Madera Canyon

This is a birding hotspot, found at the northern end of the range for some birds, such as the Elegant Trogon, and the Arizona Woodpecker.

On the Florida Trail in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona

We met a couple of birders who saw the female trogon on the Florida (pronounced Fluh-REE-duh) Trail, just a few minutes after they had been watching her by the stream. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to see her ourselves. Another group of people saw the rufous-headed warbler before we arrived, but we did not see that one, either. We did see a couple of ruby-crowned kinglets (Ron saw the ruby crown on one of them); I saw a pine siskin and a gnatcather, and possibly a mockingbird.

View towards Tucson (to the north) from the Santa Rita mountains, Florida trail

After that, we had a picnic at the Madera Picnic area. I saw some titmice in the trees overhead. We saw some other birds across the creek and up the hillside, but couldn't see them well enough to identify. Maybe jays.

Finally, we stopped at the Santa Rita Lodge, and guess what!? That's where the small crowd of people was watching an even larger crowd of birds. Of course - they had feeders out. Following are some of the pictures I was able to get.

Bridled titmouse

Mexican Jays

Lesser Goldfinches

Spotted Redstart

Wild Turkey

Arizona Woodpecker - male

Acorn Woodpeckers

Arizona Woodpecker Female

We also saw a female hepatic tanager, Lincoln's Sparrow, several types of dark-eyed juncoes, pine siskins, and house finches.

It was a beautiful day, with temperatures in the 60s, but feeling much warmer in the Arizona sun. It was lovely to be at a slightly higher elevation than the desert floor for a change in the scenery, too.

---Mari

The Hole-y Desert

This scene captures the essence of the setting of "Desert Trails"

Since my last post, so much has happened - many adventures, new friends, exciting developments and fun experiences. One development is that we are staying at an RV Park outside of Tucson called Desert Trails. It was kind of a last-minute emergency when we realized that we were arriving in the middle of the famed Gem & Mineral Show, couldn't stay in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and had to scramble for a place to stay on about a day's notice.

We really lucked out to find this gem, not exactly hidden, but certainly off the beaten path. And it lives up to its name, with some trails leading right out of the park towards Tucson Mountain Park, Gilbert Ray campground, and beyond.

Well, we haven't hiked that far on their trails (yet), but I did take my camera on the trail a couple of days ago, and got some photos to share. This afternoon we went out again, about an hour before the sun set. It had been a cloudy day, with scattered showers. At this point in the day, there were still several showers scattered in the desert - we could see them, even though they were dozens of miles away. I didn't get a photo of the rain as the sun shone on one of the showers to west, but I did write this haiku-like poem:

Sheet of white rain
Shimmers
The setting sun

Here are some photos I took a couple of days ago on my walk on the "Desert Trails". The first group of photos follows the theme "Hole-y Desert". The rest are just things I found interesting during my hike.

The cactus wren nest in a cholla cactus

Saguaro cactus with holes made by the gila (pronounced he-la) woodpecker.

Not sure how this hole in the prickly pear cactus got there....

Another hole in a saguaro. Not sure who made this one.

Prickly pear with hole.

Ground-dwelling habitat.

Edible fruits on the barrel cactus.

Cholla cactus as it dies and decays, has a beautiful skeletal framework.

Saguaro hole.

OTHER INTERESTING THINGS ON THE DESERT TRAIL

Too close for comfort?

A saguaro with an extra head?

This saguaro lost its head...

Jumping cholla and cholla skeleton

Saguaro grows under a palo verde nurse tree 

Now you know why they call it a fish hook cactus

Pretty symmetry looking down the top of a saguaro

Did you drop something?

Wavy Barrel Cactus

Barrel cactus uprooted...not completely dead yet, though....

Hedgehog cactus under a nurse shrub

The sign looks pretty old....

Spines and more spines on a prickly pear cactus

What is it?

Pretty red berries on this pencil cactus

The arm on this saguaro has a nice pattern

Rain coming down in the desert

And, finally, the sunset. 

No Time

No Time refers to a couple of things. One, we have done so many interesting things in the past week, had so many new experiences, seen new places and new things, there hasn't been enough time to put it all down. Besides, we haven't had good internet or phone for ten days or so. So, there hasn't been time to write about our travels and experiences.

Also, not always being plugged in to electricity, such as when you stay at Big Bend National Park in the regular campground, or when you are on the road traveling from Big Bend to Davis Mountain State Park, or to El Paso, Texas; when you are staying in a Wal-Mart parking lot in El Paso, or when you are driving from El Paso to Bisbee, Arizona, the clock on your microwave oven just says "0" instead of the time.

Even though you have a watch and a smart phone, which easily tell you the time, while you are sitting and eating a meal, your tendency is to look at the clock on the microwave. (You have already taken your watch off, and your phone is being a charged.) And it just says "0". Which maybe is a metaphor for the fact that we haven't had a lot of leisure time. Which is not the same as saying we aren't having fun, because we are having a great time!

The fun we have had since I last wrote on this blog post includes:
Staying at Davis Mountain State Park

Indian Lodge at Davis Mountain State Park

Visiting and touring McDonald Observatory

Driving to El Paso

Driving to Bisbee, Arizona

Watching the Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw

Whew!

Something else that has kept me busy is the e-bird January Challenge of submitting a bird list for each and every day of the month of January. Today is the last day and I have done it! I am really proud of myself for sticking to this commitment. I have learned a lot of new birds, and taken the time and effort to identify almost all of the birds I saw. I took a lot of pictures, too.

Ringed Kingfisher

Black-throated sparrow

Bluebird

Canyon Towhee

Kestrel

Chihuahuan Raven

Great Blue Heron

It has been a lot of fun for both of us. We continue to meet really nice, interesting people who are happy to share their knowledge and experiences. It is such an amazing journey that we are on, and we are grateful.

We hope that your journeys take you to some interesting places and times, too. And we hope you will be able to share your stories with us sometime in the future.

--- Mari