Leaves On the Ground (Mt. Lemmon) — Image by kenne
Autumn Song
Leaves of brown they fall to the ground And it’s here, over there leaves around Shut the door, dim the lights and relax What is more, your desire or the facts
Pitter patter the rain falling down Little glamor sun coming round Take a walk when autumn comes to town
Little stroll past the house on the hill Some more coal on the fire will do well And in a week or two it’ll be Halloween Set the page and the stage for the scene
Little game the children will play And as we watch them while time away Look at me and take my breath away yeah
You’ll be smiling eyes beguiling And the song on the breeze Will call my name out and your dream
Chestnuts roasting outside as you walk With your love by your side The old accordion man plays mellow and bright And you go home in the crispness of the night
Little later friends will be along And if you feel like joining the throng Just might feel like singing Autumn song Just may feel like singing Autumn song
You’ll be smiling Eyes beguiling And the song on the breeze Calls my name out in your dream
Chestnuts roasting outside As you walk with your love by your side And the old accordion plays mellow and bright And you go home in the crispness of the night
Little later friends will be along And if you feel like joining the throng Just might feel like singing Autumn song Just may feel like singing Autumn song
You’ll be smiling Eyes beguiling And the song on the breeze Calls my name out in your dream
Striped Coral Root in the Mt.Bigelow forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains — Image by kenne
Those of us who weekly hike in the Santa Catalina Mountains frequently turn to Frank S. Rose’s field guide to the Santa Catalina Mountains, Mountain Wildflowers of Southern Arizona. On Friday’s hike, some of the hikers recognized this plant a coral root, a relatively rare plant in the Catalinas, we did verify our finding in Frank’s guide.
Like most orchids of genus Corallorhiza, they have no chlorophyll and are mycoheterotrophic, making use of fungi to obtain carbon from the roots of nearby trees.
We humans focus too much on time, so much so that when a first grader was being told about daylight savings time and the way you remember whether it’s time to turn the clocks back or forward — think fall back in the Fall and spring forward in the Spring, she asked, “Who tells the birds to spring forward?” Of course the question, like most children’s questions provided for a teaching opportunity — birds don’t need clocks to tell them it’s time to get up or time to go to sleep.
And then there’s Arizona. The time zones across the United States all sprung forward today, but not Arizona. Like the birds, we follow nature’s clock — no spring forward and falling back for us. Since I come from generations of farmers, my wakeup time is earlier with the passing of each day – no sudden change to my body clock. As a result, I still hear the morning dove calls and see the return of the Western Screech Owl to roust under our entrance way. Life continues to change while staying the same.
Oh, if you live on the east coast, don’t be calling us at 8:00am, EDT!
This thorny vine is very drought tolerant and can be allowed to grow up a wall or shaped into a nice landscaped bush. They are beautiful ornamental plants, but they are very frost-sensitive. A frost or freezing temperatures will kill the exposed plant, leaving a thorny dried-up plant till spring, at which time they need to be cut back. Because of their sharp thorns, this is not a pleasant task — one that I hate. In our five winters in Tucson, the bougainvilleas made it through the winter season only once.
The last two mornings we have had lows of 35 degrees without a frost — maybe on the top of cars. Getting freezing temperatures in the winter are more likely in Tucson than our big sister to the north because our elevation is 2,600 ft, vs Phoenix at 1,100 ft. Plus, we are usually drier here causing the upper-level cold air to drop closer to the ground over night.
At any rate, after hearing the weather forecast a few days ago, I decided to take a few photos of one of my favorite plants. In equatorial regions, they tend to flower all year round in. Elsewhere, they are seasonal, with bloom cycles typically four to six weeks. The actual flower of the bougainvillea is small and generally white, surrounded by three or six modified bright colored leaves.
“Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and Soul. Strictly speaking, therefore, all that is separate from us, all which philosophy distinguishes as not me, that is both Nature and Art, all other men and my own body, must be ranked under this name, Nature. Nature, in the common sense, refers to essences unchanged by man: space, the air, the river, the leaf. Art is applied to the mixture of his will with the same things, as in a house, a canal, a statue, a picture. But his operations, taken together, are so insignificant, a little chipping, baking, patching, and washing, that in an impression so grand as that of the world on the human mind they do not vary the result.”
Neighborhood Cooper’s Hawk Parent Near Nest — Images by kenne
When not mornings in Sabino Canyon, I’m usually running the streets in our community, Tanuri Ridge. While running one morning in early April, I noticed a hawk flying into a large mesquite tree. As I came back around I saw another hawk with a twig fly into the tree, and made a mental note to look into the tree while on future runs.
Parent in Sentry Position
Over time the two adults finished the nest. In the beginning it was easy to see the nest because the mesquite tree was just beginning to grow new leaves. Now it’s difficult to see the nest, but usually can see one adult in the tree and another in a sentry position about 50 yards away. Until the chicks got large enough to see their heads above the nest, there was no way I knew how many were there.
Parent in Mesquite Tree Near the Nest
About two weeks ago, as I ran by the nesting tree, some neighbors were at the tree’s base. One of the chicks was on the ground. At close inspection it was apparent that the chick had an injured eye. We were not sure what caused the injury, but since we now know the nest has three chicks, with four in the nest a sibling or a parent may have inflected the injury. At any rate it was apparent the chick had been pushed from the nest.
One of the Three Chicks
Yesterday, naturalist Anne Green posted a “chick update” on her blog “Your Daily Dose of Sabino Canyon.” Naturalists have been watching a Cooper’s hawk nest by the Sabino Canyon dam for weeks. With these chicks “branching” I decided it might be a good time to go photograph the Tanuri Ridge chicks. They are not branching, but I was able to confirm that the nest contains three chicks.
Parent After Diving at Me
I spent time under and near the mesquite tree trying different photography angles. At first, one adult was in the nest with the chicks. Another was about 50 yards away. As I moved around, the adult in the nest was showing signs of getting anxious and left the nest to a perch about seven feet away. Meanwhile the other adult in a sentry position began a loud defense call, “cak-cak-cak. “
One of the Three Chicks
Getting frustrated trying to photograph the chicks, I walked to where the other adult was calling. As I walked toward the sentry tree, another hawk flew by responding to the calls, which looked like one of last year’s juveniles. At one point the sentry adult flew in my direction circling around back up to its perch.
One of the Three Chicks
I will keep watching the nest, but because of its location centered high in the mesquite tree, getting photos will continue to be very difficult, however, I enjoy the challenge.
Leaves On the Ground (Mt. Lemmon) — Image by kenne
Striped Coral Root in the Mt.Bigelow forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains — Image by kenne
Spring In Tanuri Ridge (May 2, 2016) — Image by kenne
“In The Shadow Of The Ghost Of Don Quixote” — Image by kenne
Image by kenne
A Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the Riparian Zone of Sabino Canyon (March 10, 2016) — Image by kenne
Bougainvillea Images by kenne
