A squirrel skillfully removed these vibrant red cedar leaves to reach the minuscule seeds nestled within the developing cones. Look how tiny they are! How many would they have to consume to meet their energy needs during these chilly and moist winter days? 🤔
"I entered the life of the brown forest,
And the great life of the ancient peaks, the patience of stone,
I felt the changes in the veins
In the throat of the mountain,
and, I was the stream,
Draining the mountain wood; and I the stag drinking:
and I was the stars,
Boiling with light, wandering alone, each one the lord of his own
summit;
and I was the darkness
Outside the stars, I included them. They were part of me.
I was mankind also, a moving lichen
On the cheek of the round stone ... they have not made words for it…
they have not made words for it,
to go behind things, beyond hours and ages,
And be all things in all time, in their returns and passages,
in the motionless and timeless center,
In the white of the fire…how can I express the excellence
I have found, that has no color but clearness;
No honey but ecstasy; nothing wrought nor remembered;
no undertone nor silver second murmur
That rings in love’s voice."- Robinson Jeffers
When you set foot in lands other than your birth and listen to the siren call of soul whispers, you find yourself here, deep in an ocean of sunset, emerging stars arrows of persistence, steadily aiming you home.
"My home is where I wander, body and soul." - TH
Open vistas unbind the tight weave of entrapment, and out spills the vulnerable. I soak in these colors, breathing them in, reveling in Place, the dust of the desert floor on my lips, in my nose, caked on my hands, my feet. After a time, I am left only moving forward. Ever deeper, following the lead of this one, beautiful life.
Desert scrubland wanderer. Found in washes in early evening and well into the night, grazing. Leaper of 15 foot bounds. Has the stamina to outlast many predators. Key identifiers are twin black ear tips and black stripe down back to tail. Transluscently large veinous ears shed excess daytime heat during scorching temps. Long legs carry this 3-9 pound body up to 40 mph. Has almost 360 degree vision- superb motion detecting ability! Has plenty of enemies, including ranchers. Loves mesquite. Cacti. Sagebrush. Grasses. Cecal pellets.
A dazzling desert stud you are!
This male Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) is identified by his magnificent purple gorget and the white mid-line stripe down his breast that separates his green vest.
In courtship, he singles out his lady love and then zips to the sky, making sure she's watching, and falls into a u-shaped dive while crooning a unique whistle signature, distinct to his species. If she's unimpressed, he wiggles his luscious mantle in front of her, "until his glowing metallic face resembles a baby octopus." All lover, he's been caught creating hybrids with Anna's, Black-Chinned, and Broad-billed hummingbirds.
When the desert heat becomes too much, these little beauties retreat to chaparral, woodland, and riparian corridors.
Truly a diamond in the desert, he is.
An adult female Broad-Billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostis) sweetly eyes me from her perch. She is a lover of arid canyons near streamside groves and migrates from Mexico to southeastern Arizona.
In Arizona, she occupies a small niche population and charms the occasional backyard birder with her amazing blue-green plummage. Females of this species are notable for constructing nests low to the ground and do not decorate them with lichen, a common nest characteristic of many other hummingbird species.
I traded the desert floor for juniper-oak woodland, then pine-oak and montane conifer forest. I came to visit one of southern Arizona's mecca birding spots, located in the Santa Rita mountain range. This area is known as a sky island, which is basically an isolated lowland range that hosts a plethora of unique species otherwise not found in the desert basin.
Wandering off trail, I found Black-chinned Hummingbirds seeking shade in Alligator Junipers, saw Dusky-capped Flycatchers with bills crammed full of insects about to feed their young, enjoyed Bridled titmouse flit from tree to tree, listened to Western Scrub Jay's clack, Lesser Goldfinches and Red Cardinals sing, spied secretive Black-tailed Knatcatchers, Says phoebe, White-eyed Vireos, Gila and Hairy woodpeckers, and admired the extravagant colors of the male Elegant Trogon. Many more greeted me, yet my focus had been to seek out this fella.
Off trail, I went in search of him but little did I know, he was more than happy to meet me, as he flew directly towards me and perched above my head. For several minutes he welcomed my interest. In this enchanting place, I sat with a creek that spilled through the canyon and shared time with ancient Fremont Cottonwoods, feet in the water, thankful for its cold touch. Sun spilled through the trees and illuminated me, my heart welling in gratitude for the meeting of this special place and the promise of my return.
The places that seek you...