McDowell Sonoran Preserve – Page 37

The Lizard Rocks

I nicknamed this jumble of rocks The Lizard Rocks when I first saw them, though I saw no lizards there. It just seemed like they should be there, though I was new to Arizona and not really sure where lizards would want to live. They aren’t large rocks and it’s not a large formation, I suppose my initial fascination came from it being a nice place on a favorite trail to stop for a drink as it’s nestled into a kink on the trail with room to step out of the unsighted path of cyclists and horses. It took me a while but I did eventually start seeing them, on this spring morning I saw at least six lizards from three different species. This ornate tree lizard was the first I saw, I took some closeups but also pulled back to give a bit of flavor of the place he calls home.

Mellow, Yellow

A sleepy master blister beetle isn’t quite ready to shake off its slumber and rise to meet the world. From the heavily chewed flower petals you can see why the brittlebush is both bedroom and dining room for the lovely little ones, at least on the one and only time I saw them this spring.

Impressive Displays

I hope he impressed the other lizards as much as he impressed me. Always puts a spring in my step to see these little lizards doing pushups and displaying their blue bellies! From June on the Chuckwagon Trail.

Yes We Have Green Bananas

To me it seems the banana yucca should have been named the green pepper yucca but perhaps I’m biased since green curry is my favorite meal (if we’re not counting doughnuts as a meal). I found this one in April, the fruit grows even bigger by summer.

Blue

On that April morning we were up before the sun, he and I, one to mend a broken heart, one to feed his hungry children. Ordinarily I would have loved to watch the comings and goings of this Gila woodpecker and his mate as morning broke but Ellie had died a week earlier and standing still meant being alone with my thoughts, a place I was not yet ready to be. I quickly moved on but with each passing week I was able to slow down more and more until I could happily stay in the moment for as long as my heart desired.

Facepainting

This male shows why all the Gila woodpeckers I see on my spring hikes have their faces painted in pollen …

Tightrope Walker

You can tell by the way I use my walk …

Beauty in the Shadows

Cathedral Rock is awash in beauty, with massive boulders and sweeping views of the Sonoran desert, but its greatest beauty sleeps in its shadows, hidden in crevices below the monoliths. Despite its size, the desert spiny lizard is rather shy and often scurries out of sight long before I approach. Thankfully I was not only able to spend some time with this one and watch as he grew sleepy, but ease away and leave him to his slumber.

Superpowers

It’s a shame I’m scared of heights to the point I don’t like being at the top of a ladder, as if I’m reading this sign correctly climbing the tower gives you the ability to fly and shoot lightning from your fingertips. Seems like those powers could come in handy.

Hush

A quiet place to lay my head,
a soft space to make my bed.
Soon the sun will rise, soon so will I.
Until then quiet, hush, be still.
Let me lie.