Penny and I are in Tucson staying at a nice county park – Gilbert Ray Campground – where yesterday morning we took a short hike up Brown Mountain.
Before we left the campground, we saw several Phainopepla (harder to spell than find here) and a covey of Gambel’s Quail, who scurried off.
The trail was lined with thorns and of course, Penny had to check them out. She ended up with a paw full of quills from a fishhook barrel cactus which got me as I removed them. Here she explores what I think is an ocotillo.
A pretty Northern Flicker graced the top of a big saguaro cactus.
Several Lesser Goldfinches just sat there and let us walk by.
This Curved-bill Thrasher was having a cactus fruit breakfast.
Coming back down, we had some nice views but the winter sun was heating things up – although starting at 55 degrees and ending at 71 is pretty nice. It not hard to see why the campgrounds are filled with northern visitors.
Bienvenido a arizona.