I usually start my walks by recording/watching videos on the Marco Polo app and then settle down into listening to a podcast. Lately I’ve been listening to the American Scandal podcast. It takes an past event that has rocked America, researches it and then presents it in a multi-episode format that strives to remain unbiased about these events. I find it very listenable and informative. I’ve listened to stories about Waco/David Koresh/Branch Davidians...Ted Kaczynski/Unabomber....and now I’m beginning the Iran/Contra Affair.
What
strikes me about all these events is that as they were happening I was only
vaguely aware of them. Five children
born from 1978 to 1986 pretty much meant that I missed the 80’s and 90s. My life was about being pregnant and raising
kids from the late 70’s on into the 2000’s. Being the schedule keeper of 5 active boys, a
husband who occasionally traveled for work and my own comings and goings left
me little time to have an in-depth awareness of world matters. So I am now discovering what I missed out on
history-wise in those years.
I
started listening to the Iran-Contra story simply because it was next in line
after the Unabomber. And while I was
familiar with the names of those involved...Weinberger, Schultz, Casey, McFarland,
etc....I really didn’t know the entire story. I certainly know the name Oliver
North and remember the pictures of him sitting in uniform testifying about
something somewhere but I’m not sure I knew what his gig was his name popped
into the storyline today. I’m enjoying this opportunity to fill in the gaps.
--------------------
A coyote
and a cat wandered into the path of the trail cam last night. We’ve only got maybe 3 more nights here so
Kim wants to actually put it in the culvert to monitor any action from that
direction. This project has been fun...will
try to remember to bring the camera with us next year.
--------------------
From Oracle we took AZ 77 up to Winkelman where we turned onto AZ 177 which took us through the mountains to the town of Superior. I was hoping the higher elevation would provide a respite from the 93o heat in Picacho. That didn’t really happen...a good portion of 77 from Oracle to Winkelman looked to be recently resurfaced which reflected the heat back at us in a major way. No relief from the heat today.
--------------------
Bird sightings:
**Saw an amazing red bird fluttering around at Oracle Park. At first I thought it was a red hummingbird but realized it was too large and it had a slightly erratic flight pattern, not at all the fast zippy style of a hummingbird. Saw it several times but it either stayed just out of camera reach or flew off before I could find it on my camera screen. Finally managed to get a picture; Googled ‘red birds of Arizona’ and identified it as a vermilion flycatcher. Very striking color against the blue Arizona sky.
--------------------
Crested
saguaro sighting on 77 between Oracle and Winkelman.
--------------------
When we
turned onto 177 the road surface for about the first 10 miles was nothing but
bumpy. Could not escape the bumps. About a mile into it Kim comes on the
communicator and with a smile in his voice asked, “So, can you tell you’ve got
boobs?” Oh, yeah!
--------------------
We’ve
ridden 177 before so I knew there would be curves and downhill grades. Thankfully no hairpin turns. I also knew I’d be encountering something else
that I don’t particularly like...what I call a roller coaster hill. I don’t do roller coasters for this reason: as
the car climbs slowly up, up, up the first hill you’re sitting at an angle
where there’s nothing to be seen in front of you but sky and then you’re to the
top and still can’t see the track but suddenly you’re plunging down it
regardless. That’s terror for me.
The
difference between a roller coaster and the hills I encountered today is that I
was in control of my speed as I went up and over. No screaming as I did the one time I went on
a roller coaster but a loud Oh, shit did
escape my lips a time or two. Not sure
what I would have done if I was a passenger.
--------------------
First
order of business when we got back to camp was relocating the trail cam before dark
. There are actually two culverts running under
the road...Kim wanted to position it so that it could catch the activity of
either one. Not too far back but yet not
too noticeable for the humans walking their dogs in the wide dirt ditch running
along Picacho Highway. Putting anything
in front to really camouflage it would obscure the lens to get pictures of nighttime
travelers. An observant person would see
it. Kim said he wasn’t worried about it
and then with a smile said that if someone felt the need to steal our camera at
least there’d be a picture of them doing it on the SD card. I felt compelled to point out that that would be
of no help to us at all.
--------------------
A
couple of weeks ago I wrote to Dr. Pauly about the lizard behavior I had
observed. Got a response from him
yesterday...however, I didn’t find it until today.
I had just, like just a minute before, sent an email out to another herpetologist asking his opinion
because I hadn’t heard from Dr. Pauly.
After I pushed the ‘send’ button I decided to check my email; I’ve been
using my Gmail account for these emails and I don’t check it as often as my
main Yahoo account. To say I was happy
to see a response from Dr. Pauly is an understatement. 😀 This
is what he says:
Dear Ms. Bakker,
I'm sorry for the delay in responding. I get a barrage of emails in
the spring requesting help with identifications, or people submitting observations
to my alligator lizard mating study, and I apparently missed your email.
You are seeing a territorial battle between two male Ornate Tree
Lizards. When these lizards aren't moving, they are incredibly well camouflaged
against tree bark. If it is warm and sunny out, individuals are usually on tree
branches, taking advantage of this excellent camouflage. You can learn more
about this species on this online field guide for reptiles in Arizona:
https://tucsonherpsociety.org/amphibians-reptiles/lizards/ornate-tree-lizard/
Have a good weekend,
Greg
I hope the other herpetologist responds also.
--------------------
Bike miles today: 183
No comments:
Post a Comment