Chase Butterflies, Not Waterfalls

5:30am … that’s not a rational time for the alarm to go off on a weekend.

We made it to Garden Canyon on Fort Huachuca just after sunrise. Two adults, two teens, and one very enthusiastic orange vested pup.

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We all had Slightly Different Agendas.

I was carrying my big 600mm lens, hoping I might run into something unique I could add to my birding life list.

Would you believe that I only saw about a half a dozen birds all morning?

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher - you’ll hear then long before you see them

Anna’s Hummingbird

I barely got a shot of that hummingbird before it flitted away as we entered the canyon. Then a clear shot of the sulphur-bellied flycatcher didn’t come until near the end of the hike; even though I’d heard the unmistakable squeaking for hours.

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Kelly of course was out chasing waterfalls. Ignoring TLC’s sage advice as usual. She got some good ones too! Check out those long exposures. 😍

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Butterflies

If I really wanted a challenge, I would give up on the birds (everybody is into birding these days) and try to start building a butterfly life list instead. We saw so many different varieties in just a few hours, and in a place like Garden Canyon, they actually sit still long enough to get some good pictures.

Mexican Fritillary

Silver-spotted Skipper

Dull Firetip

Arizona Dull Firetip

Note: I’m having a hard time finding anything dull about those last two Firetips

Western Giant Swallowtail

Western Tiger Swallowtail

Bordered Patch

Cloudless Sulphur

The Pictograph Site

Did you know that Garden Canyon has a pretty well preserved pictograph site? It probably helps a lot that a couple of decades back some Eagle Scouts did a project to erect a fence at the site to help discourage modern humans from adding their own initials to the rock walls.

Of course the part of the wall that wasn’t fenced (because it didn’t have ancient drawings on it) was free game for climbing … and picture posing.

We wrapped things up with a shortish trek back to the Jeep, where the dog of course ran right through a mud puddle just before we got back to the trailhead. Would it even be a hike if my jacket (which the dog sat on during the drive home) didn’t need to be washed afterwards?

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Til Next time,

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… but only if you want to 😎