Day two, we got up at a reasonable hour, had a little breakfast, and were off to Desert Botanical Garden for a lovely bird, desert plant and cactus experience. DBG is a really large, well-laid-out botanical garden. It’s a beautiful place.
I was happy to see that the Chihuly stuff at the entrance is still there. It looks perfect. Here is a nice cactus-scape, and a picture of two tourists.
It’s pretty hard to take a bad photo here. However, somehow I managed. The blur in the third photo is an Anna’s Hummingbird.
We ate lunch at the garden cafe, and while we were eating, there was quite a show on the trashcan. All kinds of birds were checking out the trash and the trays on top. First, a Curve-Billed Thrasher and a Gambel’s Quail. Second, a European Starling and a Curve-Billed Thrasher. Third, a Cactus Wren.
Also making an appearance was a curious Greater Roadrunner. He didn’t stay long, but I did get ONE good photo of him.
Here’s a Curve-Billed Thrasher who is protecting his prized cactus fruit with his life, and a Verdin, clinging to some Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) flowers.
Some more lovely flowers (the first one is a fancy lavender, the second is a scorpion-weed).
After the gardens, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. So many great animals! Below are some Watusi Cows, a strange and colorful stork, and some cute African River Otters:
Sleeping warthogs (awwww…), an Egyptian Goose (why does he remind me of a little old balding man?!), and a pelican whose reflection I liked:
A Black Vulture who looked like he was whistling, and Mr. and Mrs. Northern Shoveler:
…and a Ring-Necked Duck (new to my bird list, and not in captivity):
Last but not least, we have some photos from the ‘On A Stick’ department.
Where do the sticks GO when it lays down?!
After the zoo, we went back to the motel room, and sat for a while. Ahhhh. For dinner, we went to Cafe Istanbul, which is a favorite. It was great. That was pretty much the end of our day.
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Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. YEA!! Today, I got to see whuppin’ cranes (Whooping Cranes), which are super rare. You can really only see them in only a few places in the country, and even then, only at a certain time of the year. I am so happy to have seen them! There were 11 of them, in 3 different places in the reserve. I also got to see Snow Geese, Roseate Spoonbills, Black Vultures (lots of these), and Common Moorhens. These are all new to my lifelist. I also saw MANY birds that I have already seen, and several I am fairly sure I haven’t seen, but need to identify for sure. I feel like today was a BONANZA of birding! Here are some photos:
Here are some Ruddy Turnstones, a Willet (biting at something in the surf), and a Common Moorhen
And these, my friends, are a Black Vulture, and some Whooping Cranes.
Rich and I went on a month-long road trip in 1999. I am sure I have mentioned it before. We were in Texas during that time, and I glimpsed my first armadillo. Ever since, I have been on a mission to take a decent photo of said armadillo. Armadillos are really interesting animals. They look like little greyish pink articulated footballs. I got a BUNCH of photos of one this time, but Rich was on the right side of the car, and took better photos of one than I. Here are a couple of Rich’s photos.
Today was really great, and I am very grateful to Rich for being patient with my silly animal interests (even though he is sitting here right now watching Monster Bug Wars, and acting very interested…).
Tomorrow, I think we’re starting our trip home. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed, but really…that may be the only thing I am looking forward to. I really am a proponent of ‘endless summer’. That’s my secret dream…chasing summer all over the western hemisphere. Well, I guess it’s not a secret any more.
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