Joann Merritt's Essays

The Pits
(Or beauty is in the eye of the beholder)
April, 1988

Midnats have the most fun places to go birding! If you thought you had fun last month with Frances in the cemetery just wait till you go with me to The Pits.

Birders have permission to go any place in the Adams Caliche Pits that they are brave enough to explore. The road and some trails are easy to walk, but some places are not for the faint of heart. Miss Pits is not beautiful, but what a personality! You’ll never be bored in her company. If I haven’t discouraged you by now, here are directions: Go south on Midkiff over I-20, one block farther south to County Road 113 and turn west (right). We live in the third house (blue with white roof) and you may park here anytime. The entrance to The Pits is just to the west. Ignore the No Trespassing signs and walk on in to some good birding.

There are many different habitats in the fifty or so acres of pits and surrounding land. There are both deep and shallow ponds, sandy shore, rock piles, trees, grassland and brushy areas. Unlike the cemetery, the pits are alive and continually changing. Birds are sometimes abundant and sometimes scarce.

After the last drought The Pits were nearly dry. Don hauled a barrel of water to (try this tongue-twister) “pour in the puddle where we had Pit Parties to peek at the Prothonotary Warbler.” It was that dry, yet Rose Marie and I found Prairie Warbler, American Redstart and Indigo Bunting in the willows and salt cedars.

In the fall of 1985 the rains came and filled The Pits. I’m anxious for spring to arrive to see if the trees have survived standing in water for so long. The willow groves make excellent warbler traps and provide perching places for flycatchers. Once we saw a Sora climbing in a willow tree.

There are water birds present but not as many as before Soda and Cassidy Lakes filled. Don and I found a Spotted Sandpiper there the last two Christmas Counts. In May 1986 Frances and I saw a Little Blue Heron - the 200th species observed since I started keeping records in 1976. The next day a Wild Turkey flew from our two acres to The Pits. Yes, it was a Wild Turkey with long legs and a slender body so that he could fly.

The Zaninellis came late one afternoon after I had walked The Pits and seen very few birds. They came back with such a list that I had to go back with them to see for myself. Birds were everywhere, but I remember most the Yellow-headed Blackbirds decorating the trees. Not rare birds, but a rare sight at sunset.

The Rock Wrens have rocks and hunks of concrete for their proper habitat. Rufous-crowned Sparrows once stayed a whole year. Burrowing Owls have made their home in tunnels along the rocky ledges. Grassy areas provide food for many sparrows and finches. Sunflowers and Saw-leaved Daisies feed Pine Siskins and Goldfinches while Rufous-sided and Green-tailed Towhees scratch around in the brush.

As with most places, early morning is best, however a couple of hours before sunset is an excellent time also as birds are coming in for a last drink. In winter, ducks fly in and make their night sounds as they settle down. Some years White-crowned Sparrows are present by the hundreds and softly sing their vespers.

Some of my favorite memories are of the Purple Gallinule, Palm and Prairie Warblers, American Woodcock (Thanks, Bill Edwards), nesting Green Herons, Vermilion Flycatcher, Groove-billed Ani - Oh, shucks, I have beautiful memories of all 211 species I’ve seen there. Come on over - you never know what surprise awaits you.

You know, I really think she’s beautiful!

If you think you don’t have time to explore The Pits, read the following:

I’ve mending I must do and beds to make
I should not sit and watch the red sun set
Behind the hills of afternoon; nor take
This time to dream when I have work. And yet
Supposing that I go at duty’s call
To make the beds and sweep the floor; what them?
These things have no great value after all,
Tomorrow they must all be done again.
I have too many of such tasks to do;
Therefore, I shall forget them everyone,.
And I shall sit and feel the rising dew,
And watch the haze around the setting sun.
And I may find time for the housework, too,
When this, the more important thing, is done.
    Unknown