MADERA CANYON

Last Tuesday, Bob and I decided to go see if we could find the Trogon.  It's become a passion of mine.  Below are some of the pictures I took while looking for the Trogon.

The Columbine is in bloom!

Bob waiting to see if the Trogon would fly in to a nest.

My new camera will take black & white pics and leave some color.

Arizona Sisters

Western Tanager

And as we were walking back down the trail almost to the bottom - an Elegant Trogon!

He was checking out this nest site for the little Mrs.

We stopped at Santa Rita Lodge on our way down the mountain and this wild turkey was strutting his stuff!

Another beautiful, successful day!

ANOTHER FAREWELL PARTY

We decided to get together one more time before Lynn and Del headed out.  Pizza, salad, cake & ice cream.  Oh, did I mention beer and wine and Jameson's for Bob.  The evening was beautiful - no wind for a change.

The group.

Another B.S. story from Bob!

Coot who only drinks root beer was the only one to spill his drink!  Go figure!

The horrified look on Lynn and Ron's faces when the accident happened!

Bob to the rescue - all cleaned up!

We had a great time; and if you read Ron's blog you will get an idea of what we talked about.  Me not being mother of the year; Lynn taking down a nun!!!!! And we ladies favorite subject - Tom Selleck.  Hurry back you Snowbirds and you too can have loads of fun and titillating conversation.

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY

Last Saturday night Shirlie had a little get-together.  It was windy all day, but when we got to Shirlie's the wind stopped and it was a beautiful evening.

Lynn and Del leave this coming Monday, so the group is dwindling.  Maybe one more party before they go?

SAGUAROS ARE BLOOMING

Since moving here five years ago, I have wanted to take a day and go out to Saguaro National Park West to take pictures of the Saguaros in bloom.  We finally made it yesterday!  It is a more difficult job than you would think as the Saguaros are very tall and the blooms are usually on top.  But I did get some decent shots.

On the road to SNPW

There were some great cloud formations

The Palo Verde trees are in bloom

The Saguaro blossom is Arizona's state flower.

Each blossom opens after sunset and by the next afternoon the flower has wilted.  This spectacle repeats itself night after night for about four weeks until as many as 100 flowers have bloomed on each Saguaro.

Palo Verde trees help to shelter young cactus.  These trees are called nurse trees.

Even this old and decaying Saguaro has enough life to still send out blooms

This Cactus Wren seems to be waiting for the blossom  to open; our state bird with our state flower.

The flowers above come from an Agave plant. Below is a close up of the flowers.

 We went to the Desert Wildlife Museum while we were in the area.  The picture above and my favorite, a baby Hummingbird, were taken there.

 The weather was perfect - about 79 degrees and no wind.  Probably one of the last few days before the hot weather sets in.

PARTY AT THE "COOTS"

Cinco de Mayo - It wasn't as big a party as we are use to, but a fun one never the less!  Lynn and Del invited those "few" of us that are still here to come over and have drinks and "geedunks".  We had a great time.

Shirlie gave Del this big tub of bubble gum!  She told Lynn if he was chewing he couldn't be talking!

Lynn and Shirlie? Ron getting a chuckle!

Coot didn't want me to take his picture

Looks like Bob made Lynn cry?

No - they were laughing about something.

The Group minus Patsy who was home with a cold

Fun times!  Wish those that left for snowy climes could have joined us.  Oh well, we'll do it again next year (count on it!).

OFF TO SEE THE TROGON

Last Monday we went up to Madera Canyon to see if we could get a look at the Elegant Trogon.  I didn't see it last year the few times we went up to Madera looking for it, but this year we saw two males and one female.  It was a beautiful morning - not too hot - yet!

The beginning of the Carrie Nation trail

Hermit Thrush

Closer look at the Hermit Thrush

House Wren

Our target bird the Elegant Trogon

 He then flew down to this hole in the old tree and tried to entice his mate to come look at it - she was having nothing to do with it!

 Then he flew back up into a tree right above us and called to her a bit more.  Finally he flew off and we just got a glimpse of her as she flew away.

Below is the second male Trogon we saw.  He didn't stay long and didn't give me a very good shot of him.

 We walked just a bit further and a Cooper's Hawk flew into the tree below, we guessed that is why the Trogon didn't stay around long.

Cooper's Hawk looking for breakfast

We stopped at Santa Rita Lodge on our way back down the hill and saw the Grosbeak below.

Black-headed Grosbeak

 It's May and the Saguaros are beginning to bloom!

It was a great day, and I wasn't skunked for the second year in a row, Scottie!