Let me start at the beginning. We approached Tucson on I-10 from the west. As we drove, I took a video of the passing scenery from the RV window.
If the video went by too fast (at 65 mph), here is a still shot:
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| Lee's photo of Saguaro cactus in the Sonora Desert |
In both Arizona and New Mexico, there are large flat valleys, and mountains that rise from nowhere. The vegetation changes slightly from one valley to the next:
Tucson was very comfortable, with temperatures in the low 80's. The city is at about 2400 feet. Did you know that if you have a Sleep Number bed, you have to adjust it as elevation changes? Just one of those tidbits you might not think about unless you are traveling in an RV across the continent. : ) (Did I say this in a previous post?)
We only had two days in Tucson, so I chose to see the Sonora Desert Museum the first day, and Lee chose to see the largest non-military aviation museum in the country the second day. Let us start with the desert museum.
The first thing I learned, which many of you may already know, is that the Saguaro cactus grows only in the Sonora Desert, and no other place on earth. Its range, therefore, is limited, and yet it is used ubiquitously as a symbol of any desert anywhere, or as a generic representation of any species of cactus. It is, in short, a very charismatic, and imposing, plant.
Perhaps we humans like these cacti because they look so human. They grow straight up, and often have two "arms". The arms can be quite expressive.
Most of the Saguaro we saw had round holes in them, drilled by the cactus woodpecker. The woodpecker will drill the hole, then wait several days before moving in so the hole will dry out. Other birds sometimes take advantage of the home before the woodpeckers return. I saw many house sparrows in these holes, unfortunately. (Yes, there are house sparrows even in the desert.)
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| Lee's photo |
We were fortunate to arrive in Tucson when many spring flowers were in bloom. What luck! The desert was much more colorful than I had anticipated. Within the botanical gardens at the museum there were perhaps more flowering plants than in nature, but we did see the same plants in other areas. The photographs below were all taken at the museum.
There is a wide variety of cacti species:
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| Lee's photo |
Everyone's favorite exhibit seems to be the hummingbird habitat. It is enclosed by netting, but open to the environmental elements. The following amazing photographs were taken by Lee.
Anna's hummingbird:
There were at least four tiny nests in the enclosure:
Can you ever have too many photos of hummingbirds?
Lee was able to capture some of their brilliant colors:
So precious!
Here is a photo inside the enclosure (taken be me):
The zoo animals are spread throughout the park. There is an aviary, separate from the hummingbird enclosure, that includes a western scrub jay (the following four photos were taken by Lee):
Black-bellied whistling duck:
and Gambel's quail (William Gambel was a 19th century member of the Academy of Natural Sciences):
In an enclosure to itself was a roadrunner (I have to admit, we did not see any of these in the wild). He was waiting for delivery of his dinner, and was getting quite excited:
There were several animals as well, including a napping Mexican wolf (Lee's photo):
and bobcat (Lee's photo):
I loved watching the bobcat. It was so much like a domestic house cat in its mannerisms and movements, I was quite surprised.
One exhibit was underground, showing animals that live part of their lives in burrows. The following are my photos, starting with a very busy kangaroo mouse:
and a sleeping ring-tailed cat (related to racoons, not cats):
There were other animals, but we didn't take photos of all.
More of Tucson to come!
More of Tucson to come!
