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Tag: bird watching

26 June 2018

The wildlife in Yarnell

squirrel garden window view Yarnell ArizonaPart of the attraction here is the variety of wildlife in Yarnell, Arizona.  I truly enjoy watching animals and birds wander into the yard but recently the wild got a little personal.

Last week during the middle of the day movement in the yard caught my eye at the farthest water bowl maybe 30 feet away.  Oh my, a coyote, in broad daylight.  I quickly closed the front door so Sierra wouldn’t go outside and my movement caused the large coyote to run.  No pic.  I hear them almost every night yipping and howling.  Night being the key word.  But water is scarce and I keep several large bowls full.

bear Yarnell Arizona by Barb Schlegel

bear Yarnell Arizona by Barb SchlegelA few days later word around town was about a skinny brown bear wandering our neighborhood.  The woman who took these photos at 3pm lives on the block behind me.  The fence belongs to my backyard neighbor.  Not sure I want to see this wildlife in Yarnell as there isn’t enough natural food for them to eat.

I myself am not living a wild life here in Yarnell, no social butterfly, letting my hair down, or chasing around.  Unless you consider a 30 mile drive to Wickenburg for groceries running around.  I’m still wasting a lot of time on the computer, social media and labeling photos in March 2018 now.

I applied for a winter job at Joshua Tree National Park, a place I’ve thought about working for a while.  I was referred to the Park Ranger jobs in California on the Inyo National Forest.  Received an email asking if I had a preference for Lone Pine or Bishop where the Forest Service helps staff visitor centers.  The Bishop site would also include the White Mountains Ancient Bristlecone Pine visitor center which offers more opportunities for interpretation and education and also my preference.  This was not a job offer, yet.

Gaelyn & crew National selfie Day Yarnell ArizonaAbout as wild as it got last week was National Selfie Day June 21st.  Also would have been my mother’s 92nd birthday followed by dad’s 94th on the 24th.  I’m lousy at selfies but decided to play.

Quail on fort Yarnell Arizona

three baby quail Yarnell ArizonaI’m not always successful at photographing the wildlife.  The multitude of various lizards tend to blend in with their surroundings as did the adorable three baby quail that dad watched over, and the deer bedded down in the shade in the wash.

hummingbird feeder Yarnell ArizonaHummingbirds fly up to the doorway to let me know the feeder is empty.

bird on kitchen window Yarnell ArizonaA bird flew into the house and to the light of the kitchen window then to the other end of the house and window where Sierra chased and caught it.  I quickly covered it and Sierra’s head with a towel, she dropped the bird and I took it outside where it flew away. Yea!  There’s no screen door and I leave the door open most of the day for the airflow.

Sierra cat Yarnell ArizonaThe wildest animal may be Sierra who will let me know with a stare and meow when she wants a treat or her food and water bowls are empty.  Really, they never are but when they get low I think she worries.

My biggest wildlife worries are scorpions.  Every night before going to bed I check for scorpions with the blacklight, on the floor, walls and ceiling, pulling back the covers all the way and carefully flipping pillows.  Scorpions glow in the dark.

scorpion glow under blacklight Yarnell ArizonaSunday night, two hours after going to bed I woke up from something tickling my leg under the covers.  Sure enough, a 1 ½” scorpion at the bottom of the bed between the sheets.  My lower leg felt tingly.  I grabbed the glass and cardboard bug catcher, trapped its unhappy glowing body, then threw it out the door.  This quickly followed by a Benadryl and a bag of frozen peas on my leg. Couldn’t even see where it stung but there was a definite tingling and a tightness near the area.  Rather freaked me out and I was almost prepared to go sleep in the 5th wheel if it hadn’t been midnight and a walk.  I stayed up for about 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t have an allergic reaction.  I just felt tired yet wasn’t sure I wanted to crawl back into the bed.  But really, what’s the chances of there being two scorpions.  Sierra let me sleep in until 7am.  Guess I’ll survive although there was a numb and tingly patch on my leg all the next day and then it felt fine.

Gaelyn mirror reflection National Selfie Day Yarnell ArizonaActually, I may be the wildest one around here.  Wild as in bat-shit crazy.  Something needs to give soon.  A decision about where I really live.  Right now I am operating out of three places.  Seems whatever I’m looking for is in a different place.  I want to look up a bird, bird book is in the truckcamper while I’m in the house.  Soon I may have to admit I really don’t have a summer job as a Park Ranger.  In that case, I may become some of the wildlife in Yarnell.

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Arizona, wildlife, Yarnell bear, bird watching, birds, pet, scorpion 16 Comments
13 June 2018

Settling into June in Yarnell

hummingbird & feeder Yarnell ArizonaI spend a lot of time watching the world go by while settling into June in Yarnell because there isn’t a whole lot else to do.  Comfortable daytime temperatures in the low 90s and perfect sleeping in the low 60s.  I have labeled over 1200 photos this month so am into February 2018 now.  It’s fun to be reminded of some winter travels to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  But otherwise, the days are rather routine with some effort at finding a job.

runners 19K Yarnell Memorial Run Lakewood Drive Yarnell ArizonaJune started off with the 5th annual Yarnell Memorial Run which maxed out at 500 registrations for 19K, 10K, and 5K versions looping around our neighborhoods.  Glad they weren’t all on the street at once.  That’s almost more than our little town’s total population even during the heat of summer when the southern Arizonans come up in elevation to cool off.  With that said, the race started at 7am and was over by about 10am to avoid the warmest part of even our 80° day.  Not being a runner, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but whatever floats your boat as they say.  Like watching paint dry, only slower.  As Yogi says, it’s not a spectator sport.  Obviously the first group of 19k runners are the most serious and pay total attention to the job at foot.

I mentioned to several people around town that I’m looking for a job and after three folks said “talk to Ed at the Emporium” I headed into town around noon figuring it might be safe without much crowd from the race.  I needn’t have worried.  I offered my services to cover hours in the store which aren’t currently needed.  And I also offered to help with social media for his business as well as other businesses in town and the chamber of commerce.  If you google Yarnell, the local websites are either under construction or not frequently updated.  I’d almost happily stay in Yarnell this summer if I can make a little money but nothing yet.

Also on the job front, I was referred to Great Basin National Park located in central Nevada along the eastern border with Utah.  From 13,000 foot Wheeler Peak to underground in Lehman Caves this park that I’ve never visited might be diverse enough to challenge me.  And I’m still waiting to hear from the Inyo National Forest in California.  No guarantees but I should know one way or the other soon.  Plus I recently applied to Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington and Cape Lookout State Park in Oregon.  Maybe I can get a Ranger job for the summer yet.  Crossing fingers anyway.

Sierra cat doorway view Yarnell ArizonaI spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out Fiverr to sell myself online for some income.  Nothing illegal mind you.  Services like data entry, writing, photography, voice overs…  I am open to suggestions.  I don’t want to slather the blog’s sidebar with “Buy Buy Buy” advertising.  It’s not my thing to endorse products I don’t support and believe in and they are few.  And besides, that’s no guarantee to income.

hotshot statue Yarnell Memorial Hotshot State Park ArizonaOne morning I drove the 30 miles to Wickenburg to shop for fresh fruits and vegies.  On the way stopped at the Granite Mountain Hotshot Memorial State Park.  Parking, along the downhill lane only on State Route 89, for the 2.85 mile trail with a 1200 foot gain and 200+ stairs carved out of the rock leads to a shaded bench looking down to where the 19 firefighters died during the 2013 Yarnell Fire.  In the past five months, every time I drove by here the Ranger was sitting in the State Park truck and I thought, I want that job.  Although to be honest I wouldn’t want to just sit all day on the job.  During the winter the small parking lot was always full and some contractor ran van shuttles between Yarnell and Congress.  So I never tried to stop before and have no intention of hiking this trail anyway.  This day, I was happily surprised to see a Ranger standing by the trailhead with a table of information and sales goods.  I mentioned the truck Ranger who was this young man’s predecessor as he’s only been on the job for three weeks.  Guess I missed that job announcement.

Gorditas Mexican food truck Wickenburg ArizonaAnyway, I enjoyed lunch at Gorditas food truck in the grocery store parking lot which probably saved me money not shopping while hungry.  The $4 gordita sandwich with pork was delicious.  Did the shopping and got out of town just before the temperature broke triple digits.

Joshua tree & white flowering saguaros SR89 Arizona

white saguaro flowers SR89 ArizonaThen on the way home I stopped at the base of the Yarnell Hill along State Route 89 where a few flowers still bloomed on a small cluster of saguaros.

Kaibab squirrel hat pinA dear friend working at the mule desk on the North Rim sent me a Kaibab squirrel hat pin to add to my collection.  I miss her, others, the canyon, and those sweet little squirrels.

Gaelyn & Danny Bessemer MichiganI enjoyed company when a long-time friend from growing up in Illinois came for a visit from her current traveling nurse job about two hours away in Cottonwood.  She brought me an old (1974?) photo of me and Danny the boyfriend in Bessemer, Michigan on a vacation we shared.  Five hours quickly slipped by with chatting about our lives.  Where are we going from here?  I have no immediate plans yet my bucket list is lifetimes long.  She has no bucket list.  Berta said the same.  I am confused by that.  I thought everybody has a bucket list.  Do you?

scorpion Yarnell ArizonaI slayed my first in-house scorpion for the summer.  I honestly don’t want to kill them but this one was out of reach, high on a wall above a beautiful print of a strong woman who I hoped would protect me, and my spider roommates don’t seem to eat them.  I sprayed that SOB with the nasty shit and stopped it dead in its tracks.  And this is why I check the bed every night with the blacklight flashlight for the eerie glow of scorpions in or around the bed.  Now I’m more freaked out about them than ever.

tree boulders Weaver Mountains sun sunburst clouds Yarnell ArizonaI watch the sun rise (sometimes) and set (always) hoping for colorful clouds.  Occasionally the clouds drift away and the day turns into fun with the sun.

Sierra cat Yarnell ArizonaOtherwise, Sierra and I are just chilling.  Come the end of the day, I wonder where it went and what did I do.  It’s hard to believe the month is almost half over already and I wonder if I’ll spend the rest of June in Yarnell.

 

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Hi, I’m Gaelyn, the Geogypsy

I retired after 29 summer seasons as a Park Ranger, traveling solo for 40+ years. My passions include travel, connecting to nature, photography, and sharing stories.

I started exploring US National Parks in 1977 and 20 years later became a seasonal Park Ranger.  I’ve lived full-time in a RV for 30 years working summers and playing winters.  I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow old, other than grow up.

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