Valley of the Sun 2014: Biking and Birding for fun.......

I want to know who stole at least 4 days from us? Was it you? You? No? Okay, relax you're off the hook.....for now......

Yes, the days are screaming by. Feb 11? Maybe it was the Super Bowl hangover. Ground Hog day? Well, not that. No one celebrates or recognizes Ground Hog day in the Valley of the Sun. I mean really. It is already summer, or early spring or something. We read of the Polar Vortex but most desert dwellers think that a Polar Vortex is a new ice-cream bar and they can't wait to try it. But I digress.....

Recap of the week. First of all a "drum roll".......

Dana and I rode our normal road bike route on Monday (yesterday), joined by our friends Steve and Joanne. As is the custom we stop at the base of hill on Usery Mountain Road to shed unwanted clothing bits and have a drink of water before starting the climb. As we were doing so a group of 8 "roadies" rode by us. Steve and I got on our bike and pedalled hard to catch the small group. When we caught them, which didn't take long, I noticed that they were all wearing Vision Quest team jerseys. I called out to one rider that I train using Vision Quest training videos. The rider said, "That's great. That is Robbie Ventura on the front of the group". (note: Robbie Ventura is the founder and main spokesperson for Vision Quest cycling training. Robbie is also a former professional cyclist having won dozens of professional races. He was part of U.S. Postal professional cycling team and a team mate of Lance Armstrong for several of their Tour de France winning teams).

When I heard this I immediately road up to the front of the group, put my hand on Robbie's shoulder and said, "Robbie Ventura. I can't tell you what a thrill this is for me to ride up this hill with you and your guys". Okay, I sound like a complete starstruck goof but I meant every word. Robbie didn't miss a beat, welcomed me to ride with them and introduced me to several of his team including Dan and Dave from his training video that Dana and I have used each winter, before we come to Az, for the past 3 or 4 years. 17 minutes went by like it was 5. We chatted about his videos and his upcoming cycling camp, his Ironman in Penticton. He listened to me talk about my recent decision to retire from racing and encouraged me to keep riding "for the fun of it". Near the top of the hill I did something pretty dumb but it was spontaneous and in keeping with his training video on hill climbing. Near the top I told him that I wanted to see him sprint to the top and crank out 1,200 watts of power. So, about 1/2 k from the top I said, "Okay, let's go", and I took off at a full sprint to the top......by myself. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I pulled over and waited for everyone to come over the top of the hill. They were good natured about it and waived and high-fived me on their way by.

Steve and I waited for Dana and Joanne. I told Dana what had occurred and who I had ridden up the hill with. She was very, very disappointed that she did not get to meet Robbie, Dan and Dave.

From biking to birding...... Today we finally met up with our birding friend Marcus. Marcus lives in Mesa. We met him last winter while birding at Granite Reef which is on the Salt River. We were joined by Judy and Carl who are snowbirds from Iowa and North Dakota respectively. The five of us travelled west to Buckeye for a day of birding. Our goal today was to find Thrashers (Sage, Crissals, LeConte's and Bendire's), Sparrows (Sage and Bells) and Hawks. A big ask!

When one goes birding for specific species it can turn out great in that you find all the species you were looking for, or it can turn out great that you don't find everything you were looking for but you find other cool birds. On this day we did not find all the birds we were looking for but we found a couple of them and many other great birds.

First of all we found a Crissal's Thrasher. I have a not so good photo if it but I am posting it regardless as you have to see the bill on this guy. Impressive! We also found a Sage Sparrow. The photos I got of this bird is okay and shows most of the field marks for this bird. Both of these birds are hard to find and just as hard to photograph as they are very timid and do not let you get close.

In total we found 41 species. Of this 6 were new to us this year. Of the 6, 3 were completely new to us. The six were: Western Meadow Lark, White Pelican, Cattle Egret, Long-billed Curlew, Sage Sparrow and Crissal's Thrasher. The last 3 were new life birds for us. Some of the other birds we saw were Merlin, Ferruginous Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Black Vulture, Harris's Hawk, Bald Eagle, Great Egret, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and the list goes on.

The Long-billed Curlew was the highlight of the day. We were travelling down a farm road when Marcus spotted a flock of birds. We estimated the flock to be approximately 400. He pull over and we all saw the large flock of large birds land in an alfalfa field. We got out binoculars and cameras and scanned the field to find necks and head of birds with very long bills sticking out of the alfalfa. After some hooting an hollering we regained out composure to take a few photos. The flock was very active. I got a decent shot of one of the Curlews in flight. I have posted that photo together with a shot of them in the field. In the photo you will see a few birds standing on clumps of earth and others wading through the alfalfa. What fun!

We returned home mid-afternoon to play our weekly Bocce Ball league match. We lost a close one. This season is a bust. I can almost identify with the Canucks. Almost..... At least no one on our team is going get traded before the end of the season and our coach/captain is not going to get fired. But I digress...

All in all a fantastic week. The weather is outstanding. We are both in good health. Albertson's grocery store is well stocked with Tillamook ice cream. Life is grand!

That's a wrap. Have a good week. Enjoy the photos! Ciao!! Go Canada!!!!!!