The first stop on our recent trip to the American southwest was Tucson. The weather, when compared to Columbus Ohio in February, was perfect, 40’s during the night and mid 70’s during the day. Great for hiking and exploring nature. Our friends David and Joyce were gracious enough to let us stay with them while there, so no camping.
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It take two and a half days of deliberate driving to get to Tucson from Columbus. Much of it is not that exciting so we tried books on tape but our selections weren’t any better than some of the scenery so we resorted to taking an informal survey of the birds of prey perched along the highway. One day we counted over 60, mostly Red tails.
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Below is a photo collage of some of the things seen while we were in Tucson. Highlights were visits to Saguaro National Park, the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Sabino Canyon, and Madera Canyon. If you enjoy the desert and biodiversity this is a great area with a greater variety of cactus than just about anywhere in the US.
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For us the birds always seem to be the most exciting part of the adventure.
Verdin, Sabino Canyon. Now if I could just arrange for the light to be on the right side of the bird!
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But we were pleasantly surprised by the flowers. A recent rain may have been responsible.
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Of the plants, the cactus was by far the most interesting. Walking through the natural areas around Tucson was like walking through an arboretum.
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When we don’t see a bird we might just see a butterfly.
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Then there were a few other living things/critters that grabbed our attention.
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Thanks for looking in.
Category: Central Ohio Nature, Madera Canyon, Sabino Canyon, Saguaro National Park, Tucson Tagged: Amertican Snout, Anna's Hummingbird, Arizona Barrel Cactus, Black Swallowtail, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Canon SX40, Cassin's Vireo, Christmas Cactus, Curved Billed Trasher, Desert Globe Mallow, Eagle claws Cactus, Gila Woodpecker, Grey Hairstreak, Gulf Fritillary, Ladder-backed woodpecker, Mexican Jay, New Mexico Groundsel, Organ Pipe Cactus, Painted Redstart, Panasonic FZ200, Phainopepla, Queen, Sabino Canyon, Saguaro Cactus, Sanat Cruz Beehive Cactus, Silver cholla, Sonoran Desert Tortise, Teddy Bear Cholla, Texan Cresent, Verdin
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Great photos and what a variety of species!
Thanks, it was truly amazing!
Thanks.
…seem you guys had good time there. I like the painted redstar.
Ba
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2015 13:19:42 +0000
To: bahuynh@hotmail.com
The Painted Redstart was a real treat! From: Central Ohio Nature To: motobobp@yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, March 7, 2015 12:56 PM Subject: [Central Ohio Nature] Comment: “A Little Southwest of Columbus, part 3 of 3.” #yiv5803518542 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv5803518542 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv5803518542 a.yiv5803518542primaryactionlink:link, #yiv5803518542 a.yiv5803518542primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv5803518542 a.yiv5803518542primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv5803518542 a.yiv5803518542primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv5803518542 WordPress.com | | |
What a great variety of interest your trip had. Excellent bird pictures and impressive cacti too.
Thanks, we had a lot of fun exploring.
That’s a trip I’d love to go on. You brought back some excellent photos that show the real beauty of the place. I think my favorite is the Saguaro skeleton. That’s something you just never see.
All in all it’s much greener than I imagined.
Recent rains had greened things up. Only disappointment was that we missed out on the flowering cactus.
You managed to catch quite a few different species of birds in a short time! The cacti were interesting, but I wouldn’t want to run into any of them, and being a klutz, I probably would. 😉
I did have a few too close encounters.
Remarkable collection. Thanks for the beautiful images. M:-)
Glad you enjoyed them.