The wild side of Tucson

I shall start off by saying we spent Thursday night in a hotel that allows pets.  The parakeets came with us.  Why, you ask?  Because our windshield was hit by a small rock on the freeway leading to Tucson, and it resulted in a crack that began to spread.  Although our windshield has a few chips on it, this is the first time a chip has become a crack.  Considering we have traveled roughly 20,000 miles in an RV, this isn't bad.  But windshields are expensive, so I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon.  We have insurance, but the deductible, as you might imagine, is a little on the high side.  We have been told many times over that when you travel in an RV, it is essential to keep a sense of humor about the things that need to be fixed from time to time.  It is inevitable, so take it in stride.  I am okay with that.  When you put a house on wheels and trundle down the road, stuff happens.  I just hope the potholes on the east coast are filled by the time we get there.

The last time we visited Tucson, we visited the desert museum, which is fabulous.  I especially loved the botanic garden, which included every desert plant you can imagine.  This time, since our time is limited here and we don't have time to see everything, I chose to check out the Catalina State Park, at the north end of Tucson and on the edge of the Coronado National Forest.

What a lovely place!  There are many hiking trails, but we chose to walk the birding trail and the ruins trail. First off the mountains here are spectacular.  The are "denuded" (my word), so the intricacies of the rock formations are clearly visible.  I never tire of looking at the mountains that surround Tucson, in every direction.

Remarkable!

I have decided I love saguaros, the cactus that is specific to the Tucson and Phoenix areas.  Did you know that a saguaro will not sprout arms until it is about 25 years old?  Most of the saguaros in the photo below then are much older than 25.

 

I think I like saguaros so much because they are so human-like.  The stand straight and tall, and when they have two arms I see a person.  Saguaros have charisma. 

One old saguargo in the park is the largest I have ever seen (given my limited experience), but look at the size of this thing!  That is me standing next to it.  I would love to know how old it is.  Catalina State Park has a program whereby people can "adopt" a saguaro.  If you want to adopt this particular plant, it is number "R5" on the ruins trail.  I am tempted.  It would be sad to see R5 disappear.

The holes, by the way, were most likely drilled by Gila woodpeckers, which like to nest in the saguaro.

Here are a few close-ups of this cactus.  Look at its wrinkled skin, just like an old man!

 

This thing towered over me:

 

There are many saguaros that one can adopt, of all sizes.  R8 is a baby.  I have circled it in red.

 R7 is a very young teenager, I think.

There are other types of cactus, of course, and many are fruited at this time of year.  They add color to the landscape.

A barrel cactus:

Not a barrel cactus:

There were also small flowers, including wild poppies:

The birding trail wandered through and around washes that bring water down from the mountains.  We were told that even when the washes are dry (which they most frequently are - they drain quickly), some areas remain green because of water beneath the soil.  This "bosque" (pronounced "bos-kay") is one such area, filled with mesquite and other small trees.  Birds abound in this habitat.  I had no idea such green lusciousness could be found in the desert. 

We found a ladder-backed woodpecker excavating a hole.  It was so engrossed in its project that it hardly noticed us.

This rock wren was singing its heart out!

The lesser goldfinch is especially beautiful in its mating plumage.  We saw several of these, perhaps because of the bright yellow feathers.  They flashed as they darted about!

We were fortunate to come across a large covey of Gambel's quail.  They were so quick, Lee had a hard time capturing anything but a blur of moving feathers.  The quail below actually slowed for a few seconds.  It is amazing how quickly and quietly these birds can move through the brush.

We also discovered a new bug.  Can you guess what the name of this bug is?

Some people call it the desert headstanding beetle!  This one was about 1 1/2 inches in length, very visible on the white pebbles.  It is actually of the genus Eleodes, and is endemic to the Sonoran desert.  It is also called the pinacate beetle.  It does this when threatened, because, like the skunk, it emits a noxious-smelling chemical to fend off enemies.  I never smelled anything, so I believe in this instance it was just a threat.

I mentioned a "ruins" trail.  1000 years ago, a group of native Americans, called the Hohokam, lived on a ridge in the park.  A stone wall five feet high surrounded a village of about 300 people.  Very little is left.  Some archaeological excavation has been done on the site.  This is a portion of the original wall, reconstructed by the archaeologists.

There was even a ballcourt, reminiscent of the ballcourts of Central and South America.

This is the ballcourt, not that I would have ever known had there not been a sign.  You can see it is late in the day - my shadow is long!

This state park has a very well-appointed campground, and I have heard that it is very quiet at night with a star-filled sky.  It sounds wonderful.  Maybe next time?