Tucson

Our time in Tucson was much shorter than originally planned because we drove up to Phoenix to have dinner with an old friend of Scott's. The biggest activity was our stargazing adventure up on Mt. Lemmon, which I will cover in my next blog.

But, we did have time to cruise through Saguaro National Park. Because I had just been there in 2015, I didn't take any scenic photos. But, you can see some here. 

A wonderland of cacti

This time, I concentrated on animals, which turned out to be a small group of birds.

Saguaro National Park has two separate units -- east and west -- on the opposite sides of Tucson. We were in the western unit ... 

Great shadows

... which is adjacent to the lovely Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We very briefly visited the Museum, which is actually an arboretum and zoo, but it was very hot, so we moved on.

In the Park, I spent quite a bit of time photographing a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on top of a saguaro, which is the most popular parking spot for Tucson birds.

Ouch!

I saw a male Phainopepla, a bird I had never even heard of before. 

It looks like a black Cardinal with red eyes and is quite striking

I saw a Gilded Flicker, also parked on a saguaro ...

Ouch again!

... and a Curve-billed Thrasher with its piercing eyes. This one may be a juvenile because it has a shorter bill ...

Aptly named

At first, I thought the bird below was another Gilded Flicker, but on closer inspection, I determined that it was a female Gila Woodpecker. Notice how it is black-and-white vs. the browner, less distinctly striped Flicker. It lacks the red cap found on the male Gila Woodpecker.

A female

Although I didn't photograph any live saguaros, I did find this collapsed corpse interesting (I have no idea why) ...

A deceased saguaro

And there was an interesting spider web blocking a hole in the ground. I didn't see the spider, but I believe it was an Arizona Funnel-Web Spider.

Quite a web

That was it for our brief time in the Park ...

A beautiful day

We decided to drive to the other side of town to tour Colossal Cave, a large "dry" cave system in Vail, Arizona. "Dry" means that the water source that was building the cave has disappeared and the cave is no longer growing. Kartchner Caverns is a "wet" or living cave.

Colossal Cave was used from 900 to 1450 AD by the Hohokam, Sobaipuri and Apache Indians. The cave was rediscovered in 1879 and used briefly as a source of bat guano until it was all mined out. 

The portal; Photo: Colossal Cave

Unfortunately, the tours were sold out. But, the little Costa's Hummingbirds flitting around the garden by the cave's gate made the trip worth it. This is a beautiful bird with a striking purple gorget (that's what the feather shield around the neck area is called).

A striking bird

A new one for me

Then, off to lunch at Rancho Rustico, where we had an absolutely delicious dish called Molcajete that included steak, chicken, shrimp, grilled onions, cheese and avocado in a red sauce served in a hot molcajete (mortar) with tortillas. 

Molcajete; Photo by Scott Stevens

And, as an extra treat, there was a beautiful Greater Roadrunner in the parking lot.

Restaurant entertainment

Although it was February, it was 86 degrees. I don't remember the winter being that hot when we lived in Phoenix. With a breeze, it was pleasant, but the sun was brutal. Although I had originally been disappointed that I couldn't find a campground with showers, shade and availability that didn't park vehicles right next to each other, I was glad we were in a hotel. With no trees, our little teardrop might have become an oven!

Trip date: February 22-29, 2016