Blue Goose ~ Day 192

December 5, 2014 ~ Tucson, AZ

Cholla Cactus - Tucson, AZ

A bright and clear southern Arizona morning as I went in search of birdy places noted from eBird. These were on the east side of Tucson, a 30-minute drive through city traffic, but eventually I found the various venues and roads and washes. It was mostly bird-quiet even though I was up and about early. I had at least a dozen possible destinations but ended up for several hours on the East unit of Saguaro National Park, seeing handsome Black-chinned Sparrows (life bird), Cactus Wrens, Curve-billed Thrashers, more Gila Woodpeckers...

I hiked a couple of easy miles through this beautiful desert park. (There is also another unit of Saguaro to the west of Tucson where I went the next day.) People were taking advantage of the weekend with hikers, bicyclists, picnickers, motorists, motorcyclists and horseback riders. A large group with their bicycles were at the VC, all dressed in the appropriate bicyclist gear, all seriously focused on what they were doing. Many foreign tourists visit our national lands also, and I hear their various languages while they talk amongst themselves or their accented English as they ask about hiking trails or camping options. While in the gift shop, the volunteer at the desk fielded a question about the quality of food at local restaurants, specifically one across the street from the park. She patiently tried to give the caller whatever information he/she wanted. Traveling to eat....

It was intriguing to watch Curve-billed Thrashers which were shy and huddled quietly either in the interior of a small bush or on the ground under a shrub. I could approach very near before one would fly, but only a short distance. They do have wonderfully curved bills. I hope to see a different thrasher with an even more marked curve to its bill - the Crissal Thrasher.

The sandy trail wound through saguaro, cholla, prickly pear, ocotillo, creosote, barrel cactus, palo verde, mesquite, willow, ironwood...a hundred plus species of flora that have adapted to the desert. Wikipedia states that, the "Sonoran desert is the only place where the saguaro cactus grows in the wild."

But it does rain here in the summer with grand thunderstorms and hail. The numerous currently dry rocky washes are evidence of the flash flooding that must be quite a phenomenon in the monsoon season. As I mentioned, there are a thousand "Do Not Enter When Flooded" signs, always above short sharp dips in the roads. So what do people do then? if nearly every route has these? And how quickly does a wash flow over the road? and how quickly does it clear again? I read that if a motorist becomes stranded while disobeying the "Do Not Enter...." sign,  he/she is responsible for any rescue and is fined. There are also significant dust storms or haboobs (an Arabic term). (I am immersed in dust as just read in The Worst Hard Time, how TONS of dust/soil fell on the large eastern cities in early May of 1934 (12 million tons on Chicago, for instance). The yearly rainfall in the Tucson area is 12 inches, half of which occurs in summer. So, while this part of our country is considered a desert, it is not barren and rain does fall, producing spectacular displays of flowers on these desert plants...but, unfortunately for me, not in December, although there were a few, like the yellow flowers on some of the barrel cacti (see photo below), a rounded squat cactus that grows leaning towards the south.

Saguaro National Park - AZ 

Late in the afternoon I meandered back to my home at Walmart / Starbucks, driving through upscale neighborhoods where the muted earth-colored adobe homes blended into the landscape in unobtrusive ways, half hidden and surrounded by desert plants.

I hung out in Starbucks until closing...me and the few others with nothing else to do on a Friday night. A couple of women spent hours with beads arranged on their table, making jewelry or whateVer. Most others had computers. There was a full moon and it was not cold. No wonder some people from the frigid snowy states fly down here for the winter. Still, there is something about frank seasons, which I will always choose over an extended stay in a southern climate. 

Another Barrel Cactus - Saguaro NP - AZ