Desert Bird Oasis

Time flies. Happy New Year! We have now been in Joshua Tree for two weeks. We hung out and climbed with some lovely people (Lennie and Sam) from Montreal, spent a wonderful Christmas with Graham’s parents, and just before New Years became reunited with our Aussie friends from Bishop, Jordan and Ali. 

J Tree family Christmas

I have been completely thrilled with Joshua Tree from a desert ecology perspective. While I believe this would have been the case regardless, I am fairly certain it is aided along by my inability to climb. I have spent a lot of days doing cold-weather-puffy-marshmallow-desert-yoga and finger putty exercises…

Meanwhile, Graham has been getting into the J Tree groove, and climbing some very awesome-looking problems.

False Hueco Traverse (V2)

The Love Machine (V10)

Attempting "the move" on Nicole Overhang (V10)

But what I really want to talk about in this post are the new desert bird species we have seen. These are mostly common winter birds down here, but to me each new species has spiked an I-can-hardly-handle-it level of excitement. Even as I get to know and recognize the birds the thrill doesn't dissipated. Graham has captured most of the bird photos we have (and even admits that he likes it!) Kudos to him, as these guys RARELY sit still. 

Acorn Woodpecker

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Black-throated Sparrow

Cactus Wren

Greater Roadrunner

Say's Phoebe

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Oak Titmouse

Verdin

The other thing I am quite excited about are the cacti. So many kinds! And they are all out to get us, each in their unique, spiny beauty. Here are a few of the common suspects we tend to come across.

Beaver Tail Cactus

Barrel Cactus

Jumping Cholla

Hedgehog Cactus

Finally, in the visitor centre the other day I saw the “Field Guide to Desert Holes”… my intrigue was piqued at the idea that one could write an entire field guide on holes in the desert floor, so I flipped through it a bit. MY am I ever tempted…. We shall see if I can resist. In the meantime, here are a couple creatures who use those desert holes. 

A rattlesnake! In January! Photo credit: Ali Roush

All for now. More updates on more climbing-related things coming soon :)

Springtime = Best Time!

Spring is possibly my favourite time of year for many reasons:

- My birthday falls in Spring (I turned 25 – and survived!);

- Classes wrap up in Spring (I defended my Master’s proposal last week and am now officially an MSc candidate!);

- Temperatures and conditions shape up for GREAT climbing (Graham and I leave for Smith Rock in two days!!);

- Birds undertake their long migration journeys towards breeding territories!!

I was out at Iona Bird Observatory with Wild Research this morning (5:30am start – when I return in two weeks, it’ll be a 4:45am start!) to volunteer for their six week bird migration banding program. As a first timer I was mostly watching and learning  - there is so much to take in!

I got to see my FIRST Common Yellowthroat:

As well as an adorable Lincoln’s Sparrow and Hermit Thrush.

I learned a bit about aging birds based on plumage, as is being done with this American Robin:

I also learned “Bander’s Grip”, the first and safest bird handling technique, and got to hold an American Goldfinch:

...a Ruby-crowned Kinglet:

...and a Spotted Towhee:

It’s incredible the detail you can see on birds this close.

Off to Oregon now – more awesome bird and climbing updates to come!!

Adventures in Whitehorse

I have just returned from a beautiful adventure in the Yukon. I flew up to Whitehorse to visit Jenna, who is all grown up and teaching high school now:

We had fantastic weather all weekend, which made the entire experience even more magical. There is so much to do there, the lifestyle is laidback and adventurous, and the sense of community is strong. I can’t wait to go back.  

The Yukon is like Canada’s last frontier. I fell in love with the virtually untouched Boreal Forest of winter: 

Jenna and her partner Ben are currently house sitting on Marsh Lake. The ice is so thick you can build ice sculptures from it! Across the lake and behind the mountains is Alaska, only 2.5 hours away: 

Saturday morning we hit the road to go to Skagway, Alaska. Unfortunately about halfway there I realized I had forgotten my passport, so back we had to turn. At least the drive was beautiful, and we passed some caribou on the road! 

We decided to go cross-country skiing for the afternoon instead! It was super fun, and totally kicked my butt: 

…and I was very excited to ski through a stand of burned lodgepole pine with all its regenerating babies: 

Although the vast majority of the Yukon’s population lives in Whitehorse, it is still quite a small town with a huge sense of community. We met up with some of Jenna’s girlfriends and went downtown for “Burning Away the Winter Blues”. We checked out some musical instruments: 

…and hiked along the river to the site of a large bonfire. Here we burned the 15-foot long golden dragon effigy and old-man-winter: 

   

…and tossed in our own pieces of paper upon which we had written our winter blues: 

Today we had a beautiful lazy morning, and then went to the Yukon Wilderness Preserve. This is a vast reserve where several northern animals (thinhorn sheep, moose, caribou, elk, bison, muskox, lynx, arctic fox, mule deer, mountain goat) reside: 

Throughout the reserve there are antlers from moose, elk, and caribou for public education: 

Thank you Jenna for a beautiful and memorable weekend! 

Finally, the weekend would not have been complete without investigating the climbing potential and looking for birds. Turns out, in addition to loads of ice climbing, the Yukon DOES have a budding expansion of rock climbing: 

And although I didn’t get all the bird species I set out for, I did manage some “lifers”.

The list:

-spruce grouse

-bald eagle

-black-billed magpie

-common raven

-black-capped chickadee

-boreal chickadee

-pine grosbeak

-common redpoll

-hoary redpoll *99% certain*

<3 Kim