Tag Archives: birds

Verde Canyon Railroad

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After 2 early mornings to get to the Grand Canyon we took it easy this morning and got a late start. We thought we could go to the Blazin’ M Ranch before we took the Verde Canyon Railroad so we would have time to visit their Old West display but when we arrived at the ranch there was a sign that it didn’t open until 4pm. No problem, we took a leisurely ride over to the Verde Canyon Railroad depot to collect our train tickets and visit the gift shop.

We arrived around 11:30 and were surprised to see other passengers arriving too. We thought we were early. The desert smelled like rain and the weather report was for “showers”. We were keeping a close eye on the sky. The wind that had plagued us all week was still with us and still had a cold edge to it.

When I made the reservations the operator said they had a special for people doing the combo with the Blazin’ M dinner show. The special upgraded us to First Class. I jumped at that even though I expected that we would spend a good part of the trip on the open air viewing car. Now with weather threatening I was glad I made that decision.

We had time to spare so decided to have lunch before we got on the train. Neither of us realized that the First Class upgrade included lunch! Anyway, while we were eating it started to rain so we finished off our lunch quickly and headed to the little museum on the property along with about 30 of our closest friends. If they weren’t friends when we went in they certainly must have been when we got out. It was crowded with everyone looking for someplace dry to wait out the storm.

The museum was small but interesting with artifacts, photos and history of the Verde Canyon railroad spread out in front of us in cabinets and in displays. It only takes a short time to go through the museum depending on how long it takes you to read the captions.

Since the rain wasn’t showing any sign of letting up the railroad was considerate enough of their customers to start boarding us early. It meant a longer wait in the cars before we pulled out of the station but at least we were dry. Once again we heard how unusual the weather was for May, normally a dry month for this area.

It wasn’t too long before we heard the “All Aboard” and we began to slowly roll out of the station.

We passed the huge black slag mountain left over from the days of copper mining and heard the story of the former boom town of Jerome that became a ghost town and is now a thriving artist colony. Many buildings in the town have been rescued and restored to maintain its historic appearance. Even now, on my 2nd trip to the area, I still haven’t visited the town. They say 3’s the charm so maybe on my next trip!

The Verde Canyon Railroad trip is a 4 hour rail journey celebrating the glory days of the Iron Horse.  Travel is in vintage cars that have been painstakingly restored to invite today’s traveler to “step back in time”.

 There are 3  types of cars: Pullman  Standard, Budd Stainless Steel  and a refurbished  AC&F caboose. The AC&F identifies the builder of the caboose. It’s like saying a Pullman Car.

When you ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad you are really getting 2 seats for the price of one. Each seat purchased gives access to a 2nd seat in one of the open air viewing cars. In nice weather more people are outside than in so they can enjoy the beautiful canyon and watch for wildlife. Prefer indoor seating, don’t worry about the view; all of the enclosed cars have panoramic windows.

Everyone watches for wildlife starting with the engineer all the way back to the last attendant on the last car plus all the passengers! When something is spotted word flys through the cars as each attendant is connected by ear piece to the next. On this trip we were lucky enough to get good views of not one but 2 bald eagles. One was perched on a craggy bluff, the other in a tree right next to the track! Unfortunately the only picture I was able to get was of their empty nest. I’ve seen the Bald Eagles on both of my trips and failed to get a photo either time. Like I said 3’s the charm…maybe next time.

The Verde Canyon has been occupied for a long time starting with the cliff-dwelling Sinagua. The train passes some of these ancient cliff dwellings but you have to keep your eyes open to catch them.. After the Sinagua came the nomadic Yavapai and the Tonto Apache followed by the farmers and cattlemen. And speaking of cattle, see that cow laying down over there? Out here that’s called Ground Beef! ( yes you can groan)

Many of the acncient cultures left thier mark throughout the canyon by petroglyph and pictograph.

According to local Native American lore, the Verde River is female. She provides an oasis in stark contrast to the surrounding arid countryside. The Verde River is fed from 5 creeks which flow down from the Colorado Plateau: Sycamore, Oak, Beaver, Clear and Fossil Creek. When it rains on the plateau the Verde gets fed the runoff.

The ride reaches its half way turnaround point at Perkinsville station at milepost 18.5. At its peak Perkinsville had  10-12 families living in the vicinity. It even had a small school, a general store and a post office but when the smelter closed in the 1950’s and the railroad switched from steam to diesel the  town became a ghost town.

In the 1960’s a few movie companies came to visit filming scenes for some of the classic westerns of the day like How the West was Won. The story is that during that filming the water tower that had stood by the tracks was blown up for one of the scenes but for some reason did not make the cut. The footage ended up on the editing room floor.

To turn the train around the engine is uncoupled and switched to a side track to pass by the train to the other end and be re-coupled. It’s a pretty amazing sight to see that engine passing by the window.

The return trip was as lovely as the outbound. We even saw a small rainbow as we passed in and out of the rain showers.  Back in Clarkdale we said goodbye to the railroad and headed to our car for the short drive to the Blazin’ M ranch.

Grand Canyon Railroad

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It’s a chilly morning out there but the sun is shining so it will probably warm up as the day progresses. We’re on our way up 89 A, through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff and then on to Williams to ride the Grand Canyon Railroad. I guess it gets light earlier in May than it does in October because I seem to remember this drive in October as being dark and cold. This time it’s a bit chilly but the sun is up.

We arrived with time to spare but boy was it windy. By now it had warmed up enough that when the wind didn’t blow it was comfortable with a light jacket but that wind was powerful and cut right through you.

We picked up our tickets and wandered around the gift shop and grounds while we waited for the Wild West Show to start. Eventually we headed over to the Wild West set to try to find seats that might be a little protected from the wind.

One of the cowboys was already on the set with a couple of horses.

 The horses looked like all they wanted to do was take a nap. 🙂

 Can’t say I blame them. Pretty soon more tourists started to arrive and fill up the bleachers. The other “players” came onto the set and the show was underway almost before we knew it.

 It segued from the cowboys chatting with the audience right into the show. People were picked out of the crowd to participate and jokes (really bad jokes) were tossed out right and left.

For example when one of the cowboys asked “Where are you from?” His hapless victim said “Canada”. The cowboy paused for a moment and then asked  “Do you know how Canada got its name? We’ll start with C, eh?” Groaner Ha Ha…and it continued along those lines. One cowboy kept getting shot” and then revived to play a different part.

 I think they did that about 3 times. It was fun and ate up the time we had to wait before the “All Aboard” rang out.

We are traveling in the “Dome” car or Observation car for the ride north to the Canyon.

Our return will be in First Class. A simple buffet of Danish, muffins, coffee and juice and some fruit was put out for the passengers in the dome car and first class.

The Dome class is neat because it has a great view. The windows wrap right over the car so you have a pretty much unobstructed view. It’s quite a long ride so we are entertained along the way. The “PSA” ,basically the attendant assigned to the car, was a fellow named “Bobby”. He was very funny delivering his announcements with stories and jokes. We also had a singing cowboy for the ride north. He was fun too. He had a great voice and also had a good repertoire of jokes. It takes skill to deliver a joke and make it funny. We were lucky that both Bobby and the Cowboy had that skill.

Upon arriving at the Grand Canyon we were directed to the bus for the tour we were taking. Once on the bus we were told that we would have lunch first and then take the rim tour. That’s a switch from my last trip but it works for me. As the bus pulled out of the depot the driver told us to take a look at our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon.

 It is as majestic as I remember but just as before it didn’t seem real. It’s so huge my mind insists it must be a mural! The bus took us to the Maswik Lodge where a hot buffet awaited. There was salad , spaghetti and meatballs, fish, chicken  soup and more. If anyone went away hungry it was their own fault. Lunch finished it was back on the bus for the ride along the south rim of the Canyon.

The stops were different from my last visit but no less interesting. I will say right here and now..the pictures cannot do justice to the canyon and I am not articulate enough to be able to describe it adequately. You just have to see it for yourself. Still if you haven’t been there, I will do my best to give you a glimpse of what it was like.

We made 3 stops in all. The first stop gave us a fairly long loop trail to take us along the canyon rim and then wind back to the parking lot and the bus. The high winds that the area has been experiencing was stirring up sand and dust so that it looked like a “mist” was hanging over the canyon but our guide said it was this dust.

The Canyon is spectacular enough alone but at the 2nd stop there was a biologist with a tracking device. He was tracking condors. Oh how I would have liked to see one of those magnificent birds. The Biologist was very gracious taking time to answer our questions. For example, he told us that all but one of the condors in the canyon are tagged so he could track them and know which bird he was tracking by the signal it was emitting. At that moment he was monitoring a female than was on a nest. The nest was on the cliff face  below where we were standing so we couldn’t see it from this angle. He said the bird usually flys about once per hour. Unfortunately it didn’t fly while we were there. The biologist also said we had missed about 9 condors that had been soaring over the Canyon in the morning. Just our luck!

Moving on to the last stop we found out that one of the other bus passengers had seen a Gila Monster at the previous stop and had the picture to prove it. The bus driver said that was unusual on the rim but that it certainly looked like one. Also at this stop we could see a trail along the canyon floor with hikers like little dots.

 It gives some perspective to the depth of the canyon. Too soon it was time to go back to the train for the return to Williams.

Watson Pond State Park

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Watson Pond State Park is a little gem of a park located on Bay St  in Taunton. It’s close proximity to  RT 495 makes access easy and is a popular spot for families. The park is open seasonally with a small admission fee of $5.00 . The park will open for the season on Memorial Day so right now you can get in for free and there isn’t too much use.

In my travels yesterday I found myself driving by the park.  The weather was a “mixed-bag”. The sun was shining and it felt warm until the wind started to blow. The wind was quite strong and very brisk if not downright cold but I decided to stop in for a quick look around. The gates were open to allow access to the parking area.

The park is a beautiful little park consisting of 10 acres of pond, forest, swimming and picnic area. The beach is small, about only 300 ft of sand but on a hot day that little patch of sand and shore is always packed.

 There are swings and a jungle gym for children to play on as well as picnic tables and fireplaces.

There were a few families here enjoying the sunshine even if it was a bit  too cool for swiming. That water looked really cold.

 As  sat at one of the tables near the water I was surprised by a little goose family as they paddled by. When the wind blew it actually seemed to push the geese along. The parents kept a close eye on the little goslings closing ranks when the water got too choppy.

I think I saw a Baltimore Oriole flitting from tree to tree.  I’ve never seen one of those  in the wild, just pictures in bird books. When I spotted it I thought “now there’s a pretty bird. I don’t think I’ve seen one of those before.” I was trying to manuver around to get a picture when a kid on a mountain bike came barreling past and it was gone in an instant. I didn’t see which direction it went so even though I looked around for it I couldn’t find it again. When I got home I looked for the best match I could find in my bird book and I do think it was the Baltimore Oriole. Maybe I’ll get another look next time.

In the Borderland

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Borderland. The name brings to mind many of the period romance novels I’ve read over the years. The militant hoards descend from the “borderlands” or the retreating army makes a run for the “borderlands”. Of course in today’s news are the “borderlands” along the Mexican border which cause so much concern over illegal immigration. So it was with some curiosity that I headed off to visit Borderland State Park with a friend of mine.

Nancy had run across this hidden gem of a State Park one day while she was looking for a place to amuse her children while repairmen worked in her house. She figured it would be easier for everyone with the children occupied elsewhere. What she found was a lovely park with trails, fields, brooks and ponds…and a mansion. It was a hit with the kids that day and now she was going to introduce me to it as well.

Borderland State Park is located , where else, on the border of the towns of Sharon and Easton. Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche, an artist named their estate “Borderland”. The property remained in their  family for 65 years before passing into the possession of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1971.

The Park is approximately 1,772 acres. When you arrive there is an automated parking kiosk. The cost to park is a mere $2.00 and the parking lot is nicely maintained. The park is open until 7:30pm. Perfect timing for nice sunset pictures.

The State has kept the grounds much as they were when the Ameses resided here. The family home, a “modest” 3 story, 20 room stone mansion has been retained with the same furnishing; many of Blanche’s paintings adorn the walls. The mansion is impressive when you first view it across a large open area from the parking lot. On our visit the building was not open but we followed the paths around to the side and found a nice little fountain, a grape arbor and flowers.The mansion is open for tours from April to November  on a limited basis. The best bet so you are not disappointed is to call the park for tour schedules and hours.

But back at the Visitor Center we found maps and literature as well as many local events on the schedule. It is clear that this little park is very active in the communities it borders.

A great deal of the beauty of “Borderlands” is actually due to human intervention. It may all look natural but if it were not maintained it would soon really revert to its natural state. The fields would become forests and the ponds would slowly fill becoming marshes and swamps.

Digging into a bit more of the history I learned that the earliest inhabitants were Native Americans. The land was actually a territorial boundary between the Massachusetts and Wampanoag tribes. It would appear that there is a long tradition of this area acting as a “border”.

We did not have the time on this first visit to explore all of the trails that meander through the park so we started with the Leach Pond trail. This is a short , easy trail that opens onto a beautiful pond.

There is a “babbling” brook that runs out of the pond and under a picturesque wooden bridge. Even this early in the spring there were others enjoying the beautiful day. We spotted a black dog that was obviously enjoying a swim in the pond. Working our way over the owner very graciously allowed me to take pictures of her dog as she enjoyed the water.

Nearby was a rustic cabin of some kind. The was a fireplace inside and stumps were gathered around obviously being used for seats. The smell of wood smoke attested to recent or current use of this building. As abandoned as it might appear, it was clear by the freshness of the lingering scent of smoke that this was not truly abandoned. Although we didn’t know at the time, the map seems to have the building identified as the “farm-house”.

As we strolled the trail we spotted robins and  nuthatches. All together there are 6 ponds within the park and a rich mix of habitats. I’m told that the area supports rabbits, squirrels, geese, an occasional otter, and deer. Sometimes a great blue heron stops by.

All too soon we had to wrap up our visit and return to the “real world” of errands and housework, laundry and shopping. With such a lovely park so close to home I am sure I will be returning often.

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On Butterfly Wings…

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The Conservatory is divided into two sections. The first room is educational which makes it easier to appreciate the main room when you get there.

As you enter there is a glass case with a Butterfly Tree in it. This model tree and monarch butterflies demonstrates how fully covered a tree would be if the migrating monarchs chose it to spend the night. It can be covered completely covered by thousands of monarchs. It’s pretty amazing. I have seen it on the Discovery Channel but it would be really nice to see it for real in the wild.

There is a TV mounted on the wall that plays an educational video of the life cycle of a butterfly from caterpillar to cocoon to fragile insect. Beneath the TV is another diorama showing butterflies feeding on flowers, on fruit or milkweed. To the left of that was a bank of terrariums. Alex really impressed me here. The terrariums contained frogs. As we walked from one to the next, Alex would point out the little frogs and tell me what they were and their main significance…like the poisonous dart frog. To my surprise he was correct on all of them and he’s only 7 years old. Like I said, I am very impressed.

Moving on we came to a large glass case that held a small bird and tiny little chicks. They seemed to be in perpetual motion running here, there and then back again. No wonder they  stay so little. they use all their energy running around instead of growing. In any case, meet the Quail Family.

Along the same wall were huge cases of mounted butterflies. Each case identified the region the butterflies were found, Africa, South America and so forth.

There were more cases in a row down the center of the room. Here were the creepy crawlies. There were huge African Hissing Cockroaches, (I don’t want to run into one of those anytime soon.) stick bugs (I think we used to call them “walking sticks” when I was a kid”. Then there were bugs that looked like dried leaves. You couldn’t even tell they were there unless they moved and a tail-less  scorpion. There was a gecko and last but not least some live butterflies.

On the remaining walls were the rules. The main one was “Don’t touch the Butterflies”. It went on the explain that when you reach for a butterfly all it sees is this big hand coming at it and it thinks it’s about to be “lunch” for some creature. It tries to get away. The wings are very fragile and damaged wings=dead butterfly. So it’s ok if the butterfly chooses to land on you but don’t reach out for the butterfly.

So with the rules under our belts we opened the big gray doors and stepped into what can only be described as an airlock! Warm air blew down from the ceiling creating a  pretty strong breeze. The short hall was lined with floor to ceiling mirrors. The door on the other end was glass and we could see a lush forest of trees, vines , bushes and BUTTERFLIES! All sizes, all shapes and colors, they were swooping and fluttering landing and taking off.

There was even one right in front of the glass doors. We stood waiting as the white and black striped insect flitted and flirted with the glass. Finally it appeared to move away and we opened the door only to have “Stripes” make a bee line for the open door. The warm breeze from the fans in the hallway hit that little bug like a fist and it dropped to the ground. We all just stood and looked. No one had touched it. We closed the door and waited to see if it would move but it just lay there, apparently stunned. A Magic Wings employee came hurrying over to retrieve the stunned creature and hurried off with it to put it on a flower.  Escape foiled! Now we knew why there was a warm breeze in the “airlock”.

Crisis over we moved deeper into the foliage.

The exhibit, like the restaurant was a busy place today. I don’t know if it is because it’s a holiday weekend or if it’s always like that. Lots of cameras in evidence too as we tried to catch a moment when one of the fluttering willow the wisps was still.

There were paths and benches and every where butterflies. At the end of the first path was a “Butterfly Nursery’ A large board was covered with cocoons, chrysalis and pupae of all sizes. As we stood watching a butterfly emerged from one and stood clinging to the empty shell waiting for its wings to stiffen.

As we wandered the paths we were awed by the profusion of colors. Not only were butterflies everywhere but so were the exotic flowers and plants. Dawn was determined to get a butterfly to land on her. She walked around with her finger stretched out to form a perch. I was afraid she was going to be disappointed and tried to get her to just take a “wait & see” approach. But being only 5, she would not be dissuaded. In the end, persistance paid off and a butterfly not only landed but stayed long enough for us to get the picture.

In addition to the butterflies and flowers and plants the little quail families were everywhere.

They also had a terrarium with a huge fat frog. Right next to it were two other terrariums with lizards. In the same area were the birds. The little sparrow/finch type birds were in cages but a parrot seemed to be free to do as it pleased. Sitting on its cage seemed to be what it pleased. 🙂

A bit farther on was a Koi pond with really big goldfish. The habitat seemed to have covered all the bases. There were plenty of feeding stations for the butterflies too from smashed up over ripe bananas to nectar style sponges.

It was warm in the exhibit as they are trying to replicate a tropical environment but with our hands stamped we could go in and out of the exhibit at will.

Each time we entered the “wind tunnel” air lock and looked for butterflies on our clothing before exiting. Finally it was time for a last stop in the gift shop before we called it a day. We still had one more stop to make before we could head home but I’m running out of room in this post.