This blog will be about our hiking and biking adventures and our visits to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Part 2 will include selected bird photos and descriptions of birding locations.

We hiked in Sabino Canyon in early December. There was some rain at the end of November, so the creek was flowing. In the photo below, water is running over the dam. When the dam was first built in the 1930s, the water behind the dam formed a recreational lake. Now it has silted up so much that when there’s water in the creek, there’s a large puddle and a waterfall over the dam. Much of the time, it’s dry and sandy.

We took the trail up from the dam area to the road. The road is only open to the electric trams that people can pay to ride. Some people ride the tram but more walk the roads. We prefer the trails, and use the roads to get from one trail to another.

Here’s a view from Rattlesnake Canyon trail. We also birded along the way and saw or heard 17 species. The most prevalent bird was the House Finch.

Our next hike in the middle of December was to Catalina State Park. We took our binoculars, but the birds were pretty scarce, likely because there wasn’t any water in Sutherland Wash. This mosaic is at the start of the birding trail.

After walking the birding loop, we drove to the starting point of a short hike to “Romero Ruin.” The ruins are from an prehistoric Hohokam village which was likely occupied from 750 and 1050 AD. A rancher named Romero had his house on the same bench above the wash and the ruin came to be known as the Romero Ruin.

There is a gravel trail that skirts the remains of the village, but there are also rougher trails into the centre. Archeologists have done some excavating and there is evidence of old holes from pot-hunters, so anything of value has been found. The desert vegetation seems to be taking over. When we looked carefully we could find small pottery shards, and we dropped them where we found them which allows someone else the opportunity to find them again.

In the photo below, Doug is standing in one of the two ball courts in the ruin. This court is about 25 meters (80 feet) long and once had high berms that could have been 3 meters (10 feet) high or higher. The ball court is similar to ones in Mexico and Central America where inhabitants played a ritual ball game. It is thought that the ball games fostered cooperation and resolved conflicts between communities.

Near the end of December, we hiked from the Box Canyon parking lot off of Picture Rocks Road, a spot we drive by most days. We started down the narrow Box Canyon trail. In the photo below, the canyon has opened up, just before it reaches Picture Rocks Wash.

We walked along the wash and crossed over Picture Rocks Road. Within five minutes of walking, we were at the petroglyphs that give the road its name. They are on private land, but people are welcome to view them from the wash.

Here’s a close-up of one of the sections. The petroglyphs were carved into the veneer in prehistoric times by the Hohokum people.

We continued along the wash. This unique saguaro skeleton up on the bank caught our attention.

We had our snack on the same rock out-cropping that we’ve sat on during previous hikes.

We came out of the wash on the “Ironwood Forest” trail. This remarkable saguaro is quite close to the wash. We counted over twenty arms, some which have just recently formed. The tree in the background is an Ironwood, one of the few along the trail, so to call it an “Ironwood Forest” is a stretch of the imagination.

Here’s the view a little farther along the trail looking northeast towards the pass and the start of the trail.

This next section includes photos from our visits to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in December. A new exhibit by the Artists for Conservation had just opened.

Here’s a view showing about half of the gallery space. It’s quite open with very good lighting, with spaces for large and small works.

This corner near the cactus garden was replanted a couple of years ago. We watched its transformation from piles of rocks to a filled-in garden. It featured the “Boojum” trees. Boojum trees are native to Baja California and Sonora in Mexico. They have silhouettes like upside-down carrots, with skinny branches. The plant’s trunk stores water and its small, scale-like leaves reduce water loss, both adaptations that help it survive in arid climates.

The inscription on the rock is a quote from Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a wood and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

We hardly ever include photos of the animals at the museum. Here’s a female Bighorn Sheep. These are the animals that the Hohokum portrayed in the “Picture Rock” petroglyphs. (Refer to earlier in the blog.)

This Lilac-crowned Amazon is a medium-sized parrot from the Sonoran region of Mexico. This one is a captive bird, and was under the supervision of a docent. We had never seen it in previous visits and the docent explained that they needed to be careful about when to bring it out, because the local (wild) Cooper’s Hawk caused it some stress.

Lilac-crowned Amazons are endangered due to habitat loss and illegal trade. They can live to be fifty years old in captivity. We think this one was about 35. There are feral populations of escaped birds in southern California.

The early part of December continued to be good for seeing butterflies at the desert museum. Last month’s blog post focussed on Monarchs and Queens. Here are a few different ones. (We’re almost at the point of needing a Butterfly Field Guide, but we are definitely not “lepidopterists.” Maybe amateur butterfly photographers is the best description.)

This is an “Anthanassa texana” or “Texan crescent.” Its range is from Guatemala north to southern California and northern Florida.

This beauty is a Red Admiral. It’s found across the Northern Hemisphere, migrating north in spring and south in autumn.

Gulf Fritillaries are quite common in Arizona, and we see them often while we’re birding. Its bright colours warn predators that it tastes bad.

Here’s Gulf Fritillary caterpillar, magnified quite a bit. The caterpillar feeds exclusively on passionflower vines.

We attended a Colter Wall concert at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in early December. Colter Wall is a Canadian country singer-songwriter and musician from Saskatchewan with a deep baritone voice. When Doug first bought the tickets, we knew just a few of his songs. By the time the concert came along, Wendy knew the words and could sing along (to herself) to most of them. A great concert, and a great venue!

Another cultural event for us was going out to lunch at El Charro Cafe, Tucson’s oldest continuously operating family-owned Mexican restaurant, founded over 75 years ago. The wandering troubadours were dressed for the festive season. They played traditional Mexican music as well as, surprisingly, Elvis Presley requests.

Another important social event was our landlord’s New Year’s Eve outdoor celebration. Neighbours and friends were invited for 5:00 with the hope of enjoying a spectacular sunset. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy. We toasted the new year at 8 pm (New Year’s Eve in Sao Paulo, Brazil) and again at 9.

Here’s a view of the food spread (note the raindrops on the tray covering some sweets) and a cozy group under the shelter. Although it was damp, it wasn’t cold and we had a great time.

Now to our final section: Scenery. In early December Wendy went for a walk close to sunset and took an unobstructed photo of the glowing ridge.

This was the sunset on December 13, from the yard.

We wish everyone a happy new year! Part 2 (birds and birding locations) will be posted soon.