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Friday, June 14, 2013

My life revolves around rain

 Yesterday I had a long soaking rain that added up to nearly half an inch. 

Normally, I just get visitors during spring migration, and not during rainy season. However, since I had the overwintering Varied Thrush here for 5 month it seems like I got on the radar, and birders don't stop coming. This is fine, but you should know, if you come shortly after a big rain, like the next day or two afterwards, you may end up in a muddy mess. If the road is muddy, do not try to make it up the big hill. Sliding back down is dangerous. Better to park along the road and walk in. It will be a muddy walk. If I know what day you're planning to come, I will try to contact you and let you know if the road is bad. Of course, rain doesn't happen here very often so you're probably totally safe. I don't want to prohibit visiting during summer because it's a good time to see Lucifer Hummingbirds. 

Yesterday's rain took much of the urgency away on my low water situation. Not only do I not need to water for a week, but the tanks caught more than a thousand gallons. I'm good until some time in July now. Additionally, the rain cooled things off. More rain is expected today, which would be wonderful. I'm not optimistic about my tanks filling today because this rain is coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. I get my good monsoons from the Baja....normally. Anything is possible, I realize. As I've stated previously, it takes a half inch of rain or more falling down in torrents, faster than it can soak into the ground. Then a flash flood runs down the arroyo where my diversion dams are. In a good monsoonal flash flood, everything can be filled up in a matter of 10-15 minutes.


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