Arizona – Page 45

Double Perched

A male and female kestrel share a perch high atop the tallest saguaro on a cold winter’s morning in the Sonoran Desert. I was able to watch kestrels in the Pacific Northwest, on rare occasion at very close distances, but there they tended to hover in place above the meadow while looking for prey below, while here the old giants give them a similar viewpoint from a sitting position. On the rocks below them is a Harris’s antelope squirrel, keeping an eye on the neighborhood. It wasn’t bothered by the kestrels, I suppose it’s too big to be carried off by the little falcons. Scattered around are smaller saguaros of various ages and sizes, with a barrel cactus in the middle.

Its First Hike

My Lexus went on its first hike to the same place my Subaru went on its last. It wasn’t planned, rather I was tired, the trailhead is near the house, and the trail is a favorite with good wildlife viewing and lots of saguaros. I was tempted to wait for the sun to come up to photograph the car at first light but wanted to get on the trails, and thankfully so, as while I didn’t know it yet I had an early appointment with two lovely kestrels. The car has been a joy so far, though to be fair I’ve only driven in conditions I hoped it would excel, my commute to work and local parks.

The Hidden Singer

On some weekend mornings when I can barely roll out of bed for sunrise, I go for a walk in the neighborhood instead of a nearby trail. One such morning I met this roadrunner hidden in the trees, lowering its head and calling out to another nearby, allowing me to identify who had been singing the song that reminds me both of a dove’s soft coo and a dog’s gentle whine.

Ring of Fire

There is a species of woodpecker in the desert I’ve glimpsed so briefly that it wasn’t until two months ago I could put a name to its face. After seeing them a few times recently I decided Sunday morning to try for a picture in the early light, heading to the one section of the one trail where I’ve seen them. The sun was just cresting the mountains, not yet illuminating the desert floor, when I stopped in my tracks as a ring of fire flashed atop the silhouetted form before me, a ray of light illuminating the red crest of a ladder-backed woodpecker.

Shivers

We’ve had a string of nights recently with temperatures near freezing, so since I get cold easily I wore one more layer than normal, stripping off layers as the morning advanced and the air warmed. I felt for this poor saguaro seemingly shivering in the cold as the sun rose, it probably didn’t help that its friends to the left and right didn’t seem to mind the winter weather. I don’t know what causes them to grow like this but I confess the oddballs are my favorites.

The Hidden Smile

In the damp of the Pacific Northwest it wasn’t hard to find moss, stand still long enough and the moss found you. I was surprised though to find it growing in the desert far from any water, covering a rock hidden in the shadow of a boulder. I was even more surprised when it matched my smile with its own, so joyful and exuberant, beautiful if unconventional, as I told it of the glory of the rising sun that it could never see.

Time To Say Hello

With the sun getting low on the horizon I took a few pictures of my new car, the 2020 Lexus UX 250h. My wife and I fell in love with its predecessor the CT 200h when we first saw it at the Portland auto show years ago, but while it was high on my list when I was car shopping in 2012 the newly introduced Subaru Crosstrek was an almost perfect fit for my needs at the time. I have an irrational love for small hatchbacks, a love cemented in the 90’s with my first new car, the 1992 Honda Civic Si. So perhaps it’s not surprising that of the three excellent cars that topped my shopping list this go-around it was the UX that won my heart. I have high hopes for the little hybrid, I adored my Crosstrek but think the UX will be a better fit for my life here in Arizona.

Sprouting

This palo verde sprouted its tiny little leaves, I suppose their small size minimizes water loss while allowing more photosynthesis than from just their green bark. It also sprouted a cactus wren, as have seemingly all the tall plants on my hikes lately, as I’ve seen (and heard) these boisterous birds frequently the past few weeks. Perhaps it is time to establish territory and seek out mates, or perhaps they are practicing for an upcoming all-wren revue. Either way, can’t wait!

Red & Yellow, Black & White, They Are Precious In His Sight

To photograph this gorgeous male Gila woodpecker, clinging to an ocotillo in the fading light of a winter afternoon, I had to … get up off my chair on the back porch and take a few steps into the backyard.

Time to Say Goodbye

In late December as I returned from a joyful hike in the rain on my first visit to Cave Creek Regional Park, I stopped as I pulled out of the empty parking lot and positioned the car for a quick shot in front of the desert in a downpour. I knew our time together was coming to a close and while it would take me another month to finalize my decision, yesterday morning the Crosstrek and I went on our final hike before I traded it in that afternoon. I loved this car so much, not for what it could do but for what it allowed me to do. We went to the Columbia River Gorge, to Mount Rainier, to the rain forests and mountains and beaches of the Olympics, to the Oregon coast, to the redwoods, to endless trips to the auto tour at Ridgefield to sit in silence watching bitterns and listening to the ducks and geese and swans. It ferried all our pets but Templeton to the vet. It brought three worried cats and one worried driver on a three day trip from Oregon to Arizona, with my wife and pup following in her Crosstrek. Here in Arizona it took me to work each day now that I have to drive and to many local hikes, somewhere around 150 in our almost two years here.

The Crosstrek was my little mountain goat, equally at home in our urban neighborhood in Portland as it was on rutted gravel roads leading to my favorite places. My deepest thanks to everyone who played a role in bringing this car to market, back before small crossovers were cool. I measure cars not in specs but in smiles and this one brought a lot of them. The new car has big shoes to fill.