One of our favorite hikes is up Brewery Gulch in Bisbee. Years ago we got a tip that the rare black-chinned sparrows (as opposed to the black-throated sparrow, which can be found everywhere) could be found up here. We've seen them here several times but Leo has never got a photo.
You start off in the heart of downtown Bisbee on Brewery Avenue.
Pass the old brothels with doors leading to individual cubicles that have now been amalgamated into single residences (but they've kept all the doors)
And rustic former miner shacks.
That winds uphill through the live oak groves.
We found this flower blooming.
Dakota Mock Vervain
We hiked all the way to the end of the track
where we finally heard the song of the black-chinned sparrows. We managed to call two in and one sat long enough for Leo to snap a shot. But the camera was not cooperating!
Sometimes a photo serves only as proof of what you saw.
Soon after this rufous-crowned sparrow showed up.
All in all it was a successful days birding and on our way back down we ran into a herd of 8 javelinas walking by. As soon as they noticed us they would freeze, then walk further only to freeze again.
This boar was at the back of the pack with his hackles up. He stopped and stared at us, grunted, and eventually moved on with the rest of the pack.
An exciting encounter.
Leo tried to make this handsome fellow into a Chihuahuan raven but Merlin declared it to be a common raven.
Those feathers around it's neck are just glossy, not white.
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