where a squirrel has been storing nuts!" He came over and after looking closely for a while said, "No Graci, those are old elk scat." Later we found some fresh black ones.
We continued walking some more and I saw a rock with crystals sticking out. I called Grampa over again and he said it was quartz.
There were strange lines on the top of this rock and he said they looked like fossils.[Editor's note-- these were most likely striations on the face of the limestone caused by the movement of ancient mountain glaciers]
Then we came across some sandstone. I ran my hand across it and it felt like loose sand.
Mimi ended up sitting on it.
Grampa showed me Ponderosa Pine and also Pinyon Pine which had smaller needles. I told him we have a Ponderosa Pine at school but he said he thinks it does not grow in Illinois. He showed me one way of telling if it's Ponderosa. Its bark smells like Vanilla Wafers. Sure enough, it did!
I had Mimi smell the bark too.
We also saw a family of ravens. Grandpa explained to me that the young bird has yellow near the corners of its beak. This helps convince the mother to feed the baby when she sees the yellow when its mouth is open.
Old Common Raven
We saw chickadees and nuthatches as well, but we did not see any elk. Boo-hoo!!
Mountain Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
On our way back we saw a little baby rabbit. It had a white cotton-tail and very long ears compared to the ones we have in Illinois. It has longer ears not only for better hearing but because the ears have lots of blood vessels and they help get rid of the heat.
= = = =
During our little walk it was wonderful seeing and experiencing Graci's exuberance, inquisitive nature and love of discovery. Sorry I took the lazy way out of doing my weekly blog, but I hope to be caught up before Graci hands me another one! By the way, we DID see California Condors the next day, but that's another story. A cow elk also walked right past our RV on the morning we departed for Lake Powell.