Yes yes we are still here, just been really busy and when we have had free time, writing a blog entry just seemed like “more work”.
We arrived at Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve in Patagonia, AZ on Sunday April 21 around 11:45am and it has been pretty much “non stop” since. We are required to volunteer 20 hours a week but we have both spent much longer then that volunteering just to learn as much as we can about the Preserve and Birds. Where better to learn about birds then from birders?
My day starts around 5:45am, I have the alarm set for 6am but I have always been one to wake up before the alarm goes off the majority of the time so I dress and start the open procedure and open the front gates at 6:30am and 4 of the last 5 days we have had guest waiting for us to open the gates.
We have had some wonderful professional photographers here last Monday and Tuesday (The Preserve is closed on Mon/Tues) so it really feels like we have been non stop for 7 days in a row. No we are NOT forced to do these “long hours” but we choose to since we want to learn and be able to accurately talk about the subject that the majority of the guest want to discuss, which is birds.
The only way to learn about birds is to talk to birders and read books and walk trails and watch and wait and watch and wait and… You get the picture.
I can now identify about a dozen or so birds accurately by site and about five by sound. I admit, I am loving this! Birders are such nice people, they love to share knowledge and experience and give advice of what to do, where to go, what to look for. We still have so much to learn, but we can at least start a conversation.
Pauline and I even witnessed a pair of Gray Hawk’s mating. That totally took us by surprise. Of course as I watched, I had 1970’s porn music playing in my head. That made it more magical.
We have also seen javelina, in fact I have walked into a pack of them three day’s in a row. Mule Deer, Coati, lizards, Armored Stink Beetle’s and I’m sure there is something I am forgetting. There has been multiple bobcat sighting’s but so far, the cat has alluded me.
The preserve is open from 6:30am to 4pm Wednesday to Sunday and the best part of being a volunteer here is having full access to the entire preserve. We don’t need no stinking trails! Well, unless there are guest around since I believe you lead by example. I am pretty confident with the area, I have been walking an average 4 miles per day on and off the trails. It is amazing what you will find in the bush.
Temps have been as low as 25F at night and as high as 92F in the day but the last few days has been 45/88 average. It is so weird being this hot this early in the year, part of me thinks its August.
Did I mention we are completely alone on about 900 acres of land?
We also started a YouTube page, as with this blog there is still a lot of work that needs to be done on it, but we will get around to it one day. Maybe.
We have been to Nogalas, AZ twice and have discovered it is far better to get there early in the day, like 8/9am and get what we need before the shoppers from Mexico arrive and create very very long lines. Funny, about 4 week’s ago we was dealing with the same issue from the Canadian’s.
We have also explored Patagonia, its a small town, but has some interesting things about it and some good pizza at the “Velvet Elvis”and it also has a cool library that we have been using. Next week we plan to drive the hour to Green Valley, AZ for a banking run and two weeks we plan to vista our sister preserve Ramsey Canyon near Sierra Vista, AZ
The people here have been really nice, the staff here at the preserve has been very helpful with all of our questions and we have learned a lot during our short time. Hands off when they are not needed, and there when you need them. We have heard many times this is the perfect place to start volunteering and we agree 100%, I can think of no other place we would rather be right now.
Oh yeah, as extra bonus, when we confirmed to be on site volunteer host we agreed to do so the standard “3 month” time frame so from May to August. Some how that was “lost in conversation” and when we saw the host calendar we was pleasantly surprised to find we was set to be here until October 1.
We felt like we won the lottery when we discovered this.
So we will be here for the next 5+ months. That is plenty of time to learn not only about birds, but the entire region. We have never had such a opportunity and we look forward to taking every advantage we can.
Including training seminars which brings me to the point that we are both now certified to mix any herbicide and insecticide in the state of Arizona for the next 3 years. The class was offered to us, so why not?
At this very moment we have a javelina walking around our RV.
Life is good.
Peace.