Been a busy week, but finally starting to get head above water. Most of the pending emails have been addressed, to-do’s started to get checked off, and ALMOST done getting all the Christmas decor back in storage. The 12′ main tree is down and put away, now just two of the 7 footers to go. Definitely a downside of heading south before Christmas this year…err, last year rather. Even have the Haunt Lab back into production as we gear up for this year’s event – yes, we start prop building this early (and still barely get done before the big show). Need to do a bit of updating on the Average Year progress (link here), but so far, so good as I currently sit at 238 species for the year! (96th in US, 16th in Texas, 802 in IL (that should rocket up as we are home now), and shockingly 14th in my county. So far, a rock solid performance which brings us to today’s featured feathered friend.
If you “Ain’t too proud to sleep on the floor tonight”, hit the jump to read more about this R.O.C.K in the U.S.A.
Apologies for putting that tune in your head – as they say, the only way ya’ gonna get it out is by belting it out. Actually, on second thought, skip that, as I contend that is John Cougar, wait, Cougar-Mellencamp, wait Mellencamp, oh what the hell that Indiana guy’s worst lyrics – anytime you have to repeat the same line TEN times in a ROW, you need to put the cigarette down and pick up a pencil – good lord.
But there is one Rock I do like and to no surprise, it has feathers. This particular medium sized Wren prefers to bang its head out west.
I first came upon this lovely creature back in 2019 when we were exploring Red Rocks Canyon Conservation Area in Las Vegas, NV (link here). That was followed by a long dry spell as I failed to find similar hunting success on any of the numerous trips we’ve taken to Vegas since. The discussions with Linda usually went something like
“What you going to do today Bri?
“Hunt for a Rock Wren”
“How about we go gamble?”
“Are Rock Wrens found inside a casino?”
“Nope, wanna go see the dam?”
“Are there Rock Wrens at the dam?”
“Don’t know, don’t care, get your wallet we’re going gambling”
…and people try telling me birding is easy!!!
They say sometimes luck finds you – what they fail to mention is sometimes that is bad luck, just ask my elbow and ankle. Fortunately, in the case of this Rock Wren, it came bearing good tidings, more specifically (courtesy of Cornell) a “keree kerre keree, chair chair chair, deedle deedle deedle deedle, tur tur tur tur” full of varying pitches and inflections. For an introduction, take a listen on Cornell’s Rock Wren song page (link here).
We stayed at the Las Cruces KOA in NM on our trip to Arizona in January 2024. Note, there will be a few comments about this particular place at the end of this post. One morning I walked out of the RV to an odd little melody. This was the first time I had actually heard this Wren’s calls so it caught me off guard. With that amount of nuance and change between segments, I immediately went to a Thrasher as they tend to be similarly inconsistent and “creative” in their mockings. There was a Curve-Billed Thrasher in the area the other day (future post foreshadowing), so consider me skeptical at that point.
Before I go any further, I should probably mention this series is a bit of an experiment on the composition front. If you haven’t noticed already, I was lucky enough find this Rock Wren on a rock which I find quite amusing. Problem is, I was going crazy in the digital darkroom trying to figure out which crop I liked best…lots of rocks, close cropped rocks and rocks included in the foreground to the point I just threw my arms up in surrender and did each shot slightly different. This is where you come in, hoping you can help on what composition you like best for future scenarios in the darkroom!! Shot above…cropped rocks, shot below..wider crop with little rocks included.
Okay, back to the story. After a few minutes of cocking my head around like a Burrowing Owl, finally spotted the source of the sound – a mere 20 feet away sitting on a pile of rocks a the edge of the RV pad – “Not a Thrasher”. Quietly made my way back in to get my RV and rather shocked it was still there when I returned. My fellow birders know all too well these feathered beings are rarely accommodating to us bird paparazzi.
(more rocks in the foreground)
From there it was all work – take shots, improve position, take more shots, get lower, take more shots, change angle (but apparently NOT enough to get those damn twigs out of the frame), wait for the glint, more shots. Marlin Perkins’ would be proud (may have just dated myself). All the time, this little guy (or gal, they are similar looking) just went about its business scanning the rocks and exploring the crevices looking for the meal of the day.
(just a smidge of rocks in the foreground with full crevice)
I have to say, this is my kind of birding, simply step out of the RV and fill up the tin with a new bird for the year. Oh, and to have a nearly perfect setting. These Rock Wrens are perfectly camouflaged for their preferred rocky desert habitat. Trying to find them out in the desert scrub is extremely frustrating and they rarely just stand there and let you take pictures like this specimen. Ron and I spent oodles of time trying to get one in the tin for his check last year even though the Merlin App was busy telling us it was nearby. Yes, “oodles” is an official time unit at Intrigued and represents the period of time between the point when the hunt is no longer fun and when I start cussing like a drunken sailor.
(tight crop to the point the crevice is almost lost)
Let’s give some background on Dwayne. Early it was mentioned this Wren fits in the middle of the family relative to overall size. Smaller than that massive Cactus Wren featured recently (link here) that comes in the 7″ to 8.7″ range, but larger than the more common House (4.3-5″) or Carolina (4.7-5.5″) Wrens. Based on my experience, it really doesn’t jack its tail up like those other family members, but it does have those distinct tickings on its wings prevalent in all the other family members.
Cornell did provide a cool fact that may be helpful in future hunts. The Rock Wren will decorate the entryway to their nesting site which is usually located in rock crevices. They will embellish the walkway to the opening with various stones and ornate trinkets that catches their fancy. Cornell claims the purpose is unknown, but one theory (read “mine”) is it is done by the female so when the husband comes home from a drunken night at the bar he’ll trip over the items alerting the female in ample time to get here paramour safely out of the nest in time. For some reason the bird academia have not embraced this theory…yet ha!
Lastly, I wanted to say a few words about the city of Las Cruces. NM. The Las Cruces KOA is absolutely fabulous. It sits elevated to the city as a whole with incredible panoramic views of the area. I recommend it for anyone that needs a place to stay while traveling in that area.
Please stop reading now if you happen to have an affinity for that particular city….I’ll wait until the room clears.
Begin rant….
I am not fond of the city itself. The first thing that caught my attention was inside Dollar General. I have never been in a retailer that was absolutely cranking hardcore rap. No censoring and as raw as it gets. I am pretty indifferent on the genre, but pretty sure the children in that store are too young for that content. There was also a big discussion with a customer regarding the validity of a $2 bill she was trying to pay with. None of the store workers had any clue what it was and were busy looking it up on the Internet. From there we went to the city’s main grocery store. First thing we see is a drug deal going down in the side lot, 50 feet from the store’s security guard. We needed goods, so we proceeded. Grabbed our stuff and then met twice on way to car by sketchy individuals begging for money. Last stop was to get a carry out pizza at a local establishment. Spent my time waiting for the pie reading a whole wall of placards pertaining to bringing weapons on the premise – left side was dedicated to the state laws that implied one was allowed to carry where the right side was dedicated to explaining why it is illegal to carry there. I was dumbfounded and based on the individuals coming for carry outs, I was clearly on side left.
On the way back I did some research on this place. The first place I find is this Travel-Safe site that is off nominal (link here). Medium Safety Index and Medium/Low concerns on their breakouts. Then Crimegrade org (link here). First glace a B+ safety rating, that doesn’t sound bad as long as you simply ignore the F ratings sections in their colored map and their totally red (F rating) map further down on their Total Crime map. By the way, a C+ and a B+ and a B is at best a B rating. Next up, the NeighborhoodScout website (link here). First stat is a Total Crime Index of 1. seems impressive, but on further digging noticed that means it is SAFER than 1% of all US cities. Continuing, Citytistics.com (link here). They have a crime rating of..F.. but also note it is A+ related to cost of living there. But there is more…on to Ovogo (link here). Murder above average, rape above average and aggravated assault elevated. The good news is you won’t actually be robbed when they are done assaulting you as robbery is below average. Alarming for Linda, they recommend she never walk alone at night and carry a whistle. I’ll let you summarize the above info and come to your own conclusion.
…end rant
Take care everyone and hope you enjoyed this cute little Rock Wren.
Life Intrigued 