Many people are surprised that orchids grow in Colorado. While they are common in the tropics, we also have them here in the cool mountains.

I have seen only two species of wild orchids in Colorado. But they are probably the most beautiful of at least 33 species of orchids that grow here. Scott Smith has photographs of each of them at Colorado Orchids. By comparison, subtropical Hawaii has only four species of orchids.

Another nature photographer who also lives in Boulder, Rich Wolf, brought those links to my attention. Even more importantly, when Rich found a Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata) on the North Mesa Trail last week, he alerted me immediately. Later, he posted his photo essay at “Improbably Parasites on the Mesa Trail.”

I made sure to look for this orchid beauty as soon as I could and found it easily using Rich’s precise directions.

The Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata) May Look Tall in this Photo, But They Don't Grow More Than 20" High

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This morning I found Colorado’s other exceptionally beautiful orchid. I made sure to return the favor and alerted Rich immediately.

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Sharon and I planned to celebrate her birthday by finding birds on Clear Creek in Jefferson County, Colorado. But the usually clear and plaid creek was a muddy and raging torrent from the heavy snowfall last month in the Rocky Mountains last month. Every bird had flown to calmer waters, and we followed.

Since Clear Creek runs through Prospect Park, we looked for birds on the three lakes there instead, and we found them. On the shore of Tabor Lake we found the bird that I had most hoped to see on the creek, a male Wood Duck.

A Male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) Is the Most Colorful Waterbird Native to North America

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We also saw the usual species. But some of their activity was unusual.

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The black bird paced back and forth on a horizontal branch of the Ponderosa Pine. I had never seen any bird behavior like that before, so I stopped to see if I could understand it.

Black birds don’t interest me much. I generally prefer to look at and photograph birds with colorful feathers. And this black bird was a European Starling, birds that are now so common in North America that many people consider them to be pests.

The presence of these starlings here is, of course, the fault of a guy named William Shakespeare. A group called the American Acclimatization Society decided that bringing every bird that Shakespeare wrote about to the New World would be a great idea.

Shakespeare’s biggest mistake was mentioning starlings in Henry IV, Part 1. Because of that blunder, the society released a few hundred European Starlings in New York’s Central Park in 1890 and 1891. European Starlings liked America as well as European people used to that they (the starlings) now number more than 200 million here.

I had gone to Betasso Preserve for two reasons, and looking at black birds wasn’t one of them. I did hope to find Mountain Bluebirds, which I had found there before, but didn’t see any. The other reason was to read a new novel by Zane Grey on my Kindle (a novel about the Sedona area called Call of the Canyon that was new to me, although he wrote it back in 1924). I didn’t find any bluebirds, but I did continue reading that book on one of my favorite benches.

When decided to head back home to get dinner, the shadow of a bird passed over my head. I noted where it landed and for at least 10 minutes watched this black bird and another one who soon joined it before figuring out what was happening. I had figured that the birds had a nest nearby. But I couldn’t see it. At least, I couldn’t see it until the European Starlings dive-bombed the tree. That’s when I began to wonder if they had gone insane, like people sometimes do.

A European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Dive-Bombs a Hole in the Ponderosa Pine

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Everybody seems to visit the Grand Canyon. In fact, close to 5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park each year. But almost all of them go to the South Rim.

Since I had visited the South Rim several times, on this trip through the American Southwest I took the road less traveled; I went to the North Rim for the first time. The road is 260 miles from where I had been staying near Sedona, Arizona, and that is about 150 miles farther than the distance between Sedona and the South Rim.

In fact, the road between the South Rim and North Rim takes 215 miles, even though only 10 miles of canyon separate the two rims. If you were in a hurry, you might consider hiking the 21-mile trail between the two rims. But that would mean taking at least two days and nights and hiking down a mile and then back up another mile before you would get to the other side. I would chose to drive.

Because the North Rim is so isolated, it has only a few of the visitors who make the pilgrimage to the Grand Canyon. I chose the word “pilgrimage” because many people consider it to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The North Rim seems to me to be much more natural than the South Rim because it’s not wall-to-wall tourists. In addition, the North Rim at almost 9,000 feet is about 1,000 feet higher and 10 degrees cooler than the South Rim.

The North Rim is also more dramatic, at least for first time visitors to the Grand Canyon. The road to the North Rim takes you directly to Grand Canyon Lodge, where I stayed, rather than to one of the many overlooks at the South Rim. You don’t even see the canyon until you enter the lodge, which sits right at the rim at the edge of canyon.

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Somehow, I had the most fun of my whole trip to the Southwest when I went on a couple of very rough jeep roads near Sedona. I was man enough to sign up for the Broken Arrow/Scenic Rim Combo Tour with Pink Jeep.

Mary and Patty Show How Happy They Are That I Am Out of Danger (Photo by Mike Carey)

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I wanted to take that tour the first morning that I was in Sedona. But since I was the only one who had signed up, they canceled it. Fortunately.

When I got to the Pink Jeep office on time at 6:30 a.m., I learned that they had called to let me know that the tour was off. But they left the message on my home phone, which I hadn’t checked. The helpful receptionist recommended instead that I go to West Fork for my first outing in the area. I wrote about my trip to that beautiful canyon in my previous photo essay in this series.

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When the volunteer at the Chamber of Commerce told me that the view of Cathedral Rock from Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing was the most photographed location in all of Arizona, I was skeptical. After all, the Grand Canyon draws huge crowds and its viewpoints are a lot easier to get to than the location of this shot. But many others agree with him.

This scene “is a symbol of the American Southwest and the most photographed spot in Arizona,” according to the Sedona Verde Valley Tourism Council. “It has been featured in more than 60 classic Hollywood films and is displayed on hundreds of postcards, posters, calendars and billboards. ”

The volunteer said that Cathedral Rock was east of Red Rock Crossing, which itself is seven miles southwest of Sedona. That made it an afternoon shot with the sun at my back. He told me that I could get there easiest from Red Rock Loop to the north. Another way there was to take Valley Verde School Road to the south, but I would have to hike about a half mile if I went that way. Since I was staying at the Desert Quail Inn near Verde Valley School Road, I went that harder way. I was glad that I did, because I was able to get right out onto slabs of red rock on Oak Creek without getting my feet wet.

Cathedral Rock from Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing

Sedona is one of the most attractive small cities that I have ever visited, both in the city itself and its surroundings. The only places that I know that compare with it in overall beauty are Carmel and Mendocino, California, and Aspen, Colorado. I love all of those small cities as I could never love a big one, not even San Francisco or Paris.

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When you see that the San Pedro River is a long, narrow oasis running northward through the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts in southeastern Arizona, you will realize that the Casa de San Pedro Bed & Breakfast Inn is its heart. I had never before had the opportunity to stay in such a peaceful and relaxing lodging where I felt so completely at home. The owners, Karl Schmitt and Patrick Dome, are gracious host, great cooks, helpful, and knowledgeable. Widely read, they share their large library in the Casa’s Great Room.

This Central Courtyard Surrounds the Ten Guest Rooms and the Great Room of the Casa de San Pedro

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To the west of the river and the Casa are the Huachuca Mountains are its birdy canyons: Ramsey, Miller, Ash, Carr, and Garden.

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Ramsey Canyon Preserve the is place that brought me to the Huachuca Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. The Nature Conservancy protects this cool and moist canyon where the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts meet the Sierra Madre of Mexico and the Rocky Mountains. Among birders and other naturalists, Ramsey Canyon is famous for its great biodiversity. To me it is the most beautiful of all the canyons of the Huahuacas.

The Nature Conservancy’s 380-acre preserve guards the entrance to the Miller Peak Wilderness of the Coronado National Forest, which surrounds Ramsey Canyon. On two successive mornings I took a tour of the preserve and then hiked through it up this wild and beautiful canyon in the wilderness.

The View Down to Upper Ramsey Canyon from the Overlook

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The View Further Up the Trail

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After leaving the Chiricahua Mountains, I hiked up Miller Canyon in Southeastern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains where I stayed for three nights in a cabin at Beatty’s Guest Ranch. A half mile up in the canyon along a steep trail I found an endangered Spotted Owl. I was carrying my heavy Canon 7D camera and 100-400mm lens, and I wanted to photograph this owl, which is in some ways my favorite species of birds. I love it when they look straight at my camera and me! And I had never even seen a Spotted Owl before, much less photographed one. But it was turned away from me and probably had its eyes closed. As usual, I was optimistic. So I left.

The reason why I left was to return to my SUV for even more photographic equipment. I grabbed my 1.4x teleconverter so I could zoom in closer at 560mm. I also brought my big heavy tripod both for stability and to hold the camera, something that would have become onerous for the long time that I guessed I would have to wait. While I was at it, I took my external flash and Better Beamer because the owl was sitting in the shade. I pulled out all the stops and had to wait three hours for it to turn and look at me. But I think that this photo shows that it was worth the wait.

An endangered Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) Studies My Camera and Me

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I also took the opportunity to make a brief film clip of him cleaning his claws and then looking around. You can see it on Vimeo at “A Spotted Owl in Southeast Arizona.”

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I only stayed four nights in Cave Creek Canyon, but it was why I went back to Arizona for the three-week trip that I just completed. I had enjoyed Cave Creek Ranch so much when I stayed there 13 months earlier that I told the owner, Reed Peters, that I would be back this year. One of my big reasons for returning was to see a spectacularly beautiful bird, an Elegant Trogon, that makes an annual migration to the United States, but only to a very small area around Cave Creek.

The Cave Creek that I love is in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. This means south and east of Tucson. Confusingly, Arizona has another Cave Creek that more Arizonans know. It flows through the town of Cave Creek and into Phoenix.

The Real Cave Creek Canyon in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains

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I wanted to photograph an Elegant Trogon so much that I hired a guide to find me one. I had seen other attractive species of trogons in Panama, Belize, and Costa Rica, but none are as beautiful as the one that comes to this small area of Southeastern Arizona. The first morning that I went to Cave Creek this time I went with Peg Abbott who leads birding tours all around the world through her company, Naturalist Journeys. We found an Elegant Trogon right away and got really close to one — so close that a couple of times he flew within six feet toward me. I was happy with the photos I got with my external flash and Better Beamer that I had to use because the sky was overcast.

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