It's a beautiful day!

Photos by Marty Horowitz 12/14/2012

Marty writes:

Pot o' gold! Unusual to see the top of a rainbow so low in the sky (the sun was at ~29 deg elevation at ~2pm when I took these pix 12/14/2012). The background is Ventana Canyon as viewed from my yard about 1/3 miles west of the canyon mouth.

Anne says: Make every day a good day!

Owl be back!

Photo by Ned Harris 11/13/2012

Thanks to all the contributors to this blog in 2012! Especially Ned Harris. Couldn't even have a blog without Ned's great photos. Also Mark and Jean Hengesbaugh, Marty Horowitz, Fred Fisher, Fred Heath, Bob and Peggy Wenrick, Carol Tornow, and Angie Perryman.
A special thanks to Honey Matt and Ellen.
Thank you to all of you readers, wherever you are! It was another great year in Sabino Canyon!

Some blog stats:
Total posts in 2012: 340
Total in 2011: 330 - ten more posts, no extra charge :-)

Top  three posts for the year:
1) May 22, 2012  Ellen's speech  122 views  (this does not include email subscriptions)

2) Aug 7, 2012     Sabino Bobcat    91 views  (ditto)

3) Oct 14, 2012   Giant Swallowtail Salute  72 views (again, ditto)

Top three countries of readers: 1) US, 2) Russia, 3) Germany

I won't be posting again until 1/1/2013. In the meantime, you can spend a happy hour (or two) searching the blog or browsing through the archives. Click here.
If you want to let others know about this blog (I'd appreciate it), just remember: sabinocanyon dot net - (dot com is the shuttle service; dot org is the Friends of Sabino; dot net is me!)

See you in 2013!

Birds

Photo by Marty Horowitz 12/09/2012

Hermit Thrush in the riparian area above the dam.

And an article about hummingbirds hummingbirds in Scientific American. Susan Wethington, founder of the Hummingbird Monitoring Network, is featured. Thanks to Jean Hengesbaugh for sending. 

A fruit you don't see every day

Photo by Debbie Bird 11/27/2012

Debbie showed us this Limber Bush (Jatropha cardiophylla) fruit on a recent plant walk. This is the only fruit anyone in that group could recall seeing (ever), so we were understandably reluctant to pick it to check out the seed. We waited. The fruit was still there on 12/11/2012 and, as others reported seeing fruits in the past, we made the decision to open this one.

Photo by Debbie Bird 12/11/2012

Behold! The lone seed, very firm. I planted it after showing everyone on the plant walk. Thanks to Debbie for documenting this (for me) rare find.

Peregrin liftoff

Photo by Ned Harris 12/7/2012

Now THAT'S a bird of prey! For more of these and many other birds from Ned's trips to Bosque del Apache, Sulphur Springs Valley, Sweetwater Wetlands, and the magic telephone poles of Tucson, click here!

Seeing an echo

Photos by Marty Horowitz 12/6/2012

Echo Azure butterfly.

Fruity goodness

Photos by Ned Harris 12/5/2012

These plump pineapple-looking things are Arizona Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii) fruits. Ground squirrels, deer, and other mammals (including me) like them. (I generally stick to eating the fruits from the barrel cacti in my yard.) Unlike prickly pear fruits, these have NO spines or glochids. You do have to take care when picking them, though. The fishhook spines on the barrel cactus don't mess around! To eat safely:  look for a ripe fruit (no green), grasp the brownish top and pull gently. If it comes off reasonably easily, it's ripe. Inspect for evidence of other critter bites. If none, take a shallow bite. The skin and flesh have the consistency of an apple; the flesh is quite tart. I avoid the seeds, but they are safe to eat.