Early morning birding at Saguaro National Park (West side).
Sun's just coming up over the mountain
A male Gambel's Quail in a twisted tree
An expanse of Englemann Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii)
Teddybear Cholla (choy'-ya) (Culindropuntia bigelovii or Opuntia bigelovii). Nothing soft and fuzzy about these plants. The spines easily imbed in skin, shoes, clothing and need a comb or pliers to be removed. Packrats pile up detached joints around their nests for protection. The joints will root when in contact with soil.
Another male Gambel's Quail
A Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
A pretty poor, fuzzy photos of a Black-throated Sparrow(Amphispiza bilineata) sitting beside a prickly pear that was probably munched on by a javalina.
Can't get enough photos of saguaro
And, my Lifer Phainopeplas (Phainopepla nitens) - the female of the pair. After this initial sighting, I saw these birds everywhere!
Photos from an early morning desert walk
Some birds will be nesting in here again soon.
Saguaro and ocitillo
Very pretty up on the mountain
Young saguaros grow best in shelter of larger desert trees and other types of cactus.
And a very old and totally wonky saguaro....the one on the right I mean. The other old guy is my bro-in-law, Gene.
The Sonoran Desert is a beautiful place.
An assortment of cacti and other vegetation. Every saguaro seems to have a bird or two perched on top in the early morning sun.
A closer look at the top of one particular saguaro....yes, a Gilded Flicker pair (Colaptes chrysoides)
The trail ahead....
More photos to come.
Info about Gilded Flickers at
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gilded_Flicker/id/ac
To my great delight, there is a small covey of Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) frequenting the feeders at my sister's place here in Tucson. Similar to the California Quail, the Gambel's is less scaled, lighter coloured overall, with a rich ruddy crown.
Gene & I came across several groups on our desert hike yesterday. This male flew to the top of a saguaro (pronounced sa-wha'-ro, by the way) cactus skeleton - giving me an opportunity to snap a couple of pix - while his little family scurried off.
The Gambel's is a New World Quail, Family Odontophoridae, all of which have chunky bodies (although the ones I've seen here have been rather svelte) and crests or head plumes.
The Gambel's Quail is named in honour of William Gambel, a 19th century naturalist from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and explorer of the Southwestern United States. He reported seeing these birds while collecting plants and animals along the Santa Fe Trail in 1841. (exerpt from Birds of the American Southwest by Lynn Hassler Kaufman)
More information at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gambels_Quail/id/ac
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambel's_Quail
These photos are of an area of desert on the western edge of Tucson in Pima County. I just love it here.
Saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) have a relatively long life span. They take up to 75 years to develop a side arm. A saguaro without arms is called a spear.
The arms are grown to increase the plant's reproductive capacity (more apices lead to more flowers and fruit). The growth rate of saguaros is strongly dependent on precipitation; saguaros in drier western Arizona grow only half as fast as those in and around Tucson, Arizona.
Some specimens may live for more than 150 years; the largest known saguaro is the Champion Saguaro. It grows in Maricopa County, Arizona, and is 13.8 meters (45.3 ft) tall with a girth of 3.1 meters (10 ft). These cacti can grow anywhere from 15 to 50 feet. They grow slowly from seed, and not at all from cuttings. Whenever it rains, saguaros soak up the rainwater. The cactus will visibly expand, holding in the rainwater. It conserves the water and slowly consumes it.
Harming a saguaro in any manner, including cactus plugging, is illegal by state law in Arizona, and when houses or highways are built, special permits must be obtained to move or destroy any saguaro affected
All info from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro
