Hello, Everybody, I'm 'camped' for three days in the repair yard of John's Auto Repair (no relation!) In Yuma AZ, getting the innards of the truck's front differential replaced I have electric power here and the use of DSL internet in an unused office, and nice people around, so it's quite pleasant. It's been a good chance to catch up on eMail,and to put together and upload slideshows. Even the weather is nice, around 70 and breezy. Last November Ben and I got the air conditioner and front driveshaft fixed here and were impressed with the shop, and I was happy to be headed this way anyway when I started hearing ominous loud banging noises from the 4WD front end. I'm hurting that my extended warranty provider went bankrupt, as they would have reimbursed me nearly $2000 on this job. Before I left Socorro and the Bosque del Apache a few weeks ago, heading across Arizona for California, I got a few more nice photographs, and since then I've been having a fine time, with more bird pictures and some of my favorite scenery. It's possible to drive the entire width of Arizona on gravel roads just a few miles from the Mexican Border, through extremely remote and beautiful hilly and mountainous country. It's rare to see another vehicle, except for the many Border Patrol trucks which cover the whole area. Each year I see more and more signs warning of the danger from drug smugglers and illegal aliens, although I suspect that the level of illegal activity has not increased so much as has the desire of the authorities to be seen to be 'doing something' about it. I camped for 5 days at the very casual and low-key wildlife area at Whitewater Draw, taking it easy and getting lots of fun bird pictures by carting around my (heavy!) big telephoto camera most mornings and afternoons. I especially like one showing the truly impressive talons of a Great Horned Owl. The several thousand Sandhill Cranes tend usually to be much farther away than at the Bosque del Apache and much less dramatic and photogenic, but on the last day they made up for it by gathering overhead all afternoon in huge bunches at different heights, 'practicing' for their impending departure north; they would then spiral down to land by one small pond only 75 years from where I could stand. I spent a wonderful couple of hours just watching them and photographing with both my big telephoto and small 'point and shoot' cameras. This resulted in so many pictures that I have separated out most of them into a separate small slideshow for those who especially like to look at bird pictures, trying to give an impression what it was like to be immersed in such a spectacle. (06Feb Whitewater Cranes.exe). In some of the pictures, what looks like dust smudges on your computer screen are actually high and/or distant flocks! Another bonus was that the refuge volunteer couple and a visiting guest, from the Portland area in Oregon, are incredibly knowledgeable about all the little dirt backroads in Oregon, and they gave me lots of ideas where to go next month. I'd been in the attractively quaint 'old-timey' but touristy town of Patagonia several times before, prior to becoming interested in birding, but this time I visited the world-famous backyard of the Paton family. They live adjacent to the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek wildlife refuge, and have 2 Hummingbird feeders and 3 seed feeders in their backyard, with a shade canopy and folding chairs welcoming visitors. Wow! In a couple of hours I photographed 18 different kinds of birds, 10 of them new for me. Most of the less spectacular birds I have put in another separate small slideshow for interested birders (06Feb Patagonia Birds). In the main slideshow (06Feb NM AZ) I neglected to caption the final picture, the Northern Cardinal. Farther west I stopped at the Buenos Aires NWR which I so enjoyed last year but last year was a banner year for rain and this year is a drought: many fewer birds and flowers and a much more parched appearance. I tried photographing some Turkey Buzzards which were soaring overhead but got only mediocre results. I did get a few fun pictures but decided to move on westward. Having driven the Camino del Diablo twice last winter and again with Ben recently in November, I decided to give it a miss this year and took the easy interstate from Tucson to Yuma. Since I knew my truck needed help, I'd called ahead for a fix-it appointment, and spent the weekend in the nearby Kofa NWR, where I'd camped a few years ago with my dad. This refuge is for mountain sheep rather than birds, and it's some of the most rugged mountainous country imaginable, very interesting hiking terrain. With the drought, for the first time I ever saw wrinkled Prickly Pear, shriveled without enough water to keep 'inflated'. I'm next heading through California for Oregon, visiting along the way as many recommended birding sites as I can. Even if some are lacking birds at this time of year, it's a good excuse to slow down and see more of the landscape. Here are the same old instructions for the slideshow: http://www.firestardesign.com/johna (Note that this is still 'johna' in spite of my email address change to be just 'john') The main new slideshow is [06Feb NM AZ.exe] Gathering of the Cranes is [06Feb Whitewater Cranes.exe] Most of the Patagonia birds are in [06Feb Patagonia Birds.exe] Most of you will be using Internet Explorer: you can either choose OPEN to view the show once, or choose SAVE TO DISK if you want to have it your hard drive for future re-viewing. I have used my updated PC-cillin to be sure the .exe file is virus free, and in this case you can safely ignore Windows's warning about dangerous '.exe' files. Right-Click or Right-Arrow will advance to the next picture Left-Click or Left-Arrow will return to the previous picture Esc will end the show at any time; use Esc if the show seems stuck If you don't have a broadband Internet connection it's not realistic to download these large files please let me know, as it is very easy for me to send them to you on a CD. And if you would like any of the individual images, just let me know. I have limited space on firestardesign.com, so must sometimes remove older slideshows to put up new ones; let me know if you want me to send you a CD of any of the 'back issues', or all of them along with their accompanying emails on CD. Regards, John Armitage