Tag: Scottsdale

The Desert in Bloom

California poppies and Coulter's lupines bloom at sunrise in the Sonoran Desert in front of granite formations along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

First light falls on the California poppies and Coulter’s lupines blooming in front of the rock formation I call the Guardian. Haven’t had much time and/or energy for hiking the past few weeks but thankful I was able to get out for a few hours last week to see the desert in bloom. This was my first time seeing the Sonoran Desert bloom like this. The picture below is from a few minutes earlier in a slightly different position, clouds in the east mostly blocked the sunrise light but a little bit of red light fell upon the landscape before coming on strong for a few minutes as shown above. I like them both.

We arrived in Arizona a year ago today, how thankful I am we ended up in this wonderful place.

California poppies and Coulter's lupines bloom just before sunrise in the Sonoran Desert in front of granite formations along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Sermon on the Mount

A Harris's antelope squirrel watches the desert from its perch on a granite rock as the first light of the day falls upon it along the Vaquero Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

This Harris’s antelope squirrel had the high ground early on a June morning, perched atop granite rocks atop a small hill, so it saw me from a distance as I approached up the Vaquero Trail. The rising sun soon joined us and we spent that wonderful moment together when the light first sweeps across the desert landscape. It was moments like these that made me fall in love with the area, the trail is close to our new house so perhaps the squirrel and I will be reunited before long. I haven’t been hiking since we moved, Ellie’s had a tough week adjusting to the new house so I’ve spent my evenings with her when she struggles the most and have been too tired to go out in the mornings. We’ll see about tomorrow, the wildflowers are in full bloom so it would be a shame to miss them, but she’s a higher priority.

It’s a Good Thing Saguaros Aren’t Carnivorous

A white-winged dove sticks its face into a saguaro fruit to feed along the Latigo Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Last spring I was amazed at how many birds fed at saguaros as they bloomed and fruited, such as this white-winged dove sticking its face into fruit at the end of an arm along the Latigo Trail. It’s a good thing saguaros aren’t carnivorous or a lot of birds would lose their heads!

A cactus wren sticks its head into a saguaro blossom to feed in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Cactus wrens are smaller than the doves but still large for wrens, this one stuck its head deep into a blossom on the saguaro where it was building its nest and raising its young. When it emerges its head will be covered in pollen, some of which will be deposited at the next blossom it visits.

It s a Good Thing Saguaros Aren t Carnivorous Verdin Edition

The tiny verdin had to stick most of its body into the fruit to feed at the back, in this picture it is feeding closer to the front and only its head is hidden. When the fruit ripens it is the white-winged doves that eat the most, but other birds enjoy the short-lived bounty as well.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

A male northern cardinal sings from a tree on a March afternoon in Scottsdale, Arizona

I keep a spreadsheet of what animals I see each month not only in the parks I visit but in places I’ve lived. During our 16 years in the urban neighborhood of our Portland house I recorded 10 bird species for the month of March. In a few days at our new house in Scottsdale I’ve seen 13! Including this lovely male cardinal who sang to me on the day the mover’s arrived with our belongings. He serenaded Ellie and I this morning as we relaxed on the back porch. Verdin were building a nest in the buckhorn cholla in the common area below the house. Lesser goldfinches flitted about, curve-billed thrashers called out. A pair of Gambel’s quail fed near the house as Sam and Trixie watched eagerly from the windows. Phainopepla, mourning doves, house finches, house sparrows, gila woodpeckers, a pair of Harris’s hawks soaring overhead. I stood dumbfounded watching a robin, a bird I’ve known from everywhere I’ve lived but had no idea lived in Arizona. Yesterday on my first commute home from a work a roadrunner darted across the road (with no coyote in hot pursuit).

With all these birds so close at hand I may not go hiking anymore! (Just kidding)

We Went For a Swim, the Pup and I

Our dog Ellie relaxes on the carpet in the main room of our new house on her first day in Scottsdale, Arizona

Yesterday afternoon we brought the pets up to the new house so we could spend the night here and the next morning the movers could pack up the rental house without the little ones underfoot. Ellie’s been getting a bit senile in her old age but was able to compensate at the rental house with a familiar routine and familiar place. But in the dark at the new house she got confused in the backyard and with a misplaced step fell into the pool. I jumped in after her and carried her back to the side and she was none the worse for wear. Gave my heart a good scare though.

While she had been fine during the day at the new house, late in the day the stress of the change was clearly confusing her. After we dried off and I changed into new clothes, she kept wanting to walk around the house, then out the front door, then back inside and out to the backyard, over and over again. I was exhausted from the long day but I walked beside her until she was satisfied.

These paths, this place, will feel like home soon enough, but not on this night. Eventually she was willing to stay with me in the main room, I sat beside her and rubbed her belly and stroked her head and finally she fell asleep. I curled up beside her on the floor as Sam slept on my chest until I woke up later and went back to the bedroom. Ellie soon followed and kept brushing up against me so I got up, we walked a while again before she settled down and we fell asleep on the floor for good.

She’s done much better after a full day in the house but still doesn’t feel quite at home, she’s resting beside me now with Sam asleep on my legs. And no impromptu swims!

A New Backyard Bird

A male phainopepla perches on a tree on a sunny winter morning along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

The first bird I saw from the backyard of the new house was a male phainopepla, sitting in a tree in a narrow wash beside our yard. That’s a new one for me, I’ve seen quite a few birds in the backyard of our rental house but until now the phainopepla I had only seen on the trails. I saw this male on the Marcus Landslide Trail where they were numerous this winter, I haven’t been back recently but will soon as the trailhead is only a 10 minute drive from the new house.

To the Old and To the New

Our dog Ellie smiles while standing beside the pool in the backyard of our rental house in Scottsdale, Arizona

We’re taking the pets up to the new house this afternoon and will spend our first night there, with the movers packing up the rental house tomorrow and delivering on the next day. This is Ellie enjoying a sunny day in the backyard of the rental house, we’ve had a great year here and have loved the house and the neighborhood but are very much looking forward to being settled into our new home.