Tortoise Trail

Cooper's Hawk in our Patio

2008-09-30T22:19:00.005-07:00

The Cooper's Hawk visited again. Here it is on the posts that supported our old diving board:

Pipevine Swallowtail

2008-09-30T22:04:00.003-07:00

I haven't done any photography since spring. But when I went outside a couple of days ago, this Swallowtail was feeding from our Mexican Bird of Paradise. I ran inside and grabbed my camera. Got this "point and shoot" - no time to focus - just before it flew away.

2008-06-12T07:41:00.003-07:00

This is a post I wrote for the Whorled Leaves blog.

I was fascinated by an article, Loyal to Its Roots, published on June 10 in the online version of the New York Times, concerning the social life of plants. It begins:

From its diminutive lavender flowers to its straggly windblown stalks, there is nothing about the beach weed known as the Great Lakes sea rocket [shown in photo at left] to suggest that it might be any sort of a botanical wonder. Yet scientists have found evidence that the sea rocket is able to do something that no other plant has ever been shown to do. The sea rocket, researchers report, can distinguish between plants that are related to it and those that are not. And not only does this plant recognize its kin, but it also gives them preferential treatment. If the sea rocket detects unrelated plants growing in the ground with it, the plant aggressively sprouts nutrient-grabbing roots. But if it detects family, it politely restrains itself. The finding is a surprise, even a bit of a shock, in part because most animals have not even been shown to have the ability to recognize relatives, despite the huge advantages in doing so. If an individual can identify kin, it can help them, an evolutionarily sensible act because relatives share some genes. The same discriminating organism could likewise ramp up nasty behavior against unrelated individuals with which it is most sensible to be in claws- or perhaps thorns-bared competition.

The research was carried out by Susan A. Dudley, an evolutionary plant ecologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and a graduate student, Amanda L. File. Dr. Dudley said: "I'm just amazed at what we've found. ... Plants have a secret social life." Since publishing this research last August, Dr. Dudley has since found evidence of three other species that can also recognize their relatives.

The article continues by relating how some plants can sense potentially competing neighboring plants through subtle changes of light or by the chemicals released into soil and air, and how they take advantage of this.

The article ends by talking about the ongoing debate among plant scientists of "which of the abilities and attributes that scientists have long considered the real of just animals, like sensing, learning and memory, can sensibly be transferred to plants?" and discusses the controversy surrounding a new group, the Society of Plant Neurobiology.
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The online article includes a video of a seedling of the parasitic weed, dodder (Cuscuta pentagona), seeking out its victim (a tomato plant).

The photo of the Sea Rocket flower is taken from the New York Times article. For more photos and information about the Great Lakes Sea Rocket, see Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers.

Fred - Cinco de Mayo; Fred - on Mars

2008-06-09T20:53:00.003-07:00

Meet Fred. Fred is a shimmering aluminum buffalo with golden wings. He sits on the roof of Copper Country Antiques on East Speedway in Tucson, Arizona, the street that Life magazine once called the "Ugliest Street in America." Owner Gaillard originally planned to turn the buffalo into a barbecue pit. But he got too attached and couldn't bring himself to cut Fred up. So, he welded on the golden wings and stuck Fred on the roof instead.
I didn't get a chance to photograph Fred when he was painted pink with red hearts for Valentine's Day. But I did stop by when he was celebrating Cinco de Mayo (5th of May), a Mexican holiday that commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. (The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.)
On May 25th, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm. Fred, of course, is particularly proud of the University of Arizona team* working on the Phoenix Mars mission.

I'll try to follow Fred's adventures as he pays tribute to significant events throughout the year. Stay tuned!

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*Principal investigator of the Phoenix project is Pete Smith, a professor at the University of Arizona's Lunary and Planetary Laboratory. The University of Arizona team designed and built many of the components of the mission. In addition, the UA team will host the Phoenix Mission's Science Operations Center (SOC) in its Tucson facility. From the SOC, the Phoenix science and engineering teams will command the lander once it is safely landed on Mars, and also, receive data as it is transmitted directly to Earth. A payload interoperability test bed (PIT) will be located with the SOC to verify an optimal integration of Phoenix's complex scientific instruments. Working together, the SOC and PIT will ensure a seamless scientific and engineering process—from science goal to instrument commands to down-linked and analyzed data.

Coyote in the yard

2008-06-08T19:23:00.005-07:00

This afternoon, I looked out and saw a coyote sunbathing outside the play yard. It's quite a handsome one - not like the scrawny ones I've seen on my morning walks. It must be getting some good meals down in our valley.

I took this fuzzy photo through the window.

Later, when I went outside, it loped off.

Visitor at the Back Door

2008-06-06T12:04:00.003-07:00

This Mourning Dove came right up to the back door. I took its photo through the window.

Hacienda del Sol - 6 (Fauna)

2008-06-03T20:53:00.006-07:00

Quail family on our balcony

Hacienda del Sol - 5

2008-06-03T20:09:00.003-07:00

Views of the inner courtyard

Courtyard hallway

Main lounge

Hacienda del Sol - 4 (Garden Flowers)

2008-05-29T11:17:00.007-07:00

Hacienda del Sol - 3

2008-05-28T18:41:00.003-07:00

This was the path from our casita to the main buildings of Hacienda del Sol.
We passed this beautiful doorway and wall,
and entered the main courtyard through the mission-style gate.

The resort is situated on 34 acres of Arizona-Sonora Desert. It was built in 1929. The architecture is Spanish Colonial in style, inspired by the Moorish architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries. The original owners were Helen & John Murphey. Helen did much of the handwork, including helping carve intricate patterns into beam ceilings. Hand-crafted fixtures and tile work can still be found throughout the property.

From 1930 to 1941, the facility was a college prep. school, Hacienda del Sol School, usually housing 25 girls (including children from the Pillsbury, Kellogg, Vanderbilt, Maxwell, Westinghouse, Spalding and Campbell families). In the late 1930’s, the famed Swiss architect, Josias Joesler, was commissioned to rebuild areas damaged by fire.

In 1948, the facility reopened as a guest ranch. A favourite of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Heburn, other guests included Clark Gable, Howard Hughes, Joseph Cotton, and John Wayne.

The property changed hands a few more times and since 1995 has been run by Tucson investors who had a vision of returning the ranch to its former glory. Restoration was completed in 1999 and included thick adobe walls, original fireplaces, hand-painted tiles, and remodeled historic rooms, some of which were the dorm rooms of the original school. The Grill, constructed in 1997, was built around the original dining room and kitchen area. It is recognized as one of the finest restaurants in Arizona. Its menu includes fresh items from the Hacienda’s own gardens.

Hacienda del Sol - 2

2008-05-26T21:53:00.011-07:00

Views from the terrace of our casita at Hacienda del Sol, August 2007

Looking across the wash to the Santa Catalina Foothills;

Looking west to the Tucson Mountains

Late afternoon

Hacienda del Sol - 1

2008-05-19T19:04:00.006-07:00

Last August, R. and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. My mother gave us a two-day break at Haciendal del Sol, a Tucson resort. We stayed in a beautiful private one-bedroom casita situated on the edge of a deep wash.

Our Casita at Hacienda del Sol

Wall decoration

The Living Room (where we had a relaxing couples massage)

Dining Nook (where we had an excellent, beautifully served room-service dinner)

Our king-size copper sleigh bed had a view of the wash and the distant Tucson mountains

Bathroom

Our balcony faced the wash and a view of the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. It was quiet and peaceful.

Who Hiked the Canyon?

2008-05-12T00:19:00.009-07:00

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images:

Trail in Sabino Canyon

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Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T22:20:00.007-07:00

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images:

Curve-Billed Thrasher and Hungry Chick

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I'm Donating My Unused Computer Processing Power to Science

2008-05-10T13:13:00.006-07:00

I've just signed up on two sites that tap in to my laptop, using its unused computer processing power. The technology is a type of distributed computing, using multiple machines across a network to do a particular computation. David Anderson, founder of BOINC - the Berkely Open Infrastructure for Network Computing - says "There are half a billion personal computers in the world with processors that do nothing most of the time ... The combined strength of a tiny fraction of this unused computing power is greater than that of the world's largest supercomputer." By combining this power, scientists can attempt problems they otherwise wouldn't have enough processing power to solve.

I downloaded software from BOINC that allows my computer to fetch work units over the Internet, work on the problem, and then send the completed piece back to a central server. The download was straightforward on my Mac. The software and process are considered very safe, and it uses very little additional power. Since Thursday morning, my computer has completed two units of approximately 7 hours each for AIDS research projects through the World Community Grid and is currently working on a third. Lined up is a cancer research process. In addition, it's quietly working on a 2200-hour climate modelling project for climateprediction.net which is projected to finish some time in 2010. (Clicking "Show Graphics" on the BOINC manager page brings up a small window with a rotating globe showing my climate model running. Mine's modelling from 1920 to 2080. Very cool!)

You can decide the maximum percentage of your computer's processing power to be allocated to these projects, and how much time and when they will run. They can run while the computer's in sleep (hibernate) mode, as well as when it's active. When you're working on your computer, your programs take precedence. However, if you're doing something intensive (e.g., photoprocessing), you can put the BOINC software in snooze mode or turn it off completely. And of course, you can opt out at any time. You can also join a team. I joined the University of Arizona teams for both the World Community Grid and climateprediction.net.

In addition to BOINC, there are other distributed grid companies where you can volunteer your unused computer time for very worthwhile projects.

Links:
BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing), University of California
climateprediction.net (forecast climate in the 21st century)
World Community Grid
SETI@home (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

Folding@home (to understand protein folding, misfolding and related diseases)

References:
Silverstein, Jonathan: Cure Cancer with Your Computer (abc News)
Roach, John: Donate Your Unused Computer Power to Science (MSN tech & gadgets)
McKean, Kevin: Tap the Power of Your PC to Fight Cancer (PC World)

Bringing Closure: Donate unused computer time to charity

Yellow-eyed Junco on Mt. Lemmon

2008-05-06T00:01:00.010-07:00

Although we live less than fifteen miles from the road going up into the Santa Catalina Mountains, it's been a very long time since I've been to Mt. Lemmon. Yesterday morning, M. drove me up there. Before going on a relatively easy hike (the only level I'm capable of these days), we had lunch at the Iron Door Restaurant at the Ski Basin at an elevation of about 8000 feet. While we were eating on the terrace, this beautiful bird came begging. I've identified it as a Yellow-eyed Junco*. This was a first sighting for me. (The photos were taken with a point-and-shoot camera that I had in my pocket. Click on each photo to enlarge. )

A little later, he was joined by a second one.

*The Yellow-eyed Junco can be distinguished from the gray-headed form of the Dark-eyed Junco by its bright yellow-orange eye and black lores and the colour of its bill (dark upper mandible and pale lower mandible). According to the field guides and web sites I've looked at, the Yellow-eyed Junco is resident in southeast Arizona, the extreme southwest of New Mexico, and down through Mexico to Guatemala. Mt. Lemmon is much farther west. Any local birders know whether this junco is common to the Santa Catalinas?

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images:

Curve-Billed Thrasher and Hungry Chick

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Saguaro National Park West Visitor Center

2008-05-05T00:01:00.001-07:00

Saguaro National Park is divided into two divisions: East and West. The west division is west of the Tucson Mountains. I love its Visitor Center, which isn't far from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

The architecture is beautiful:

the interpretive exhibits inside are beautifully done:

(That's my 100-year old mom reading every interpretive label in the exhibit area. Isn't she great?)

and the view of the Saguaro Forest from the terrace is spectacular:

Click on this to enlarge the photo and see the density of the Saguaro Forest

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images:
Roof Detail, Saguaro National Park West Visitor Center

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I and the Bird #74 and Consworld

2008-05-03T08:47:00.008-07:00

Take time out this weekend to peruse I and the Bird #74, a delightful song-fest of bloggers singing the praises of avian life, brought to you by Con Daily of Consworld.

And while you're at it, don't miss this Colorado photographer's website. The photos in Con's portfolio are stunning.

I and the Bird! IATB #75 will be published May 15th at Gallicissa. Send your wild bird related posts to Mike at 10000 Birds or to gallicissa AT gmail DOT com by May 13.

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Lesser Goldfinch

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High Noon in Sabino Canyon

2008-05-02T00:01:00.003-07:00

Here are some more photos from last Sunday's walk in Sabino Canyon.

Saguaro Forest landscape
An early bloomer. This was the only flowering Saguaro we saw. The red blossoms are Ocotillos.
Cactus flowers.
A dramatic Saguaro skeleton on the Esperero Trail.

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images:

Agua Caliente Park - First Pond

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Mad Dogs and Englishmen ...

2008-04-30T20:46:00.011-07:00

But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Noel Coward

We must have been nuts - but out M. and I went last week, hats, water bottles, energy bars and cameras in hand, to hike up part of the Esperero Trail in Sabino Canyon. It didn't seem like such a bad idea at 10 a.m. with a slight breeze blowing, but when we came back well after one in the unrelenting heat, I realized what an idiot I'd been. That's when I recalled Noel Coward's poem and thought "Englishwomen, too." Not that we didn't meet dozens of other people who didn't seem to be having any trouble at all.

Nevertheless, the desert did put on a bit of a show for us and all in all, despite some dehydration and slight shakiness toward the end, it was definitely worth it. Here are just a few of the desert sights we saw. (More to follow.)

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Wild Rose Bloom

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Gambel's Quail Family

2008-04-30T00:01:00.006-07:00

One of the delights of springtime in Tucson is the daily visitation of Gambel's Quail families. This family (mother, father and nine chicks) was in our patio this afternoon. Only the mother is in the photos. The father was in a tree, keeping guard. The chicks are teenagers: starting to get their wing stripes and topknots. I didn't want to disturb them, so I took these photos through the kitchen window, about 50 feet away, as they foraged on the patio.It's amazing to see the strength of the little ones flying up seven feet to join their mother and landing gracefully on the top of the wall. (Click on the photos to see them enlarged.)

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Gambel's Quail (Male)

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Joshua Tree NP - Key's View

2008-04-29T00:01:00.005-07:00

Key's View is located on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, The southwest side of the ridge (shown in the photos below) drops nearly a mile in elevation into the Coachella Valley. The San Andreas Fault, stretching 700 miles from the Gulf of California to the Mendocino Coast north of San Francisco, runs through the valley. On rare clear days, one can see the Salton Sea and all the way to Mexico. However, pollution is now common, as it was on the day we were there, and these views are usually obscured.

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Hummingbird on Penstemon

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Joshua Tree NP - Yucca

2008-04-28T00:01:00.011-07:00

2007-03-23. There are many different yuccas in addition to the Yucca Brevifolia (Joshua Tree) living in Joshua Tree National Park. Here are some I photographed. If anyone is willing to identify them for me, I'd be most appreciative.

These golden-bloomed plants were in Hidden Valley.

These plants were in Indian Cove.

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My new blog: Tortoise Trail Images

Image of the Day: Damsel Fly on Agave Leaf Tip

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Dove takes over planter

2008-04-27T15:57:00.006-07:00

At my friend R's house in southeast Tucson.
This Mourning Dove took over the planter that's hanging from the eaves of her back porch and is sitting on a pretty pale pink egg (which I didn't see). There was a birthday party for a two-year old going on all around her while I was there, but she didn't budge.

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Cactus Pad Skeleton

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Joshua Tree NP - Rock Formations - Southern Section

2008-04-25T00:01:00.006-07:00

2008-3-24. Our last day in the park. The southern section of Joshua Tree National Park also had some spectacular rock formations, although they differed in character from those in the north. We took a short walk past the campground

to view some interesting features.

Joshua Tree NP - Cottonwood Wash

2008-04-24T00:01:00.008-07:00

From Cottonwood Springs Oasis, my cousins and I walked past a second oasis down Cottonwood Wash

to the head of a dry falls.

We followed the old (and somewhat precarious) teamster road around the falls to the lower wash,

and then walked back to where we could see the dry falls from below. (In wet years, the falls can become a scene of rushing water and red-spotted toads. Bighorn sheep often come up the wash for water in the early hours. [nps.gov])

Joshua Tree NP - Mara Oasis and Cottonwood Spring

2008-04-23T00:01:00.007-07:00

The desert fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is native to the low hot deserts of southern California where it can live for 80 to 90 years. Towering up to 75 feet, the desert fan palm is among the tallest of North American palms. It is definitely the heaviest; a mature desert fan palm can weigh as much as three tons. Its distinctive leaves are shaped like a fan and folded like an accordion. They measure up to six feet in length and are nearly as wide. Looking much like "petticoats," the fan palm’s dead leaves remain attached to its trunk until removed by fire, wind, or flood. [

There are 158 desert fan palm oases in North America. Five of these are located in Joshua Tree NP.

On our first day in the park, the four of us visited the most accessible one: the Oasis of Mara, which lies next to the visitor center and entrance at the northeast entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. (Later that day, my younger and fitter cousins hiked to one of the more spectacular ones: 49 Palms.) The oasis was first settled by the Serrano Indians who called it Mara, meaning “the place of little springs and much grass.” The Serrano planted 29 desert fan palms during their first year there. The palms provided the Serrano with food, clothing, cooking implements, and housing. In addition, the palms are habitat for a wide variety of desert creatures.

On our last day in the park, we visited Cottonwood Spring Oasis, at the south end. The spring, the result of earthquake activity, was used for centuries by the Cahuilla Indians, who left bedrock mortars and clay pots, or ollas, in the area. Cottonwood Spring was an important water stop for prospectors, miners, and teamsters traveling from Mecca to mines in the north. Water was necessary for gold processing, so a number of gold mills were located here. Cottonwood Spring was first mentioned in a gold mine claim filed in 1875, indicating that the [cottonwood] trees are native. Fan palms first appear around 1920, perhaps growing from seeds deposited by a bird or coyote.

Information from nps.gov - JTNP-Desert Fan Palm Oases]

Joshua Tree NP - A Little Bit of Wildlife

2008-04-22T00:01:00.001-07:00

There's a large variety of birds, reptiles and mammals reputed to live in Joshua Tree NP. However, I couldn't get close enough to any of the birds to get any decent photographs, I saw very few mammals, and - surprisingly - very few reptiles in our visits. In addition to the Desert Tortoise I found in the patio of our cabin, I did spot a couple of Desert Cottontails in two different locations,
a Rock Squirrel at the picnic ground at Hidden Valley, moving too fast to focus on,and the habitat of some desert rodents (possibly Kangaroo Rats or Pocket Mice) in Indian Cove.
A hummingbird, high on a thorny branch showed just a bit of gorget,and this sweet bird was posing handsomely on a Joshua Tree, but I couldn't get close enough to see what it was.

A Bitter-Sweet Tale of an Owl Family

2008-04-21T00:01:00.010-07:00

A friend told me about a Great-horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) that was nesting in an old Cooper's Hawk nest in our neighbourhood. The nest is in an enormous eucalyptus tree. There were three babies. Before I saw them, one had been swept out of the nest in a fierce windstorm and was killed.

I took this photo on April 13. The light was poor and it was difficult to focus, but if you click on the photo, you can see the great big eyes of one of the two babies remaining at that time.

Owl Babies on Nest - 13 April

When I returned in the afternoon, the light was good, but the mother was on the nest and I couldn't spot the little ones at all.

Mother Owl on Nest - 13 April

On the evening of the 19th, I was driving by and I noticed a young owl attempting to fly out of the nest onto an adjacent branch. When I stopped to look, the property owner came out to talk with me and told me what had transpired since April 13, when I first saw the baby and its mother.

Last baby trying to fly - 19 April

Last baby waits for food - 19 April

Earlier in the week, a second baby had fallen out of the nest and was killed. Predators had feasted on both the dead little ones. On April 17, the property owner spotted the mother in obvious distress on a transformer on a power pole. She called the University of Arizona and also the Tucson Electric Power Company. A wildlife expert from the UA and a crew from TEP arrived quickly, but the mother had been electrocuted and had died. The wildlife expert was going to call one of the wild animal rehabilitation centers, but the property owner spotted the father owl coming in to feed the remaining baby. The property owner and the UA expert will continue to monitor the owls. If the father doesn't continue to care for the baby, they'll contact the rehab center to come and rescue it

April 22 update: No one has seen the remaining young owl or the father since April 20. However, people in nearby homes have heard owls calling, so we're hoping that all's well with them. We mourn the loss of our owl family. Even though this is reality and we come to expect such things in nature, I find it's always difficult to accept these events.

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Image of the Day on Tortoise Trail Images: Sleeping Harlequin Duck

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Joshua Tree NP - Joshua Trees in Bloom

2008-04-20T00:01:00.002-07:00

The blooming cycle of the Joshua Tree is totally dependent on climatic conditions. Depending on the timing and intensity of winter rains, blossoming can occur any time from March to May, and can vary from very sparse to a rare abundance of blossoms in relative wet years. We were fortunate to be there in a good blooming year.

The flowers begin as greenish buds clustered near the end of the branches. The six tepals (3 petals and 3 similar sepals) then open up, to reveal a pod-like ovary, surrounded by six stamens, with one pistil. The flowers are waxy, white-to-greenish-white, and 2-3 inches long (5-7 cm). The flowers emit a sweet fragrance reminiscent of coconut.

PROPAGATION
The Joshua Tree pollen is so sticky that it cannot be carried by the wind. Pollination is accomplished only with the help of the tiny Yucca moth, with which this species has evolved a symbiotic relationship. This moth (Pronuba yuccasella) collects the pollen from a number of flowers and then chooses one flower as a home for its offspring. It deposits the pollen on the flower’s stigma in the process of laying eggs in the flower’s ovary. The newly hatched larvae will feed on the seeds (consuming only about 20 out of 200 in each ovary).  After the Joshua Tree flower is pollinated, the ovary swells with seeds and the flower falls away. The ripened fruit then falls to the ground where the seeds are scattered, often taken up by the wind. Very few will be able to germinate in the harsh desert conditions, but it is by this process of seed propagation that the new plant colonies are established.   The Joshua Tree can also propagate by shoots from its roots or crown, and this is particularly important when the upper part of the tree is destroyed by fire.

Information for this post was taken from a variety of online sources: Flower Essence Society, Joshua Tree NP Info Page, Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, Graeme Somerville: The Biogeography of The Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia).

Joshua Tree NP - Joshua Trees-1

2008-04-19T00:01:00.003-07:00

Joshua Tree National Park is named for the abundance of Joshua Trees that grow there. This spectacular plant has become the symbol of the Mojave Desert. The name came from 19th century Mormon settlers: the uplifted branches of the trees reminded them of Joshua, the biblical Israelite leader, praying and pointing to the heavens.

There are two varieties of Joshua Trees. The ones we saw growing in the western and southern Mojave Desert are Yucca brevifolia herbetti. These are the largest trees, have relatively long leaves and branch only after they have flowered. (The other variety is Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana, which grows in the eastern Mojave Desert.)Joshua trees can grow from seed or from an underground rhizome of another Joshua tree. They are slow growers; new seedlings may reach a height of 10-20 cm in their first few years, then only grow about 10 cm per year thereafter. The trunk of a Joshua tree is made of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine the tree's age. Because of their shallow root area and top-heavy branch system, Joshua trees are not very sturdy, but if they survive the rigors of the desert, they can grow as tall as 15 m and can live for two hundred years. One specimen in the park is about 12 m (40 feet) tall and is estimated to be 300 years old.
Serrano, Chemehuevi and Cahuilla Indians who have lived in the area for over four hundred years still identify the Joshua Tree as a valuable resource. Their elders call it “hunuvat chiy’a” or “humwichawa”. Their ancestors used the leaves of Y. brevifolia to weave sandals and baskets in addition to harvesting the seeds and flower buds for nutritious meals. In the nineteenth century, ranchers and miners arrived in the high desert concurrently with the Mormons. They hoped to raise cattle and mine gold. These homesteaders used the Joshua tree’s limbs and trunks for fencing and corrals. Miners used Joshua Trees as a source of fuel for the steam engines used in processing ore.
Information for this post was taken from a variety of online sources: nps.gov-Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree NP Info Page, Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, Graeme Somerville: The Biogeography of The Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia).

Joshua Tree NP - Rock Formations - Northern Section

2008-04-16T20:52:00.013-07:00

"Two deserts, two large ecosystems whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree. Joshua tree forests occur in the western half of the park. The western part of the park also includes some of the most interesting geologic displays found in California's deserts. In addition, five fan palm oases dot the park, indicating those few areas where water occurs naturally and where wildlife abounds." [US Parks - about.com]

We spent almost three days in the less familiar higher Mojave Desert section. I could have spent weeks there, it was so fascinating. I took hundreds of photos. The geology of the area was extraordinary.

There are more photos of rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park on my flickr site. They're best viewed as a slide show. There are a lot of them, but some of the formations are so interesting that I believe its worth the time.

2007 - On the Way to Joshua Tree NP

2008-04-16T00:01:00.019-07:00

2007-03-22. This is a continuation of our Death Valley-Joshua Tree National Parks trip of March 2007. We looked for a place to stay near the north end of the park. We picked the Harmony Motel. How could we resist? This is the "roadside refuge founded in 1952 [that] offers a simple rustic elegance and a great deal of history (including the rock band U2's stay here as they worked on the Joshua Tree album.) ... Additionally, the Harmony has hosted Hollywood -- films such as Crazy Beautiful and Route 666 were shot here."
The motel is at the top of a hill near Twenty Nine Palms, California. Crepuscular rays from the sun illuminated the valley beyond.My cousins had a room in the main part of the motel. Our separate little cabin, complete with living-room, dining area and full kitchen, was down the hill. One morning, I found this lovely desert tortoise butted up against our corrugated iron fence. I moved him out into the desert on the other side of the fence, into the shade of a creosote bush. Later, he ambled on.

Death Valley Trip - Views from the road

2008-04-14T12:16:00.004-07:00

2008-03-21. I took this view from the road as we drove south-east, on our way out of Death Valley.
These photos were taken out of the car window.

Death Valley Trip - Dante's View

2008-04-13T08:07:00.005-07:00

These photos were taken from Dante's View - elevation 5,475 feet - at the crest of the Black Mountains.

Looking across the sparkling salt flats of Death Valley to the Panamints.Looking down onto Badwater.

Death Valley Trip - Zabriskie Point

2008-04-12T08:03:00.001-07:00

The Borax Museum at Furnace Creek

2008-04-11T17:08:00.005-07:00

2008-03-21. On our last day in Death Valley, we had breakfast at Furnace Creek. "Old Dinah", a steam tractor, and some of the ore wagons she pulled, stood outside the compound housing a motel, restaurant, shops and the Borax Museum. The building housing the Borax Museum was constructed in 1883 by F.M. "Borax" Smith, founder of the Pacific Coast Borax Co. The oldest house in Death Valley, it stood originally inTwenty Mule Team Canyon where it was office, bunk house and ore-checking station for miners at the Monte Blanco deposits. The equipment surrounding the building was used during the mining and farming periods of Death Valley and the Furnace Creek Ranch.
One the most interesting exhibits in the museum's yard is the Baldwin locomotive used to haul ore from Ryan to the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad at Death Valley Junction.
Other photos of equipment and vehicles in the Borax Museum yard are in my flickr set: 2007-03-Trip - Death Valley - Furnace Creek

Death Valley Trip - Father Crowley Point

2008-04-10T21:31:00.006-07:00

2008-03-19. On the way back from Wildrose Canyon Kilns, we turned west onto a winding road to go to Father Crowley's Point. The site affords excellent views of the Panamint Valley and Panamint Mountains. The Panamint Dunes are also visible from the point.Colourful Rainbow Canyon runs along the western edge of the point.The point is named for Fr. John J. Crowley (1891-1940), a Catholic priest who served in the desert area in the 1920s and '30s. According to William E. Webster, "Fr. Crowley has been cited in the book, Water and Power, by William L. Kahrl, as one of the most influential advocates of tourism in an area desperately in need of economic development during the Depression years." Webster wrote a fascinating article, "Tales of The Desert Padre" about the colourful and enterprising Father Crowley in Catholic Online. It's well worth reading. For more information on Father Crowley, go to the web site "The Desert Padre." Here you'll find some of his writing and photos of some of the movie stars he befriended when they filmed in Lone Pine.

Death Valley Trip - Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

2008-04-09T00:01:00.008-07:00

2008-03-19. The Wildrose Charcoal kilns are located in Wildrose Canyon on the western side of Death Valley National Park. Considered to be the best surviving examples of such kilns to be found in the western states, the kilns owe their longevity to fine workmanship and to the fact that they were in use for such a short time.In 1877 George Hearst’s Modock Consolidated Mining Company completed construction of the charcoal kilns in Wildrose Canyon. The charcoal produced by the kilns was to be used as fuel for two silver-lead smelters that Hearst had built in the Argus Range 25 miles to the west. The kilns operated until the summer of 1878 when the Argus mines, due to deteriorating ore quality, closed and the furnaces shut down. The Wildrose kilns employed about 40 woodcutters and associated workmen, and the town of Wildrose, a temporary camp located somewhere nearby, was home to about 100 people. Remi Nadeau’s Cerro Gordo Freighting Company hauled the charcoal to the smelters by pack train and wagon. Each of the 10 kilns stands about 25 feet tall and has a circumference of approximately 30 feet. Each kiln held 42 cords of pinyon pine logs and would, after burning for a week, produce 2,000 bushels of charcoal.[Digital-Desert]

Death Valley Trip - Panamint Springs

2008-04-08T20:54:00.005-07:00

2007-03-18 to 20. We spent three nights at the Panamint Springs Resort, on the west side of Death Valley National Park. It's a funky roadside motel located at an altitude of 2000 feet in the Argus Mountains. It was built in the 1937 as a wayside rest for miners travelling in and out of Death Valley. It has a good restaurant with a full menu, a gas station and convenience store, and a camp site. Across the valley one can see the spectacular west face of the Panamint Mountains, which rise to 11,000 feet. One morning, when I hiked out to the edge of the plateau, I watched two Airforce test planes racing back and forth through the valley. You can barely see one in the photo below. The Panamint Dunes are just visible in the photo below (the pale oval patch in the valley). They are reputed to be worth a visit, but they're accessible only by four-wheel drive, so we didn't venture out there. Some of the dunes rise to 250 feet. I took a telephot shot of them.

Death Valley Trip - Badwater

2008-04-07T00:01:00.003-07:00

2008-03-18. Badwater was our second stop in Death Valley. I've already posted about the juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow I observed there , so some of this is repetition.

Badwater, a basin in California's Death Valley, has an elevation of 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is the lowest point in North America. The marker about mid-way up the cliff in the photo above marks Sea Level.

The site itself consists of a small spring-fed pool of water next to the road; however, the accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable, thus the name "Badwater". The pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and the Badwater snail.The pool itself is not actually the lowest point of the basin, which is several miles to the west and varies in position. However, the salt flats are hazardous to traverse (in many cases being only a thin white crust over mud), and so the sign is at the pool.

Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze-thaw and evaporation cycles gradually pushed the thin salt crust into curiously hexagonal honeycomb shape. We didn't get out to the hexagon area, but you can see from the photo below how the salt crust gets deformed.

Death Valley - Ashford Mill Ruins

2008-04-06T00:01:00.003-07:00

2007-03-18. We drove into Death Valley on CA Rte 178 from Shoshone through the Salisbury and Jubilee Passes. We turned north, heading into the seemingly barren landscape.
First stop was Ashford Mill Ruins.
In 1910, Harold Ashford began work in the former claims of the Keys Gold Mining Company. In the mountains to the east Ashford and his brother worked the mine for four years without striking results. They leased the mine to B.W McClausland and his son Ross which led to the construction of a 180 ft. tunnel into the side of the mountain. The mill was built 5 miles southwest and 3,500 ft. below the mine. It employed 28 men and $100,000 worth of gold was extracted but mine expenses exceeded the profit of gold and the mine was shut down. [Mojave Desert Photo Tours web site]

There's a wonderful photo of the mill, taken in 1934, on the Calisphere (University of California) web site.

Death Valley Trip - Shoshone, CA

2008-04-05T00:01:00.005-07:00

2007-03-18. Following the recommendation of our good friends and museum experts in Las Vegas, we drove from Las Vegas to Shoshone, where we had lunch and visited the small museum. Shoshone is a census-designated place (CDP)** in Inyo County, California, United States. The population was 52 at the 2000 census.Named by Borax mogul Frances Marion Smith in the early 1900's, the town of Shoshone was founded by Dad Fairbanks, a Death Valley prospector and businessman who is credited with rescuing 50 souls from Death Valley. [Death Valley Chamber of Commerce]

We had lunch at the Cafe:

This theater was next door to the cafe. Wish we could have stayed for the show.
The Shoshone Museum:

The Museum building itself is over [100] years old and was originally built in Greenwater, a Death Valley copper "boom town" that is now a ghost town. The building has been a boarding house, hospital, general store, post office, private home, rock shop, railroad stop and gas station before it became a museum. The building was moved to the Amargosa Borax Works by Pacific Coast Borax Company (near Shoshone on Hwy 127) when Greenwater folded. It served for a time as a stop on the Tonopah-Tidewater Railroad. When the railroad ceased operation, "Dad" RJ Fairbanks [founder of the village of Shoshone] moved it to Shoshone where it has served many functions. The main attraction of the museum is the skeleton of the Shoshone Mammoth, discovered by geology students from Sonoma State University in 1983. The Shoshone Mammoth is between 500,000 and 600,000 years old and is believed to be a teenage male. He is 28 feet long and weighs about 15,000 lbs. Other bones found at the site, including several mastodon bones, are also on display at the Museum. In addition to the mammoth exhibit, the Museum has displays on geology, mining, history of Shoshone & surrounding areas, and the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad. [Pahrump Information & Welcome Center]

** A census-designated place (CDP) is a type of place or area identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages. CDPs are communities that lack separate municipal government, but which otherwise physically resemble incorporated places. CDPs are delineated to provide data for settled concentrations of population that are identifiable by name but are not legally incorporated under the laws of the state in which they are located. The boundaries of a CDP have no legal status. [Wikipedia - CDP]

New Hummingbirds in the Desert Springtime

2008-04-04T00:17:00.009-07:00

These baby hummingbirds are in a nest in a friend's side yard in mid-town Tucson. She invited me to photograph the nest a couple of weeks ago. I took the photo from a fair distance away, because I didn't want to upset the mother. In fact, I didn't realize there were birds in the nest until I enlarged the photo. I didn't see the mother, but my friend believes she's either a Costa's or an Anna's Hummingbird. It's a beautiful nest. I love the decoration around it.

I and the Bird #72

2008-04-03T11:05:00.007-07:00

Ecobirder has just posted the latest I and the Bird (#72), bringing us grand tales of birding adventures from around the world in a most entertaining piece centered on spring migration. (My own post about the lone White-Crowned Sparrow at Badwater is included.) And while you're about it, if you don't know Ecobirder's blog, it's a great read.

The next edition of I and the Bird will be brought to you by Snail's Eye View. Send your entries to her (snailseyeview AT optusnet DOT com DOT au) or to Mike at 10,000 Birds by Tuesday April 15th.

Clark County Wetlands Park Nature Preserve - 2

2008-04-03T09:45:00.001-07:00

2007-03-18. Some more images from the Nature Preserve, including my first Say's Phoebe! (Thanks t.beth of The Firefly Forest and Mike of 10000 Birds for confirming the ID of this lovely bird.)

Clark County Wetlands Park Nature Preserve - 1

2008-04-02T20:13:00.025-07:00

2007-03-18. On our way to Death Valley last year, we stayed overnight in Las Vegas. On Sunday morning, our friend took us to his favourite walking venue - the 150-acre Nature Preserve in Clark County Wetlands Park. The Wetlands Park allows visitors to experience different facets of a dynamic wash environment (the 12-mile long Las Vegas Wash).

One purpose of the park is to reduce the environmental impact of the waste water and storm runoff leaving the drainage basin area. This is being accomplished by installing a series of water flow control structures ... and creating ponds that together slow down the flow of the water, catching silt and reducing the undercutting of the dirt walls that form the wash. The sides of the wash are being stabilized by installing native plants and large pieces of demolished construction debris. Some of the native plants ... help to purify the water by removing various pollutants as the slow moving water provides these plants with nourishment. This method of purification is also called natural water polishing. [Wikipedia]

It's fascinating to be out in this quiet oasis east of Las Vegas and to be able to see the buildings of The Strip in the distance. We walked on paved and dirt trails passing ponds, streams, dams, marshes and swamps.

Great Botanical Gardens #9 - Tohono Chul Park

2008-04-01T08:49:00.010-07:00

Abbie Kozolchyk, writing in the April 2008 Travel and Leisure Magazine, has selected Tucson's Tohono Chul Park as one of the world's greatest botanical gardens. The slideshow in Travel and Leisure includes ten gardens: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, NY; Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden, Western Cape, South Africa; Byodoin, Kyoto, Japan; Jardin Botanique de Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Reid's Palace, Madeira; Claude Monet Foundation at Giverny,Normandy, France; Seychelles National Botanical Gardens, Mahe, Seychelles; Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina; Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, Arizona; Andromeda Botanical Gardens, St. Joseph, Barbados.

Tohono Chul Park is one of my favourite places. An oasis in northwest Tucson, it boasts a variety of different desert gardens,

a children's garden, a fine art gallery, a greenhouse and garden shop, two great gift shops, and a wonderful restaurant. There's no happier place to go for a spring breakfast than the Tohono Chul Tearoom, where you can sit among beautiful wildflowers and watch hummingbirds enjoying their own repast.

(I first heard of Kirstenbosch in Tai Haku's fabulous blog: Earth, Wind and Water. He led me to Charlie Moore's postings and beautiful photos on Kirstenbosch in Charlie's Bird Blog (now part of 10000 Birds).)

2007-03-18 - at Badwater

2008-03-31T14:05:00.008-07:00

Salt Flats at Badwater, Death Valley, California

I've just started to edit my photos from our trip to Death Valley with my English cousins a year ago. On our first day, we stopped at Badwater.

Badwater, a basin in California's Death Valley, has an elevation of 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is the lowest point in North America. The site itself consists of a small spring-fed pool of water next to the road; however, the accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable, thus the name "Badwater". [Wickipedia]

Although the Wikipedia web site says there is animal and plant life there (pickleweed, aquatic insects and the Badwater Snail), I saw only one living non-human creature: this juvenile White-Crowned sparrow.Badwater certainly didn't seem to me to be a very hospitable place for this bird. I can only imagine that it was seeking the aquatic insects.

Evening Walk - Barrio Libre

2008-03-30T16:02:00.009-07:00

Last August, I went on an early evening walking tour in Barrio Viejo, south of the Tucson Convention Center. The tour was led by Alan Kruse, director of KruseArizona Tours, who takes on the 1870's persona of John Spring, the second public school teacher of Tucson, when he conducts local historic tours. Here are a few of the photos I took of some of the architectural features on the tour.

The complete photo set of the Barrio Viejo Walking Tour is on my Flickr photo site.

El Tiradito Shrine

2008-03-28T18:30:00.009-07:00

Last summer, I went on an evening walking tour of Barrio Viejo near downtown Tucson. The tour started at the El Tiradito ("little outcast") Shrine. Unlike most shrines, which are dedicated to saints, this shrine is dedicated to a sinner. The story varies a bit, depending on who is telling it, but the basic tale, dating to the 1870's, tells of a young shepherd who fell in love with his mother-in-law and was subsequently murdered by her husband. Because the shepherd had indulged in one of the seven deadly sins, he could not be buried in a traditional cemetery. Instead, he was buried where he was killed, and the shrine was built at that site, apparently the only shrine in the United States built on unconsecrated ground.

As you can see from the photo, the shrine consists of the adobe wall of a ruined building, in front of which is a rack for candles. Large glass-encased candles are lit and left burning at the shrine. Small slips of paper containing prayers and other religious objects are stuffed into the cracks of the old wall.

Legend has it that if you light a candle and make a wish, your wish will come true - provided that the candle is still alight the next morning. Longtime residents tell of mothers creeping out in the middle of the night to blow out the candles lit by their daughters, when their daughters have wished for love and union with someone their mothers deem unsuitable.

Cardinal waiting ...

2008-03-26T11:49:00.004-07:00

Here's another shot of the Northern Cardinal that frequents our feeder. I hear him singing in the morning, perched on the privet hedge outside our patio wall. A couple of days ago, I took the birdseed out late in the morning. The cardinal flew right at my head and then went and waited on the wall by the feeder. His mate is coming around now. She's much shyer than the male.

Saguaros in the Ridge

2008-03-25T22:05:00.013-07:00

These are some of saguaros growing in our neighborhood gardens. I passed them on my walk this morning.
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Dragonflies?

2008-03-24T21:00:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple of photos I took at the third pond in Agua Caliente Park. I know very little about insects, and I haven't been able to identify these dragonflies. I'd be very pleased to learn what they are.

The first one seems similar to a Neon Skimmer, but isn't as bright as those I've seen pictured on the Internet.

And this one resembles photos of a Variegated Meadowhawk.
[The Arizona Odonates web site has great photos of Arizona dragonflies.]

Don't Miss "The quotable I and the Bird"

2008-03-20T10:59:00.003-07:00

Clare, whose fabulous blog The House and Other Arctic Musings has entertained, captivated and amazed us since 2005, is the host of #71 - The quotable I and the Bird. Don't miss this intriguing issue. Clare has assembled the contributions and accompanied them with fine and relevant quotes. A masterpiece!

Clare, a fine writer himself, says, "This I and the Bird is a celebration of other's words (and images) of the world's birds, primarily through the posts of the amazingly diverse I and the Bird blogging community, but also through some equally celebrated authors, bonvivants and others of note. So pause a moment, and consider this life, these birds, and this briefest of moments on our journey under the sun and sky."

Northern Pintails in the Park

2008-03-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

I think these Northern Pintails were the most handsome birds at Agua Caliente Park last week.

These males were in their breeding plumage. "Male makes wheezy mewing notes and a whistle. Female quacks." They winter from central United States southward to northern South America. Also in southern Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia. They are not endangered, but populations are lower than desired. [All About Birds (Cornell Ornithology Lab)]

"This elegant duck with its trim form and swift flight has been dubbed 'the greyhound of the air'. ... They are omnivorous. ... Main foods eaten include grain, moist-soil and aquatic plant seeds, aquatic insects, crustaceans and snails." [Delta Waterfowl]

Mexican Gold Poppies near Kitt Peak

2008-03-14T00:19:00.012-07:00

On Wednesday, we drove out to Topawa (10 miles south of Sells) to visit the new Tohono O'odham Cultural Center and Museum. On the way, we stopped near the Kitt Peak turnoff to photograph Mexican Gold Poppies (Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana) that were clustered by the roadside. We had hoped to find a large field of wildflowers there, as we had several years ago after a very wet winter, but that field had no flowers at all.

In this photo, you can just see some of the telescopes of Kitt Peak National Observatory. The most prominent dome houses the 4 meter (158-inch) Mayall telescope. It is 18 stories high. On clear days (which are most days in our area), I can see the dome from our main road, over 65 miles away.

Ring-necked Ducks in the Park

2008-03-11T19:58:00.009-07:00

According to the Cornell Ornithology Lab's All About Birds web site, [the Ring-necked Duck] is the most common diving duck to be found on small ponds in migration. It is more easily recognized by the bold white ring around its bill than the chestnut collar for which it is named. If you enlarge the bottom photo (double-click on it), you can see the chestnut ring.

I wasn't able to isolate any females to photograph in Agua Caliente Park, but I believe there's a female on the far left of the group photo.

Double-crested Cormorant in the Park

2008-03-11T00:00:00.004-07:00

I spotted this cormorant in Agua Caliente Park last March. A warm spring feeds the three ponds in this park.

I didn't know before that cormorants came inland. Note the turtle sunning itself on the branch in the first two photos.

"The Double-crested Cormorant is the most numerous and widespread North American cormorant. It's also the only one that occurs in large numbers inland as well as on the coast. Growing in numbers throughout its range, this cormorant is increasingly being blamed for declines in sport fisheries and for devastating fish farms. ... [It] dives from the surface of the water and chases prey underwater. Grabs fish in bill, without spearing it." [Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds web site]

[These photos are heavily cropped. Thanks to my Canon 70-300mm zoom lens. I could barely see the cormorant across the pond, and didn't see the turtle until I enlarged the photo.]

Pond Sliders in the Park

2008-03-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

I saw these Pond Sliders (trachemys scripta) in Agua Caliente Park last March. According to the Reptiles of Arizona web site, they are found in shallow, permanent water with abundant vegetation and as soft bed. They are often seen basking the sun or floating in sun-warmed water. They forage during the day and spend the night on the bottom of the pond or river. This turtle is an omnivore that feeds on a variety of aquatic plants, crayfish, snails, insects, tadpoles, and fish.

American Wigeons in the Park

2008-03-08T14:30:00.001-07:00

American Wigeons in Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, 5 March 2008

Mallards in the Park

2008-03-07T10:24:00.007-07:00

Male and female Mallards at Agua Caliente Park, 5 March 2008

Manky mallard?

2008-03-06T20:44:00.005-07:00

I looked through all the water fowl pictures in Sibley and Peterson, and I couldn't figure out what this duck is. I did find a clue in Peterson, which led me to look up "domestic mallard" in google images. This led me to the 10,000 Birds blog. Charlie wrote about "Manky Mallards," and has photographs of mallards very similar to this bird. Based on his article, I'm concluding that this is a feral male mallard. (Please chime in if you agree/disagree.)

Check out Charlie's article: "Manky Mallards" (Domestic, Feral, or Just Plain Odd Mallards, published on June 28, 2007. It's fascinating. Thanks, Charlie!

[I don't know what the deal is with the little white tuft on his head. Maybe he was in a fight?]

Snowy Egret - Agua Caliente Park

2008-03-05T16:46:00.004-07:00

We picnicked with two of our grandsons in Agua Caliente Park this afternoon. As we were setting up, I spotted this egret in the stream. I'm identifying this one as a Snowy Egret - smaller than the Great Egret at Ft. Lowell Park and with distinguishing yellow feet. A lovely bird.

Hawk - Sharp-shinned or Cooper's?

2008-03-04T13:32:00.005-07:00

This hawk has been hunting in our patio for the past couple of weeks. I thought it was a Cooper's Hawk, but a friend thinks it might be a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Project Feederwatch web site shows the differences, but I'm still not sure. Could someone please identify it for me? I can see it's a juvenile, because it has red eyes. Adults have red or orange eyes.

Great Egret - 2008

2008-02-24T09:21:00.007-07:00

Yesterday, I was in Fort Lowell Park. All the ducks were at one end of the pond. At the other end, I spotted an egret. I was only able to spend a few minutes in the park, but I did manage to get some photos. I have no idea if this is the same Great Egret I photographed last year. Does anyone know if they return to the same location each year?

Great Egret - 2007

2008-02-22T12:11:00.008-07:00

We have a small pond in Ft. Lowell Park, one of our city parks.

I photographed this bird there last spring. I believe it's a Great Egret.

CORRECTION: I originally posted this as "Snowy Egret," which is what a friend told me it was. However, the Cornell's All About Birds indicates that the Snowy Egret has a black beak and yellow feet, whereas the Great Egret has a yellow beak and black legs and feet. Since there is already a reference to this post on another blog, I thought I should put in this correction.

Northern Cardinal in an old palo verde tree

2008-02-15T17:00:00.002-07:00

This Northern Cardinal comes by every day to see what's in our bird feeders. I hope to see his mate soon.

Roadrunner photo

2008-02-14T15:55:00.005-07:00

I've written about Roadrunners before. Here's a photo of one who came into our patio last week. It's only through enlarged photos that I've been able to see some of the colours in the roadrunner's plumage. (Click on the photo to see it full size. It's worth it!)

The Many Colours of Prickly Pear

2007-05-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Early morning walks find prickly pear blossoms still closed up from the night, so a couple of days ago I braved a later morning walk in >100 degrees Fahrenheit temperature to photograph some of the Prickly Pear Cacti (genus Opuntia) growing in the neighbourhood. Some are growing wild; many are in nearby gardens. There is quite a range of colours - even on the same plant.

Cereus - Wow!!

2007-05-15T21:43:00.001-07:00

On May 6, I blogged about a Night-Blooming Cereus that's growing round the corner from my house. Early this morning, my neighbour and I walked by and found this:The blooms were buzzing with bees. They must have been attracted by the strong fragrance, which I could smell from half a block away. The blooms opened up yesterday evening. By 9 a.m. today the blooms were gone. The plant won't bloom again until next May.

Staghorn Cholla Cactus

2007-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

This cactus straddles the corner of our property and our neighbour's. I'm not absolutely sure what kind of cholla it is, but I'm guessing it's a staghorn cholla. Other possibilities are buckhorn and cane cholla. I delight in its yellow flowers and the interesting structure of its fruit.

Night-Blooming Cereus

2007-05-06T16:50:00.001-07:00

Round the corner from where I live, there is a large, rambling Arizona Night-Blooming Cereus, Reina de la noche, growing in a front garden.

Peniocereus greggii is a slender-stemmed cactus with a large underground tuber that can reach the size of a basketball, and weigh as much as 15 pounds. Occasional specimens are known to weigh as much as 87 pounds. It is reported that native Americans utilized the tuber for food. The grey stems are four to six ribbed, to 12 mm in diameter, and resemble the stems of the shrubs that often support them. The stems are armed with short dark spines along the ribs. Flowers are large and beautiful, salverform, nocturnal, scented, white, to 7.5 cm in diameter. They last only one night. Fruits are red, ovoid, sparsely spiny, fleshy and many-seeded. ... The known range [includes] large areas in central Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, western Texas, and south into Sonora, Mexico at elevations below 4000 ft. from the website of The Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona

I smelled the beautiful scent of the flowers as I turned the corner on my Wednesday morning walk. Much to my surprise, there were only four blooms. In other years, the plant has been covered with them.

The next day, of course, the blooms had shrivelled.When I looked closely at the plant, it seemed that several of the stems had little buds. Very often this species of plant blooms in June. I'll be checking it from time to time to see if more flower stems develop.

Sumer is icumen in

2007-05-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it's getting pretty hot in the Old Pueblo. We haven't "broken the ice" yet - that occurs when the temperature officially breaks 100 degrees Fahrenheit - but we've come pretty close.

The cactus have been blooming and I've managed to take a few photos. I saw this spectacular plant in our neighbourhood when I was out walking early Wednesday morning and took some quick snapshots with my Canon Powershot SD700.I thought I'd go back today to try to take some better photos with the 100 mm. lens, but when I drove by I saw that the flowers were already shrivelled - a two-day wonder.

A Winner! IATB #43: IATB at the Movies!

2007-02-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

Make sure you don't miss I and the bird #43: IATB at the Movies! You're in for a treat as you once again read great birding stories and see fantastic pictures. All associated with movies - some classic, some offbeat. This issue of IATB is definitely Golden Globes calibre.

Your Master of Ceremonies is tai haku, who presents his own work in his exciting blog Earth, Wind and Water. This blog presents beautiful photos of birds, animals and plants. And it features some of the most amazing underwater photography I've ever seen. Make time for a double feature - IATB at the Movies and then more short subjects at Earth, Wind and Water: Musings on life on earth, in the air and under the water direct from an amateur naturalist and photographer on an island somwhere in the Caribbean.

My Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)

2007-02-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

House Finches in the Patio

This weekend I participated in a bird count for the first time. The Great Backyard Bird Count took place over four days: February 16-19. I limited my observations to the birds I could see in or flying over my 2500 square foot patio.

Here are my maximum counts – a total of 170 birds, 19 species.

Abert's Towhee - 2
Anna's Hummingbird - 3
Cactus Wren - 2
Cooper's Hawk- 2
Curve-billed Thrasher - 4
Gambel's Quail - 14
Gila Woodpecker - 4
Greater Roadrunner - 1
Great-tailed Grackle - 5
House Finch - 40
House Sparrow - 25
Lesser Goldfinch - 10
Mourning Dove - 45
Northern Cardinal - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
Phainopepla - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Vermilion Flycatcher - 1
White-crowned Sparrow - 2

I rated myself as Fair (the lowest possible) for bird identification ability/experience. I haven’t yet learned to distinguish the sparrows or to be certain of the finches. Habitat, location: suburban, yard. Snow: none.

I checked the Top Ten Lists and was happy to see that as of this morning Tucson, Arizona came in fourth in localities reporting the most species and seventh in localities submitting the most checklists. Arizona came in fourth in States/Provinces submitting the most checklists. Of the ten most frequently reported birds nationwide, the following were on my list: Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, House Finch and House Sparrow.

I knew that Clare of The House and Other Arctic Musings was participating. So just for fun, I checked the Nunavut counts. One specie: Common Raven, count 148 – from 5 checklists. Clare counted 67 in one location. John of A DC Birding Blog blew me away with his reports, including 1400 Canada Geese at Hains Point and the Tidal Basin. Bootstrap Analysis in Michigan had some interesting sightings, too. I'd love to hear about other results.

This was fun and I hope to do it again next year. Meanwhile, I need to learn more about finches and sparrows.

Backyard Birds: Greater Roadrunner

2007-02-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

For the first time yesterday, I was able to photograph a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) in our back yard. Since we built the concrete patio wall last year, I've seen Roadrunners on the wall only a couple of times. I was standing at the kitchen door counting House Finches for the Great Backyard Bird Count when this one showed up. When I displayed the photos on my monitor, I was delighted and surprised to see the colours in its tail and on its head.The Greater Roadrunner is a ground-dwelling cuckoo. That's usually a surprise to my UK friends and certainly was to me. The cuckoo of my English childhood (Cuculus canorus) was a large bird, popular for its "ku-koo" sound but vilified for laying its eggs in other birds' nests.

The italicized sections below are "cool facts" taken from Cornell's All About Birds:

The Greater Roadrunner can reach running speeds of 30 km/hr (18.6 mi/hr). It holds its head and tail flat and parallel to the ground when running at its top speed.
To warm up after a cold desert night, a roadrunner will turn its back to the sun, fluff its back feathers, and expose skin along its back. This skin is black in order to absorb more solar energy. (Amophila Adventures posted a great photo of this yesterday.)
The Greater Roadrunner eats many venomous prey items, including scorpions, spiders, and rattlesnakes. Two birds may cooperate to kill a large snake.
The Greater Roadrunner is an opportunistic forager. It frequently captures small birds at bird feeders and nest boxes. One was observed to leap up from hiding in a dry riverbed and knock down a low-flying White-throated Swift.

I caught this behaviour quite by accident. I saw the Roadrunner jump down from the wall to the Kool Decking and then run off with something in its mouth. When I enlarged and cropped the photo, I saw that it had caught a male House Finch. (Blurred photo taken through the kitchen window. Click to enlarge.)

The desert-dwelling roadrunner uses salt glands in front of its eyes to excrete excess salt from its blood. Such glands are common in ocean-going birds that can drink seawater. The roadrunner is able to get along without drinking water if it eats food with high enough water content, but it will drink readily if water is available.

Only in cartoons does the Roadrunner go "Beep-Beep." It actually has a soft cooing sound.

Don't Forget the Good Planets Carnival!

2007-02-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Wanderin' Weeta has done a wonderful editing job with the Good Planets Are Hard to Find carnival this month. She has designated each week with a theme: Water (February 3), Earth (February 10), Air (February 17), Fire (February 24 - still to come). It's not too late to add your contribution to the Fire issue. Anyone is welcome to submit images. Send your photos (suitably sized for the Internet) illustrating fire on our beautiful planet to susannah at dccnet dot com.

From its inception at The Dharma Bums last August, Good Planets has been a weekly carnival. This is going to change. Robin Andrea, who with Roger, conceived and launched this wonderful carnival celebrating the glory of our planet says:

We're going to tweak Good Planets a bit, and think maybe in March and thereafter, it should be twice a month on the second and fourth Saturdays. The March host will be amazing and wondrous Bev of Burning Silo. Would anyone out there like to grab April?

The Good Planets archive is has been updated on the Good Planets Flickr site. The photos are grouped by publication date. It's a great experience to go back and look at past issues. Several of the photos have been picked as favourites by people browsing through Flickr.

It's Spring!!

2007-02-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

The outside thermometer registered over 80 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. It's springtime in Tucson! We had a slightly wetter winter this year than last, so hopefully there will be some spring wildflowers. The birds are dancing in pairs - sparrows, finches, thrashers, cardinals. I've already seen a Redtailed Hawk mating flight. And now the Phainopeplas are returning. This gentleman was in the mesquite tree across the street.

Previous posts about Phainopeplas:
February 17, 2006 - Phainopepla - Backyard Visitor
February 5, 2006 - Mistletoe and Phainopepla

Firefly Forest's posts on Phainopeplas display her wonderful photography:
May 8, 2006 - Phainopepla, Male
May 4, 2005 - Phainopepla, Female

Eyes Wide Open - Weep With Me

2007-02-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

On Friday and Saturday, February 2 and 3, a partial exhibit of Eyes Wide Open, an Exhibition on the Human Cost of the Iraq War (National Guard Memorial), was displayed on the mall of the University of Arizona. Sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Arizona Presbyterian Campus Ministry, this exhibit has travelled around the country, sadly growing as it travels.The full exhibit currently has over 3000 pairs of boots. The February 2-3 exhibit displayed approximately 458 pairs of boots - 80 pairs in memory of Arizona soldiers (three of whom were Army National Guard) and the rest in memory of National Guard members from throughout the nation who lost their lives in the current Iraq war. Some of the boots were those worn by the fallen soldiers and were donated by their families. The majority were purchased from an army surplus store. The boots above are in memory of PFC Lori Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Arizona. She was the first American female soldier to die in Iraq. Piestewa, a single mother of two and a Hopi Indian, was one of the few American Indian women serving in the military.

In addition to the boots, there is an exhibit of 50 pairs of civilian shoes, memorializing the first five hundred Iraqi civilians who were killed in the war. ("A recent estimate from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health ascribed approximately 655,000 civilian Iraqi deaths to the war." See also Iraq Body Count which gives a current estimate of civilian Iraqi deaths.)

"The exhibit is designed to be a memorial to all those who lost their lives in the [Iraq] war. While the AFSC, a faith-based organization, has a historic position against all war, this event is not intended as a protest. ... AFSC champions the dignity and worth of every individual, the sanctity of human life, and humanity's collective responsibility to promote peace."

Quotes are from information provided by the exhibit sponsors. For more information about Eyes Wide Open, go to the American Friends Service Committee web site: www.afsc.org/eyes.

Snow Day!!

2007-01-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well this is a first -- a snow day for Tucson's schools!

From the Arizona Daily Star, January 22, 2007:
Sunday's snow left behind closed schools and treacherous road conditions throughout the metropolitan area this morning.The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department report that numerous roads and bridges were closed due to icing early this morning. In addition, the National Weather Service has issued advisories for snow and dense fog. The fog advisory remains in effect until 9 a.m. while the snow advisory expires at 5 p.m. today.
Kids across the greater Tucson area are experiencing something their counterparts in the Northeast take for granted: A snow day. Schools across Tucson were either closed or starting late today. School bus service was eliminated in most Tucson school districts.

It snowed last night starting around 7:30 pm - large wonderful soft flakes. At our elevation, about 2300 feet, we received about an inch of snow, but we're in the lowest part of the valley. Other areas received as much as three inches.Two Red-tailed Hawks huddled together on the eucalyptus tree across the street. A third flew in with its prey, but it was still too dark to get a clear photo. The Mourning Doves were waiting for me when I went out to feed the birds and the sunflower seed I scattered on the surface of the snow was gone in a flash. All the gang were there: Cactus Wrens, the Cardinal pair, several charms (don't you love that word?) of House Finches, Curve-billed Thrashers, a Gilded Flicker, Abert's Towhees, Gambel's Quail, Lesser Goldfinches, White-crowned and House Sparrows. A Roadrunner hopped up on the wall, and the Gila Woodpeckers were out in force. The Santa Catalina Mountains had 12 inches of snow at 10 this morning and it was reportedly still snowing there, so there may be some good skiing on Mt. Lemmon (the southernmost ski slope in the US). By 2:00 pm today the snow in our neighbourhood had pretty much melted, but we're expecting a hard freeze tonight.

t.beth of The Firefly Forest has posted some great shots of desert vegetation in today's snow and Daniel of cowjumping.net presents us with a Tucson-sized snowman.

Backyard Birds - Gilded Flicker

2007-01-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

Gila Woodpeckers are year-round residents of our neighbourhood. Four of them feed in my patio regularly. During the summer, they brought their babies in and fed them orange bits and seeds. I was looking out the window early yesterday morning and noticed that one of the woodpeckers was different. I was kind of bleary-eyed, but awake enough to realize it wasn't a Gila Woodpecker.

Gila Woodpecker; Gilded Flicker

I photographed the bird through the kitchen window, because I didn't want to frighten it. When I uploaded the photos, I found this flight shot showing a dark gold underwing.

Sparrow; Gilded Flicker

I remembered a similar bird recently posted on a friend's blog. t. beth of Firefly Forest described and beautifully photographed a Northern Red-Shafted Flicker a few days ago at a location about half a mile from where I live. However, the bird in our yard had a golden underwing, rather than the red of the local Northern. I did a little research and was delighted when I realized that the new visitor eating from the suet block must be a Gilded Flicker (Colaptes auratus mearnsi).

"Like the Northern Flicker, the Gilded Flicker is a medium-large, conspicuous bird, often seen on the ground. Flickers have brown backs with black, horizontal barring. The breast features a large, black crescent and the undersides are speckled. Gilded Flicker compares with the subspecies of Northern Flicker in several ways: Like the Red-shafted subspecies, Gilded Flicker has a red malar stripe, gray throat, and gray ear-coverts. These are in contrast to Yellow-shafted, which has a black malar stripe, tan throat, and tan ear-coverts. Gilded Flicker, however, differs from Red-shafted in having a yellowish crown (hence the name "Gilded"), and yellow shafts on the primaries. Gilded Flicker is slightly smaller than both Northern Flicker subspecies, and the background color of the underside is whitish, instead of tan."

Audubon Watchlist

This morning, the flicker was back, this time on the large seed block usually frequented by Gambel's Quail, Gila Woodpeckers and Cactus Wrens. When two Gila Woodpeckers joined it, it was easy to see the differences.

Gilded Flicker (larger, and with the brown back)

Male and Female Gila Woodpeckers
(the male has the red crown)

I and the Bird #40

2007-01-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Craig at Peregrine's Bird Blog has served up a veritable feast of fine writing and photography in the latest I and the Bird: #40. Dip into it to whet your appetite, or wait until you have time to enjoy the full repast. However you decide to partake, you'll have a wonderful time.

Backyard Birds - Northern Cardinal

2007-01-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Female Northern Cardinal in the patio

Male Northern Cardinal in the patio

A pair of cardinals have flown into our patio every morning and evening for the past four weeks. They love this particular seed block. They fly up onto the block and fill their beaks with seed; then they fly into the little palm bush and hide while they eat. In the spring I used to hear the "cheer, cheer" of the male as it established its territory. Although some reference sources say that the cardinals will sing all year, I haven't heard that particular sound lately.

"The [Northern] cardinal [Cardinalis cardinalis], probably the most recognized and popular bird in North America, is a year-round resident in the taller and denser desert brush of southern and central Arizona. It is named for the male cardinal’s resemblance to a Catholic cardinal’s crimson robe and peaked hat. The male is bright red with a black patch around its bill, while the female is a soft brown with red highlights. All cardinals have reddish-orange bills and crests. The cardinal is a seed eater and is expanding its range in Arizona. The cardinal, along with several other songbirds, picks up ants and rubs them through its feathers, probably because of the chemical secretions produced by the ants. These chemicals may act as insecticides, fungicides or miticides to control bird pests. The male cardinal is strongly territorial and will not only attack other males of its own species, but also its own image reflected on automobile hubcaps and windows. Renowned as a songster, the cardinal is one of the few bird species that sings all year and has at least 28 different songs."

Arizona Highways Magazine

New Visitor - Black Phoebe

2007-01-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I saw a Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) for the first time. I saw it just once. During the past week, a Black Phoebe has flown into our back yard several times. It usually stays for a few seconds near the swimming pool. Black Phoebes are primarily insectivorous, but they also eat berries and small fish (which they won't find in our pool).

Today, the phoebe remained long enough for me to grab my DSLR and get some photos as it flew around the patio. It was pretty hard to focus on, because it didn't stay still for very long. This flycatcher is a lovely little bird and I was delighted to see it again.

I like the shadow of the flying bird in this photo.

Good Planets 2007 - View, Contribute!!

2007-01-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Carnival: Good Planets Are Hard To Find was born in 2006 - Parents: Robin Andrea and Roger of the Dharma Bums. They have kindly allowed others to take on the fostering on a monthly basis. LauraHinNJ of Somewhere in New Jersey is the January host. Take a look at the beautiful photos she's posted for the January 6, 2007 issue - a grand way to welcome the New Year.

You are all invited and encouraged to contribute to this weekly carnival. Send Laura your photos celebrating the wonders - large and small - of our glorious planet. Email your photos to lc-hardy AT comcast DOT net.

The Good Planets Archive: Past submissions can be accessed on the Good Planets Archive site hosted on Flickr. This wonderful collection of photos has been organized by the week of submission. If you have questions or comments about the Good Planets Archive, please email us at gdplanets AT yahoo DOT com.

Backyard Birds - Mourning Doves; Inca Doves

2007-01-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

MORNING - MOURNING DOVES

In the mornings the doves line up on the power lines, waiting for the breakfast call. At this time of year, the only doves up there are Mourning Doves. Unless a hawk flies near, they will stay patiently until I come out. I leave food on the ground for them - small suet snacks, peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds. They also forage around in the flower beds, in the leaf piles under the shedding mesquite tree, and under the seed feeders. I've never been able to get an exact count, but at their peak I've estimated between 120 and 150 on the ground or waiting on the wall. However, since they arrive in flocks, I don't know if that's a true total - there may be more.After the morning feeding frenzy, small groups hang around all morning and then come back later in the day. They like to sunbathe on a power lineor on top of the concrete patio wall.In spring and summer, I hear the Mourning Doves cooing softly all day long. But in these colder months I rarely hear them call.

AFTERNOON - INCA DOVES

The little Inca Doves are back after a couple of months away. Occasionally I see them feeding among the much larger Mourning Doves in the mornings, but these days they seem to come to enjoy the sunshine and warmth on the concrete block wall. This was today's line-up:and one going solo:

2007 - Birds on the Feeders - Hummingbird

2007-01-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Family life's been complicated in this part of the Old Pueblo recently and I haven't yet been able to pursue any of my 2007 goals, one of which is to study digital photography in a systematic, disciplined way. But I don't want to lose touch with my friends in the blogosphere, so I thought I'd try to take some photos of the birds at our feeders and post them on my blog. It's not an easy task. Robin Andrea, endment and others seem to walk freely among the birds in their environment, talking with them and making friends. Most of those who frequent our patio fly off the moment I step outside the kitchen door. The only feeders that are near enough for me to capture any real detail of their visitors are the hummingbird feeders outside the dining room window.

Yesterday, this little female broadtail was happily flying back and forth - sipping from the feeder and then off to a high branch in a nearby privet hedge to digest the sweet nectar. I was captivated by her golden back as it reflected the low western sun.The Gila woodpeckers come frequently to the patio these days. There's plenty for them to feed from - a seed block, a suet block, a peanut butter holder, oranges and clementines, but still they seem to think there's something special for them at the hummingbird feeder. Here's one clinging to the feeder:and here he is after his drink. Do you think he's looking a little guilty or maybe just a wee bit defiant?

It's 2007!

2007-01-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

To all our friends in the blogosphere
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May 2007 bring you and yours
peace
joy
merriment
bountifulness
and good health

The last Good Planets of 2006 ...

2006-12-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

The last Good Planets of 2006 can be viewed at journeys with jood. Take a look at the beautiful photos of our world as portrayed by our blogging friends. Diva Jood, your host for this month, says:

Hosting Good Planets has been a wonderful experience on so many levels. First, the contributions are amazing - there are incredible photographers out in the blogsphere, people with both an eye for the beauty of this earth and the heart and soul to protect that beauty. I applaud all of you. Second, because it lets us all go visit places that we'd not thought about, and I mean both the subject of the photographs AND the blogs of the photographers. And last, because it has helped me with some techincal skills.

I join her in thanking robin andrea and roger of The Dharma Bums for thinking up this wonderful project, which has turned into such a delightful weekly carnival.

Don't forget that anyone can participate! LauraHinNJ of Somewhere in New Jersey will host Good Planets in January 2007. Send one or two photos each week to her at lc-hardy AT comcast DOT net. (And if you're not familiar with her her blog, check it out. It's lots of fun and filled with fascinating photos and observations about the bunnies she lives with; her beautiful garden; the wonders of Sandy Hook, where she volunteers; the interesting places she visits; and much, much more.)

For all contributors and all readers who believe that indeed "Good Planets Are Hard to Find," may 2007 be joyous and peaceful and filled with fantastic photo ops!

Year in review meme

2006-12-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

I got this meme from laurahinnj of Somewhere in NJ who got it from Patrick of Hawk Owl's Nest. All you have to do is quote the first sentence of your first post of every month in 2006. Have some fun and put one together for yourself. It can bring back some great memories. Here are mine:

Happy New Year! More...

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is considered one of the best shows in the world. More...

grey skies
drumming on the roof
raindrops on my face
a tiny hope of what might come
More...

On our rooftop Thursday, March 23. I don't know if either of these birds is the same one I photographed in Wednesday's post (Mockingbird Studies). More...

Oh, the honey-bees are gumming
On their little wings, and humming
That the summer, which is coming
Will be fun.
-- The House at Pooh Corner (A. A. Milne) More...

One of my favourite wildflowers, and the only one that's currently growing as a volunteer in my patio, is the Hoary Tansey-Aster (Machaeranthera canescens), a member of the Sunflower family. More...

We spent the morning at the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre near Golden (see my post of June 23). More...

K. woke me this morning to tell me that there were three Red-tailed Hawks in the eucalyptus tree across the road: one adult and two juveniles. More...

Because of the intense summer heat in our area, we clean and refill our hummingbird feeders every other day, even though they usually aren’t empty unless a Gila Woodpecker has been visiting. More...

Well, it's been a long time since I've put a post up, but I had to share this Cooper's Hawk, which flew into the yard on Friday morning and spent some time hunting finches (unsuccessfully) in a small xylosma bush. More...

All Souls Day - Dia de los Muertos (November 2) is one of the most important days of the year in the Southwest, steeped in the traditions that have prevailed here since this area was once part of Mexico. More...

Within the quietness of a lull in visitors' absence,
appears the peony flower!
Yosa Buson (1716 - 1783)
More...

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Celebrate the season with
peace and love throughout the world.

Happy holidays
from our family to yours ...

Winter Memories in Ridgefield - II

2006-12-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

And then there was the downside of a heavy snowfall, like trying to hang out the laundry when the snow was up to my waist, and, of course ...

But I still miss it.

Winter Memories in Ridgefield - 1

2006-12-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's warm and sunny today in Tucson. The 1 p.m. temperature is 64 degrees F. My friend is packing to go home to Ridgefield, Connecticut for the holidays and I remember the wonderful winter we spent there in 1960. I scanned some slides from that time. How I miss the view from our apartment window and the walks through the snow.

Early Morning - from the apartment window
Mid-day outside the apartment
Winter walk
Icicles!

From a Bowen Island Garden ...

2006-12-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Within the quietness of a lull in visitors' absence,
appears the peony flower!
Yosa Buson (1716 - 1783)

Circus of the Spineless #15 is on line!

2006-12-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

The 15th edition of Circus of the Spineless has been published at Words and Pictures. Roger, who lives in Sheffield in the UK, has admirably hosted the work of 15 contributors offering a diverse selection of posts about invertebrate fauna. Check out Samuel Yung's incredible close-ups of a dragonfly and a butterfly, and then settle in with a cup of tea for some great reading and wonderful photos of insects, butterflies, spiders, molluscs and more! Don't miss it!

ANNOUNCING THE GOOD PLANETS ARCHIVE GALLERY!!

2006-11-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last August, Roger and Robin Andrea, proprietors of the Dharma Bums blog, started Good Planets after a dear friend living in Australia sent them a wonderful photo of a lorikeet. Robin wrote: "We wanted to post her photo, and then it occurred to us that it might be a good idea to invite other folks to submit their photos. We didn't plan on starting a 'carnival,' we just love looking at photos of our beautiful planet. We thought it would be enlightening to turn our blog over on Saturdays (since we weren't using it!) for photos that depicted the beauty of our earth. We were absolutely delighted with the results."

GOOD PLANETS ARCHIVE GALLERY. Good Planets now has its own gallery. All photos submitted through November 25, together with comments from the photographers, have been uploaded to the Good Planets flickr web site. They are organized in their weekly sets. Quoting Robin again: "I hope you will go over and take a look. It's quite a sight to see all the photos assembled by week. The artistry is magnificent and the views of earth absolutely stunning." I will continue to upload each week's photos to the Good Planets gallery a week after the Good Planets post has been published on the host's blog. If you have any thoughts about improving the Good Planets web site or would prefer not to have your photo archived there, please email us at gdplanets AT yahoo DOT com.

SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS TO THE WEEKLY GOOD PLANETS POST. For the month of December, divajood has graciously agreed to host Good Planets on her blog Journeys with Jood. Anyone is welcome to send her photos of the beauty and wonders - large and small - of our planet. Send your photos to jkblue AT cox DOT net.

BECOME A GOOD PLANETS HOST. If you're interested in hosting Good Planets in January (or any other month), please contact Robin at newdharmabums AT yahoo DOT com. I had a wonderful time hosting in November; it was fun and rewarding. I enjoyed corresponding with the wonderful photographers who contributed, and in the process making new online friends.

And the Caged Birds Sang ...

2006-11-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

A hot July morning in 1982. We were in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and were staying at the Visiting Faculty Residence at National Tsing Hua University. A colleague of my husband’s from the University of Arizona who had been on sabbatical there had told us to be sure to get up early and walk up the hill behind the university. He promised a delightful surprise.

It was first light, but we could already feel the oncoming heat and humidity that would make walking almost unbearable after about 6:30 a.m. We set off along the road and found ourselves surrounded by cycling townsfolk balancing two, three or more bamboo bird cages on their bicycles. We reached the crest of the hill and discovered a beautiful path along the top of a steep wooded ravine. The villagers hung their bird cages on the lower branches of the trees and began their Tai Chi routines. As we walked along, many of the villagers stared at us. Most of the men had little or no facial hair, but an elderly gentleman, looking as if he’d stepped out of a Chinese classical painting, pulled on his long, whispy white beard and laughed and pointed at my husband’s thick black one.

Suddenly we heard wild birds singing high in the trees. The melodies were complex and beautiful. Soon the caged birds began to imitate them and there was an amazing exchange of enchanting music to accompany the quiet movements of the townsfolk. After about an hour, the caged birds were returned to the bicycles and taken silently back to town.

-----------------------------------

This occurred long before I had becoming interested in birds and I don't know what birds were singing in the wild or what birds were in the cages. I've since learned that Hsinchu County is a prime birding location. I'd love to return.

Good Planets - 11/25/2006

2006-11-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Good Planets Are Hard to Find - 11/25/2006. Once again our contributors have sent us images bringing us the exquisite beauty and magnificence of our planet. (Don't forget to click on the photos to enlarge them in a new window.)

Steve and Mick of Voinapics Photography sent two photos from England. The first: A Little Swallow feeding her chicks. Steve tells us "It had been an interesting morning driving through Elmley RSPB in Kent UK. We had reached the car park at the end of the little roadway and had got the thermos out of the car to pour a nice cup of coffee. As we were enjoying the hot beverage we noticed a swallow circling overhead. The Swallow circled a couple of times then dived briefly into the nearby toilet block. Intrigued we moved closer for a better look but as we approached the building, noticed that Mrs Swallow was now sitting on a nearby fence watching us with a beak full of grubs. We apologising profusely to her for disturbing the youngsters' dinner and moved back out of the way but craftily at an angle so that we could still peer into the building. Mrs Swallow seemed happy with this arrangement and waving her tail at us in thanks, continued to feed her chicks much to our delight."

Their second photo is the little old wooden bridge at Shorne Park, Kent UK. Steve writes: "It was a cold cloudy weekend last year during early autumn when the family decide to go for a morning walk through Shorne Park . It had been a most enjoyable walk and we were making our way back to the car to start our journey back home, talking about the warming hot soup we had decided to have for lunch. Chatting away, we had almost walked past this little bridge without even noticing it. Years ago this bridge proudly spanned a small stream but, as time passed, the stream became a trickle and now the bridge was lost and forgotten within the overgrowth. Suddenly, as we walked past, the clouds parted and a golden glow bathed the bridge. We stopped, rooted to the spot to gaze in awe and I am sure that the little bridge swelled in pride as we admired its beauty."

Also from England, Mary of Forest Walks, sent a photo of one of the famous ponies that roam the New Forest near her home.Mary visited Canada in 2003. This is her photo of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta.Susannah of Wanderin' Weeta in Canada brings us "Some of the more humble, often forgotten beauties: weeds in a ditch ... and English daisies from an ant's eye view."Robin Andrea and Roger of The Dharma Bums see bobcats (Felis Rufus) in their own backyard! Robin writes: "We feel very lucky to be able to see these cats. They are fairly elusive, but we've been fortunate to have seen them here in our yard and in California on the campus where I worked. Beautiful, shy little predators." This photo was taken in February up the street from their house.
Tara Dharma sent us photos of coastal California. "This Big Sur photo is an older one ...... the other two are taken at the beach across the street from my home."Phil of Perils of Caffeine in the Evening also shares tidal photos taken near Yachats, Oregon: a tidepooland starfish and anemone at low tide.Bev of Burning Silo in Ontario visited the west coast recently. These are two photos from her trip. "The landscape was photographed in the Painted Hills Unit at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon -- Sept 2006.""The Brown Pelicans were photographed along the California coast not too far from Patrick's Point State Park. We had been seeing many long lines of Pelicans migrating south along the coast for a few days and happened to encounter dozens of them just before sunset along a beach. This was one small group among the many -- October 2006."Dawn also shared bird photos taken at Alder Lake, Washington. Common mergansers taken in Summer '06.Canada Goose on nest, taken in Spring '06Cindy of Woodsong in Michigan says of this photo entitled In the company of crows: "I'd been trying to photograph an ovenbird on the opposite side of the road, and saw the deer on a rise in a field .. then all of a sudden I heard a loud 'whoosh' and turned around.. the deer were as much in awe of the multitude of crows as I was .. a simple photo, but one of my favorites because it shows that animals feel/experience awe as well as we do. Some may dispute that - but I have seen it/felt it with my own eyes."Saren, who lives in Australia, sent photos of spectacular blooming trees. "I don't think these are jacarandas. The colour's right, but the tree shape is wrong. However, you notice spring in Brisbane because the days finally start getting longer and warmer, and the trees -- many of them South American or south African imports -- burst into brilliant blossom."Australia has some gorgeous flowering trees and shrubs of its own ... eucalyptus and bottlebrushes (callistemons) [shown here] ... [They feed] all the foraging nocturnal possums and flying foxes and daytime flocks of parrots and honeyeaters."Tim of Walking the Berkshires in Massachusetts says: "I took this picture during an ascent of Mt. Waddington, tallest peak in the Coastal range of British Columbia, in 1989 when I was 21 years old. We attempted to summit the mountain after a three-week traverse through Devil's Club and Slide Alder, over glaciers and up ice walls, but in the end we were checked by a storm that settled on the crest of the mountain and blew us back. No matter. It was exhilarating."You can read about Tim's climb and see more photos of his participation that summer with the National Outdoor Leadership School "... one of life's truly formative experiences."

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Good Planets Are Hard to Find is open to anyone who'd like to share the beauty of their own world with us. Heartfelt thanks to the photographers who contributed to this issue. It's been a great honour and absolute delight to host the November issues of Good Planets. December's host will be Divajood of Journeys with Jood. Send your photos to jkblue AT cox DOT net.

Early submissions this week for Good Planets!

2006-11-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

This week I'd appreciate receiving your Good Planets submissions as early as possible. The deadline is Friday, 24 November, 9 pm MST for a planned publication on Saturday. However, in the United States, Thursday is a holiday - Thanksgiving Day - and I'll be busy cooking for and celebrating with family and friends. So please send in your photos as soon as you can to give me plenty of time to format them and plan the post. Thanks very much!

Note: This "carnival" celebrates the beauty and wonders of our planet. Anyone is welcome to submit one or two photos each week to Good Planets. For the next issue, send your photos to tortoisetrail AT gmail-dot-com. December's editor is Diva Jood, jkblue AT cox-dot-net.

For more information about Good Planets, see "Introducing Good Planets."