A cactus wren sings amidst mostly eaten fruit atop a saguaro on the Latigo Trail. Its feathers were looking rather ragged, understandably so, it had just raised its young in the harsh desert environment.
Tag: saguaro
Who Doesn’t Enjoy Fruit for Breakfast?
A white-winged dove eats the red fruit of a saguaro early on a summer morning. The doves make the most of the short-lived bounty of the fruiting saguaros before migrating further south.
Changing of the Guard
A male Gila woodpecker prepares to leave the nest as his partner brings a spider for their hungry children inside the saguaro. Both parents excavate the nest cavity, the cactus will slowly harden the inside to prevent water loss and it is only then that the woodpeckers can use the cavity as a nest. You can see how much of the surrounding surface of the saguaro has been scraped away as they created their home and now land over and over again.
New Homes
It was one year ago today they brought my team in and laid us all off, setting in motion our eventual move from our longtime home in Portland to our new home in Arizona. We’re renting for now but will start looking to buy within a month or two. This Gila woodpecker made his new home near the old, moving slightly around the saguaro. Other small birds sometimes use the old nests after the woodpeckers abandon them. Getting to see such new sights has been part of the fun of moving to such a different location.
Thrash Song
After a hike up to Inspiration Viewpoint this morning when it was too windy for my liking, the day turned lovely and I’ve spent the rest of the morning and afternoon relaxing on the back porch. At the moment there are house finches and sparrows atop the feeder while below are Gambel’s quail, mourning doves, and Eurasian collared doves. A pair of curve-billed thrashers have been drifting in and out throughout the day, making their presence known with loud whistles. This one I saw singing atop a saguaro six months ago while hiking early one morning on Brown’s Ranch Road in McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
One of Three
We see a lot of overlap between the birds of our backyard and the birds of the desert but not with towhees. I’ve seen three species of towhees in Arizona, Abert’s towhees all summer in our yard and just recently a spotted towhee, but the canyon towhee shown here I only see on the trails.
Humility
On April 28th I arrived at my first visit to Brown’s Ranch in McDowell Sonoran Preserve, my fifth hike and fourth hiking location since moving to Arizona a month prior. I was pleased that even though I arrived mentally and physically exhausted I was forcing myself to go out and explore some area parks, even though it meant getting up a while before sunrise. As soon as I stepped past the welcome center I was reminded that while I should be proud of all I had accomplished the past six months, my struggles had been minor compared to what many face every day. There in the arms of a saguaro, the light just cresting the distant hills, stood a cactus wren with a twig in its mouth, building a nest in such a seemingly inhospitable host in a seemingly inhospitable land. Brown’s Ranch became an immediate favorite as did the plucky wrens that in the coming weeks I got to watch not just build their nests but raise their families in them.
Follow Me Home
After all the changes in our lives this past year I feel a special sympathy for when we adopted terrified little Boo five years ago. He worked so hard to conquer his fears and embrace his new home, you could see the struggle in his face and I suppose for months I wore that expression too. I took this picture of a broken saguaro within a month of arriving in the desert when so little in our lives seemed familiar yet we were excited about our new home. It seems to me a guide, waving with one arm held high to attract the attention of the lost, another arm pointing the way home. Shattered, surviving, standing, strong.
Peeking
A Gila woodpecker peeks out of his nest in an old saguaro along the Jane Rau Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
Who Am I?
I am not broccoli.
I am tall, taller than you.
I am rare, doubly so.
I am a double crested saguaro. While most saguaros have tips of the familiar shape, some grow into fan-like shapes know as crests. Crested saguaros are rare, this one has two crests. This is the only one I’ve seen so far, a reader pointed out its location near Granite Mountain where the Coyote Canyon Trail meets the Desperado Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
Boolie 