Catalina State Park - Birding Trail

Tucson, AZ


 Lunch at Catalina SP was quite nice...a cool breeze was blowing in the shady picnic area. The trees are so pretty. I'm not sure what this tree is, but the blooms  sure had a pleasant fragrance.

 

From there we headed to the Birding Trail. It is also a 1 mile loop trail that climbs through a partly overgrown area.


The loop region wraps around the junction of two dry washes.

The grasses were a golden color, plentiful and thick...quite different from the rocky, sand on the Nature Trail.




Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Maybe a Loggerhead Shrike?

 We were disappointed in the lack of birds we saw. Maybe mid-day is not the best time to go birding. We did enjoy their songs!


 Goldfinch





We also walked the Romero Ruin Trail...a 3/4 mile loop.

The trail is an archaeological site of a Hohokum village. This site was inhabited 500 - 1400 AD.

Rail road ties help make the steep climb easier.

What a beautiful view of the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area.

                                                          

                                                     



There are placards placed all along the hike with explanations of the ruins.

                                                                  


One of the main features of the ruins is the remains of a stone wall that surrounded the village. In its day, the wall stood 6 feet tall. 



 Also along the hike are the ruins of a ranch that belonged to Francisco Romero. He built his ranch on the ruins of the Hohokum in the late 1800s. 

There is evidence of five small structures.

The largest saguaro with the most arms we have seen!



 

 

 

 

We have so enjoyed our desert time!

Home Sweet Home!

 

Entertainment at lunch!

 Thanks for visiting the Taylors today! Can you believe it is already Friday? The weeks sure go by fast!

 



If you are traveling this week-end...happy and safe trails! If you are all settled in somewhere, enjoy!



Y'all come back!



Catalina State Park - Nature Trail

Tucson, AZ

The weather...it's getting hotter! Yesterday and today the temps rose into the 90sF.

 
 

 With that in mind we were up early (yesterday) to get in our usual 45 mins. at the doggie park, lunch and waters packed and were on our way to Catalina State Park by 9:00am.
 
    
 
Catalina SP is located adjacent to Coronado National Forest on the western slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The park has an average elevation of 3,000 but varies dramatically with high ridges and low creek beds or washes.
 
The first trail we took was the Nature Trail...it's a 1 mile loop.
 The wildflowers were almost gone, but I did get a few pretty photos.

Couldn't find this one...any ideas?

 
The bees and butterflies were busy too!
 

a hedgehog cactus

 
 

I think that's a grasshopper...

 

Beautiful views to enjoy!

Larkspur

 
 

Bristle Bush



Blackfoot daisy

Lots more prickly pear blooms.

These not so little grasshoppers were jumping everywhere...the most frequently observed insect of the day!

Wire Lettuce/ Desert Straw

Spiny Lizard

Nice trails...Joe searching for a rattlesnake!

A dead saguaro...a bird's home.

A pretty view from the top of the loop.

 A desert horned lizard...best photos of the nature trail. This lizard has a flat body with one row of fringe scales down the sides. 



They usually blend in with the color of their surroundings.
   



They have pointed scales on their back.

   


Desert horned lizards eat ants, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and some plant parts.  

 Joe found a neat little tri-pod. It can sit on a rock, table, etc...the legs are flexible and bend so it's easy to adjust on an uneven surface...like the rock in the picture on the left. Or you can strap the closed tri-pod to a post, small tree, etc.



The picture on the right is the one he took of us...pretty neat!

The nature trail was fun! No, Joe did not find a rattlesnake, but the hiker in the picture below, who we passed on the trail, saw one just after he passed us up on the loop. EEKS!

 

We also did 2 other trails after our picnic. I will post those pictures next.

 

Hope you had a wonderful Wednesday! Thanks for checking our blog!

 

 

Y'all come back!