Tuesday, Christine and I went for a hike in Garden Canyon, which is on the Fort Huachuca military base. (ID and Car registration required for entrance). It is a wonderful drive, although the last three miles require a four wheel drive vehicle. You should be able to get to the first hike, Sheelite Canyon without a four by four. Sheelite is a narrow, relatively steep canyon with water typically running through it. One claim to fame is the pair of nesting Spotted Owls that live in the canyon. Further up Garden Canyon are two petroglyph sites, and finally Sawmill Canyon and trail. You can continue past Sawmill Canyon but the road becomes Jeep "trail rated" only.
But, lets go back to Sawmill Canyon where we hiked, and the PRIZE of the day. Whenever I go on a photo trip or hike, I go over in my mind what I expect to see and what I hope to see. For Garden Canyon I expect to see White Tailed Deer -- which I did. For Sawmill Canyon I expect to see (at this time of the year) lots of butterflies. Well, I wasn't disappointed there either. I'll show you those tomorrow. I also hope to see a Black Bear or a Skunk, or an Owl. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw: a family of Montezuma Quail.
The Montezuma Quail is a rare and secretive ground bird that lives in parts of Mexico and the extreme southeastern part of Arizona. There have been rare sightings in the extreme southwestern part of New Mexico and west Texas. In all cases never more than 50 miles from the Mexican border. We did not see the male, but saw the female with six to eight chicks. All went scurrying in every direction. I was fortunate to get a few photos of the female and one chick:
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| Montezuma Quail |
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| Montezuma Quail |
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| Young Montezuma Quail |
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