Valley of the Sun 2014: March Madness

Greetings sport fans. We are on the eve of another NCAA March Madness. When I finish this post I will go direct to ESPN.com and submit my bracket predictions for the upcoming tournament. I see where Mr. Moneybags himself (Warren Buffet) is putting up One Billion U.S. Dollars for anyone who successfully predicts the outcome of all 64 games. He is worth an estimated $50 billion so don't worry about his ability to pay. Besides, losing is apparently insured by the insurance company he owns. Apparently the odds of being 100% correct on all the games is something similar to being hit by lightening twice in one day, then being run over by a bus. Wonder what I'm going to do with all that money???? A 600mm lens??? Yes!

For Dana and I our March Madness is doing some power birding while still in Arizona. Not the same as NCAA b-ball but mad all the same. Oh, I forgot to mention that we departed our winter home in Mesa yesterday bound for Canada. Our return trip to Canada will take us south from the Valley of The Sun to Green Valley, where we are today, then east to Sierra Vista, Az., Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington then home to British Columbia.

I have to say that we were very sad to have to leave or friends and family in Mesa. After doing this gig for 4 years it just never get easier saying our good-byes. To all of you, have a great summer and we will see you in December!

The 4Runner is loaded down with all our worldly possessions. The 4 bikes are dismantled and stored. This means that hiking and birding are our only physical pursuits. Speaking of birding (slick segue, eh?) yesterday we spotted our first ever Crested Caracara in farmland south of Casa Grande, Az. These hawk-like birds are gorgeous. They have large white patches on the underside of their wings. When the sun catches these white patches they look almost silvery. A very cool sight.

Today we birded in Madera Canyon, south east of Green Valley. We identified 29 species including several first of season birds for us. These were; Bridled Titmouse, Board-tailed Hummingbird, Magnificent Hummingbird, American Redstart, Bell's Vireo, Acorn Woodpecker and Canyon Wren. I have included photos of some of these birds in this post and one of a Red-tailed Hawk that we spotted yesterday.

Tomorrow we head to Tubac for the hawk watch. I report on that in the next couple of days. It is 9:20 p.m. Dana is already asleep. I'll accidentally wake her in a few minutes. She will thank me in the morning..... The weather here continues to be hot and dry. We have had strong wind here since we arrived yesterday. Makes birding a challenge but it also keeps the temperature in check. I think the high today was 75F. A bit cool but like I said, dry.....

All from me today. Enjoy the photos.

Ciao!