Today is all photos from our trip to Arizona. We just got back, and it was good to be in my home state for a visit. I admit to not wanting to live in the desert any more (too many thorns, too hot in summer, too little green), but there’s nothing like going back to where you were raised.
There’s something magical about the desert, including the gorgeous sunsets and the rock formations. Here’s a classic pile of boulders outside of Carefree, AZ in the evening, with a huge metal sculpture of a bird perched on top.
The area north of Phoenix and Scottsdale is a riot of rock formations, including this massive one, the size of our barn, that fell from a cliff on the other side of the road.
Here’s a rock formation, called a Hoodoo (and who couldn’t love that name?), on the spectacular drive to Mt. Lemmon, north of Tucson.
Being in Tuscon for the second half of our trip allowed us to visit, twice, one of my favorite places in the world, The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, a botanical park, zoological park, and educational extravaganza about the amazing life of the Sonora Desert.
You won’t be surprised to hear that the highlight for me was the Raptor Free Flight show. They do a fantastic job, using birds trained to fly free but go to perches on cue–handler’s arms or dead snags–just a few feet away from us. They often flew only inches over our heads to go from perch to perch. I am reminded of the work done at Natural Encounters in Florida where several of us were lucky to spend a week with Steve Martin, and Dr. Susan Friedman of Behavior Works, one of the best behaviorists in the business.
This work is 100% driven by the animals: If they don’t want to work, oh well. And if the Ravens at the AZ Desert Sonora Museum decided they don’t want to go back in their cages, then we were warned we’d all stand there until they did. Thus, the repeated warnings to not let a speck of food in sight when the ravens were out. Apparently one incident kept the spectators out for hours. Birds 1. Humans 0.
All the spectators at our visit were obedient, and the two ravens soon left to give way to my new favorite bird in the entire world, the Great Horned Owl:
I’ve seen a lot of owls, but usually perched in a tree, wings folded, eyes maybe or maybe not shut. But I’ve never seen one fly a few inches from my head. This one stunned us all with her beauty.
The AZ SDM is also an excellent botanical garden, here’s a small piece of the cactus garden:
I love how they show visitors what the cactus blooms look like when they are out. Cactus flowers and fruit are such an important part of the ecosystem for everything/one who lives there, including several tribes of Native Americans.
Below is a Crested Caracara, a rare bird in the United States, who, according to Cornell, “looks like a hawk with its sharp beak and talons, behaves like a vulture . . .”. Look at the sun shining on it’s primary feathers and tail! So gorgeous.
Here it is from the front:
If you’re not too tired of birds, let me introduce a pair of Harris Hawks, the rock star performers who closed the show. Harris Hawks often hunt like wolves–going after prey too large for any one of them, strategically surrounding prey, like hares, as a group. They also spend a lot of time on the ground, unlike most hawks. Gorgeous, hey?
This, by the way, is what you see when one flies over you:
Of course, I missed the money shot, but 1) it happened too fast, and 2) we weren’t allowed to raise our cameras over our head. But my brain recorded it, and having a hawk fly pretty much straight at my face is now one of my many highlights of life.
I’ll post some more photos from AZ next time, but for now, we’re hunkered in on that first day home–unpacking, laundry, mail–you know the drill. As illustrated by Maggie, the dogs are apparently exhausted from our trip, which they did not go on.
Here’s to being gone on an adventure, and being home, and living through the airports in between. I hope you had a good week and are not suffering too much from ice, snow, rain, floods, tornadoes, wind . . . We’re lucky here, got six plus inches of snow this weekend, and now a tad chilly (Zero F as I post this), but nothing like what’s been going on in the rest of the country. Be well everyone, and tell us what you’ve been doing; you know we’d love to hear.
Michelle says
Been there; loved it! But didn’t get photos like yours to prove it, so thanks for sharing yours.
Debby Gray says
Loved, loved the owl picture with wings spread. Thank you for sharing.
Mia Timlin says
Hi Triaha,
I love all the bird photos, especially the great horned owl. That wingspan looks so impressive! I remember going to the tree garden in the arboretum and hearing the owl that roosts there. It’s so interesting how so many animals, given the proper care and time, willingly preform for people.
Speaking of training… my fiancé just learned about how people can train wild crows, then he went and bought the tools to do so! Not that I’m complaining—I think it would be interesting to see if he can befriend our neighborhood corvids.
Though I would prefer he keep a distance from them with the avian flu being as bad as it is. We have a little cockatiel inside who will sing us sweet nothings and jinner jabber all day long. I would like to keep him healthy because he’s a little ray of sunshine in my life.
Donna M. Krog says
Never get tired of bird pics! Thanks for sharing. My favorite are the raptors.
My home in the Hudson Valley is seeing an amazing resurgence of eagles to all of
our delight. Also read there is a an eagle pair in a park in Brooklyn who seem to be setting up a nest. So exciting!
lak says
Photos are lovely! I see many hawks, red tailed hawks and a few eagles weekly here in MI, but just last week on a walk with my large dog I saw a quickly retreating large coyote! Just love all nature provides if I keep my eyes open. Welcome home, we got snow too so it finally looks like a proper MI winter, and cold too, below zero when I let dog out this morning!
Melf says
Love seeing the birds and rock formations. I am a birder and I love the desert. I did not know about Harris Hawks working together to cork prey. I suspect there isn’t a lot of sharing at the end, but who knows. 😁
Looks like a perfect vacation.
John C says
I was just there also and couldn’t agree more. We went to the museum expecting to spend 2 hours there but we spent all day. The birds— I totally agree.
The Sonoran desert is a unique ecosystem and lets hope it can survive. Tucson was just great, minutes away from desert, foothills, and mountains. We were up at 9000 feet hiking in the snow!
Sally says
Thank you! I, too, do not want to live in Arizona but love visiting, especially the Tucson area. My first visit to the Desert Museum had a massive spot of hilarity. I was alone, and came upon a group of henlike desert birds, all of them lying splotched across the dust, necks awry, beaks agape, perfectly still. I was horrified, thinking some tragedy had befallen the whole flock, and rushed to a museum employee, frantic to get help. Of course, the birds were simply doing what henlike creatures do in extreme heat and dust. The kindly museum employee, after dashing to the pen, explained the situation to me, and, I hope, entertained her colleagues with one more crazy tourist story at her next coffee break.
Trisha says
AZ is an amazing state, isn’t it? Sonora desert and snowy mountains, grand canyon . . . We’re thinking about going back every year if we can manage it.
SUSAN HUDACHEK says
Thanks for sharing! Beautiful photos! Missing visits to AZ and hope to return soon!
Karie says
I subscribe to BirdTricks on YouTube. They do free flight with their birds too. Awesome to see.
Doug Harris CPDT -KA says
Nice pictures, what camera are you shooting with?
Tails Around the Ranch says
Fabulous photos of those raptors. Arizona in winter is probably all I could handle as we don’t do that kind of relentless heat. What stunning captures. Around the Mile High City, people continue to say “stay warm.” We took it one step further and said the heck with that; we’re staying inside. Being outside for even brief moments was painful. Glad the worst is {hopefully} behind us. We may reach upper 20’s today, a veritable heat wave compared to yesterday’s double digit sub-zero windchill temps. Enjoy a good snuggle as you ease back into the home routine.
Linda Lipinski says
Stunning photographs. Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Trisha says
Canon Rebel T4i, but it’s the lens that’s made all the difference: Tamron 35-400. It’s heavy but we adore it.
Carrie V says
The Sonora Desert Museum is now on my must-visit list! I can imagine spending days there between the botanical gardens and the raptors. Note to self: get that new camera and lens you’ve been wanting first, and extra SD cards. And probably a spare battery too, lol.
Love your shots of the birds. I had a Great Horned Owl in a tree in my backyard a couple years ago. (I’ve learned when the crows cry murder I need to investigate.) Was so excited just to see it there. I was thrilled to get a photo of it, waaay up high in the tree. Not a great photo, but clear and with enough detail for positive identification. A couple days later I saw it flying down the block, looking so huge even at that distance.
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Dotti says
Having grown up in Southern California in the 50’s & 60’s, I can sympathize with your desire to not live in AZ again. I moved to Seattle in 1968 & Olympia in the mid 90’s. There is not much that could induce me to move back.
Rebecca Ruggiero says
So stunning: thank you for sharing your photos. It was so good to see the sun and warmth: here in our part of New England temps are forecasted to be -30 (with wind chill) this weekend. Burr!
I’m sure you’ve read _Wesley the Owl_ by Stacey O’Brien? I read it years ago and have been in awe of owls ever since.
Stay warm!
Anne Johnson says
So glad you were able to return to the desert. I am a desert rat, even though I live at 6,800 feet in Flagstaff. Love birds of flight and prey. We have a small demonstration at Bearazona in Williams. All birds are privately owned. They put on a great show. I almost forgot you grew up in Arizona! I used to ride horseback out off Pima Road and south of Shea in the 70’s. Quite different now.
Did you have the chance to see Karen when you were here? I need to go walking with her soon.
Stay warm and healthy!
Anne
Bonnie Turner says
So glad to hear your Arizona visit was a success. Having lived there for 8 years for grad school in Tempe, I still get a pang whenever I think about the desert. I love the Harris hawks especially, and miss seeing all of the native desert birds, but am glad to be out of the heat for good. Northern California is much nicer to a native Midwesterner in terms of green country.
Glad to see you made it home ok, I just can’t stand airports!
Myra Mangin says
I live in Brisbane, Australia and we have similiar birds of prey performances ,, if thats the right word, in various parts thru th country. With some of the hunting hawks, especially those tht go for fish the audience is warned , very strongly strictly warned not to stand up because the bird.. and beak will go straight thru your skull. It’s an amazing experience.
And we also of course have deserts, the inner heart of Australia is one big desert.
Thanks for the newsletters, I really enjoy them, especially of the snow when it’s hot and humid here in Australia
Elizabeth Stroter says
Oh, so missing my collie types after downsizing! Sweet to see them. I love the raptor encounters. Owls are the most incredibly well adapted predators of all. Just to be near them I volunteered at a raptor rehabilitation center for a year, cleaning flight enclosures. One of the largest held 17 Red Tailed Hawks. At sub-freezing temperatures their breath vapors could be seen while they enjoyed a bath! Most amazing was my hair being lifted up by the powerful wings’ updraft just above my head. Amazing.
D Newhouse says
Thanks for all you do and share ! If you kept your light under some basket, we’d all be the poorer. Best regards…