Bird stuff

The Park is a’ twitter with birds. Courting birds, fighting birds, nesting birds. On Friday we watched a pair of male phainopeplas compete for a female, who sat calmly at the top of a tree ear the Sin Agua garden, while her suitors performed acrobatics all around her, being sure to show off their sexy white wing bars. I’ve seen several pairs of verdins with nesting materials—including one that was apparently putting the finishing touches on a nest along the Texas trail; Gila woodpeckers apparently already tending young inside their nests in saguaro holes; and cactus wrens and doves searching for just the right twig or branch for their new home.

In addition to all these treasures, I was privileged to be the “helper” at our bimonthly Harris Hawk demonstration, featuring Sueno, a captive hawk who was badly injured as a fledgling and is now an education hawk. Sueno is very smart and knows several words; she is also devoted to her “family,” in this case her trainer. Here’s a very brief video of Sueno doing her thing.

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More flowers!

So many things are blooming in the Park. Some wildflowers, some cultivated, some trees… everything and everywhere. Here are a few more:

This is blackfoot daisy, and it blooms practically all year, but looks best in spring.

  On the left is creosote bush, with its delicate yellow flower.

 

And above is a South African plant, Cape Aloe

             

Gooding’s Verbena and Western Wallflower, a sweet-smelling wild mustard

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Spring has sprung

It is truly spring in the Sonoran Desert.  The Park is lush with flowers of every color.

    

   DESERT BLUEBELLS              FIRECRACKER PENSTEMON     PARRY’S PENSTEMON

Birds are courting, building nests, mating, and in some cases raising young.  One Anna’s hummingbird nest in the parking lot has already produced two fledglings.  Another Anna’s nest has two ready to go.  The mother is running herself ragged providing insects for her babies.  The other day I saw a male Phainopepla  tenderly feeding a mistletoe berry to his beloved.

                               

         This male Costa’s hummingbird flew right into the picture while I was photographing some of the flowers!

Most exciting for me is the new Cooper's hawk nest in the riparian area. It looks like a very large pile of very large twigs—as if, said one of my fellow docents, it had been built by giant mourning doves.

Technorati Tags: Tohono Chul Park,birds of Arizona,Costa's hummingbird,desert wildflowers,Parry's penstemon,firecracker penstemon,desert bluebells,Cooper's hawk