Yellow is for Fellow

Bill Kaufman was also by the Button Bush beside the Dam Bridge on 7/6/2016. He photographed this male Carpenter Bee.  

Bill writes: 

There are 3 species of Carpenter Bee in AZ. This one, Xylcopa veripuncta, is the only one of the 3 species that has a yellow male. All others are black. Only the female can sting.

Photo by Bill Kaufman 7/6/2016

Thanks, Bill, for teaching us something new today!

Button Bush Visitors

Photos © Bill Kaufman 6/22/2016

Desert Cloudywing Skipper on Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) flower.

Pipevine Swallowtail on Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), too.

A Heart for Flowers

Photos copyright Marty Horowitz 6/27/2016

These beauties are blooming along the creek in Sabino Canyon (and along the Mt Lemmon highway). Hooker Evening Primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hirsutissima) is in the - you guessed it - Evening Primrose Family. Their flowers have 4 heart-shaped petals. You can see the reproductive parts - and a spent flower - in the close up.

Toad futures

Photos by Marty Horowitz 7/1/2016

Sonoran Desert Toad tadpoles - the result of all that cavorting -  take over in Sabino Creek.

Teen One and Teen Two

Remember these cuties? Now they look like this!

Photos by Marty Horowitz 7/1/2016

As Ned has said, juvenile Cooper's Hawks have more of a paint-dripped looking breast (well, that's what I call it; he'd no doubt use a hawk-y term), adults have distinct bars. Adults have red eyes, too.

Blast from Arundo's Past

Jean and Mark Hengesbaugh's work against invasives in Sabino Canyon was featured in the cover story of the most recent Desert Leaf! The article is called: "Caring for the Coronado."

(Click on this link, give it a bit to download, and then flip to page 33: http://trendmag2.trendoffset.com/publication/?m=12024&l=1  )

Here's more from Mark's files. (Photos and text by Mark Hengesbaugh.)

Sabino volunteers remove large stands of Arundo donax (Giant Reed) near Bear Bridge in 2009. In all, volunteers worked 6,000 hours to remove the invasive cane, clearing space for Sonoran Desert plants that native wildlife requires.

Peggy Wenrick consults a plant guide

In 2010 and again in 2012, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists surveyed seven test plots that had formerly been monocultures of invasive Arundo and counted 84 species of plants that had returned.

For more on this story, see this video powerpoint. 

Kudos to Jean and Mark for getting us organized to get the job done, against all odds (and oddballs : -)

Ring around the 'cushion

Photo by Marty Horowitz 7/1/2016

Rains in June brought out the blossoms on Fishhook Pincushion Cactus (Mammillaria grahamii). These tiny cactus can bloom multiple times during the year. Their fruits (yes, the things with the seeds) look like mini chili peppers. They're sweet (or citrus-y, depending on the taster), though, not spicy hot.