Borderland Tours First Sale!

Mt. Mckinley in Denali National Park seen from the flight up to Nome. Photo by Rick Taylor.

Borderland Tours will guarantee 2011 prices for the same tours repeated in 2012 until Friday, December 14, 2011.  This means that you could save $1000 dollars by registering for all three of our 2012 Alaskan tours--$400 for the Pribilof Islands, $200 for Denali and the Kenai Peninsula, and $400 for Nome and Barrow--if you register anytime through the first two weeks of December.  Registering early for Belize will save you $300 and early registration for Costa Rica will save you $200 off our 2012 price.  This offer does not extend to single supplement charges.   

 

The summer of 2011 saw the largest and most destructive wildfire in the written history of Southeastern Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains.  From May 8 through June 26 the Horseshoe Two Fire snaked its way the length of the Chiricahuas, ultimately enveloping 223,000 acres, approximately 80 percent of the mountains.  As with almost any wildfire, some areas were unaccountably left untouched, in other areas the fire stayed on the ground, and in some areas flames engulfed everything, leaving behind a monochromatic landscape like a negative for an old black-and-white photograph.

 As many of you know, Lynne and I own a home—40 years this August—in Whitetail Canyon.  Looking south (photo above), all our view is missing is an upright bear in overalls with a round-brimmed hat, leaning on a shovel. The fire was that intense.
    Thankfully, our private structures escaped destruction (photo below).  Fire burnt a small portion of the root cellar roof, and otherwise left the buildings unscathed.  Heat turned about half of the leaves of the grand old sycamores that shade our roof to flame-colored orange.  It looked like early autumn around the house for almost two weeks, but now those leaves have fallen and been replaced by new green foliage.
    The majority of the riparian zone along Whitetail Creek also survived the fire. Big junipers were the notable exceptions. Hollow juniper trunks sucked fire like chimneys. The majority of the sycamore trees, however, were left unburnt, and sycamore is the most important component of a healthy mountain riparian community in Southeastern Arizona.
    In Whitetail Canyon numbers of hummingbirds have actually increased.  Those residents that remained have been compressed into the green ribbon of intact riparian vegetation. The first southward-bound Rufous arrived on June 26. It opened the flood gates. As I write this in mid-July, we have a phenomenal 12 species of hummingbirds using our sugar-water feeders in Whitetail Canyon. Never has diversity been greater.
    Numbers are also above average for July.   Hundreds of hummingbirds are consuming over 2 gallons of nectar every day.  Some feeders have all six feeder ports occupied simultaneously.
    Hummingbird diversity is reflected in the overall bird community.  This year’s 34th annual Chiricahua Elegant Trogon Census took place on the last “official” day of the fire, June 26.  After compiling the results I was astonished when I realized a record 82 associative species were reported in Cave Creek Canyon between elevations from 5,000 to 6,000 feet.  Hairy Woodpeckers and Red-breasted Nuthatches were probably driven down into Cave Creek by the fire above, but species diversity was simply high across the board.
    Better yet, below an elevation of 6,000 feet, fire scars are basically invisible in Cave Creek Canyon and South Fork.  There’s no sign of the Horseshoe Two burn in either Portal or at the Southwestern Research Station.  It is easy to forget that a monster fire rolled through only a few weeks earlier.
    Reflecting the hummingbird trend has been the early arrival and sheer numbers of Painted Buntings this summer.  Prior to this year, there was only one June record of Painted Bunting in the Chiricahua region; typically these birds do not appear until after mid-July.  In 2011 Painted Buntings patronized a handful of private residence feeders in June, and at one home in Portal no fewer than a dozen were present by the middle of July.
    Rare and out-of-place birds have been the rule across all of Southeastern Arizona this summer.  Among the sweetest, a record four Yellow Grosbeaks have shown up at area feeding stations.  Other rarities span the spectrum from Purple Gallinule to Streak-backed Oriole.  In a single week a Mourning Warbler from the Eastern U.S. shared top billing with a Fan-tailed Warbler from Mexico. Both are far from annual in Arizona.
    I had no desire to have a wave of flames engulf the Chiricahua Mountains this summer.  I certainly feel grateful that Lynne’s and my home was spared in Whitetail Canyon.  But—and perhaps oddly—I am extremely proud of the resilience that all things wild have exhibited in the face of the cataclysm that rocked our corner of the world in 2011.  They inspire confidence in the future.

Are you just dying to ditch the summer doldrums and get out for some exotic birding NOW!?  Perhaps one of these trips—both confirmed departures with small groups—is for you.  E-mail us or call us at 1-800-525-7753 to reserve your space, get your plane ticket, and pack your bags!

South Africa Light: November 6-16 with P. J. Fryer —Last year’s tour netted exceptional views of all of the “Big Five” mammals:  Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, and Cape Buffalo.  A real crowd-pleaser, the Leopard sighting was a male with a cub.  Among the many other mammals, perhaps most memorable was a group of three critically endangered African Wild Dogs devouring an Impala. Birding was also terrific. Species ran the gamut from African Jackass Penguins to Ostrich to Bateleurs and Martial Eagles (one consuming a Water Monitor), to indescribably hued Lilac-breasted Rollers and scimitar-billed Hoopoes. Other notable birds included huge Goliath Heron, tiny African Pygmy Kingfisher, enormous Southern Ground-Hornbill, Purple-crested Turaco, Narina Trogon, seven different iridescent Sunbird species, pastel Blue-breasted Cordonbleu, and incandescent Golden-breasted Bunting. All accommodations are premium and internationally renowned South African wines are available with the gorgeous cuisine — $4995.