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Posts from the ‘McDowell Sonoran Preserve’ Category

Sep 10

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Field of Devils

Last year, one of the hard working Preserve maintenance volunteers spotted an area with a large population of Devil’s Claw and told us about it (thanks Joni!) so as part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Flora Survey, we documented it this summer. I didn’t get as many photos as I planned but I did get a shot of the pretty pink bloom and also of the very cool seed pods (captured yesterday). You aren’t likely to see this plant while hiking as they are typically in wide washes which are usually off limits to hikers. Seeing unique plants like this is a great reason to join the flora survey! The survey starts up again in a couple of weeks. If you’re interested, contact Melanie at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. Phone number: 480-998-7971.

Sep 9

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Mule Deer Surprise

This morning I headed to the North Access of the Preserve in search of a photo for my blog. There is one section near the Toms Thumb Trail where we regularly see multiple deer but this was my first baby! The photo would have been sharper if I hadn’t been shaking while I was trying to get their picture 🙂

Sep 5

Jackrabbit

I learned something new about Jackrabbits today but I would have know long ago if I’d just looked it up! I knew it is a Hare and that their back legs and ears are longer than our Cottontails but what I didn’t know is their babies are born above ground fully furred and eyes open ready to fend for themselves! That’s reminiscent of baby Gambel’s Quail who, at the size of a small cotton-ball, are ready to run for their lives at birth. Amazing. Also like Quail, Jackrabbits nests are slight depressions on the ground. Wow..I’m going to be looking very hard for cute little baby Jacks next Spring 🙂

Jackrabbit photographed in North Access area of McDowell Sonoran Preseve

Jul 19

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Dehydrated Queen

Unfortunately, my suspicion regarding the buds on the Arizona Queen of the Night being dehydrated was correct. My friend Joni and I went out first thing this morning and although the buds were still there, some were already detached and when the plant was bumped slightly, the rest fell off. Thankfully, the plant is really healthy so there’s always next year!

Jun 29

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Checking on the Queen

I checked on the Arizona Queen of the Night this morning and there is only a very slight increase in the size of the flower buds. From the information I’ve been reading, it seems a little late for them to be blooming but this has been a strange year. Unfortunately, I have a couple of trips coming up so I will probably miss the event 🙁

Jun 27

Mesquite Tears

I owe the capture of today’s photo of the day to my friend and Ethnobotany expert, Alice D. She joined me on my walk this morning with a goal of checking for Saguaro fruit up here that she could use in her recipes. Not much fruit ready yet but she had a successful morning anyway collecting other fruit and beans which she’ll use in her presentations. One huge Velvet Mesquite not only provided welcome shade for us but it was a oozing more sap than either of had seen at one time. Alice collected some bark with the sap…also for education. All in all, a very educational morning! Thanks Alice 🙂

The most fascinating for me were the drips which I named “tears”.

Jun 26

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You Never Know!

While searching for a photo of the day in the desert this morning, I noticed this Hummingbird following me and I was sure I heard “I want to be on your blog today!” 🙂 He was flitting back and forth among the branches of this Desert Hackberry so it was impossible to keep focus so I did what photographers did before auto focus and that’s “pre-focus”. I just manually focused on the center branch tip and kept my finger on the shutter knowing he would fly into focus at some point. You never know what you’ll get but you won’t get anything if you don’t try, right? (Canon 60D, Sigma 18-250mm lens @ 250mm. ISO 200, 1000th sec at f/5.6)

Jun 22

Peniocereus greggii

Arizona Queen of the Night is our most illusive flowering cactus. The majority of the time, it looks like dead sticks so they are almost impossible to spot. During my many hikes and also while surveying flora in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve , I have found several specimens. It’s been extremely dry so a portion of this one has already become dehydrated but, as you can see, there are several buds so I’m hopeful. Although they start blooming at night, the flowers can last til early morning as evidenced by a friend who captured one during the early morning at Tohono Chul Park in Tucson.
CLICK HERE to watch a video from there.

 

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