Thursday, December 28, 2006

Annual Christmas "bird" hike

Every year we go hiking on Christmas Eve. It started about 17 years ago and was billed as the Annual bird hike. Our first trip was to the Salt River pre- dawn. The only enthusiasm for that hike was the promise of hot cocoa and Dunkin' Donuts.
It was an adventure though and the highlight of the trip was a Belted kingfisher and some seagulls.

Every year I kept up the tradition...many times alone...sometimes one or two of the kids were dragged out to the sewer pond. (for non birders, this is a great place for shorebirds)

It has turned into a general hike and this year some of us hiked the Peralta trailhead to Fremont Saddle where views of Weaver's Needle are spectacular. Melissa had a good sighting of a Scrub Jay to keep the theme alive.....

I missed out on this one as Alex and I were on hunting/gathering mission for holiday delights..
I went out later for a short hike behind the house.

Photos by Pete and David


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

From one bird lover to another I would love to be hiding in your day pack and tag along. Birds and Christmas go hand in hand. I also enjoyed your other Christmas pics of the family. What fun!

Victoria Pittman said...

If you ever head this way...we'll go birding somewhere fun. I've got some great spots! Ever been to Southern AZ...Sky Islands?

We had a fun time even with a bad cold. :(
Would have taken more walks

Victoria Pittman said...

That's a pretty impressive number for your group.
I was recalling to the group about my one and only Christmas count that we did by the river. Dang that was chilly in wet boots all day!