Windmill In The Desert (November 21, 2022)– Image by kenne
This image was taken near Bear Creek Trail, where we explored the Sabino Creek and Bear Creek area and an old Hohokam archeological site.
Check here for more images the this Monday’s SCVN hike.
— kenne
Second Grade Class Participating in SCVN Field Trip To Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
— kenne
Northern Mockingbird In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs,
they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
— fromTo Kill a Mockingbird by
Marshall Gulch Parking Area
Aspen Trail (June 15, 2015)
Last year’s fires were followed by the driest year
On record, delaying the reclamation process
And trail clearing to provide for safe hiking
On the grayest powder covering the trails.
Images by kenne
SCVN Friday Hikes In The Santa Catalina Mountains To Resume This Summer — Image from 2017
The last Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist (SCVN) hike was March 2020. The National Forest Service has authorized the SCVN to begin Friday Hikes this June on Mt. Lemmon. The Forest Service will require all volunteers to wear masks at all times while volunteering. The groups will be smaller and maintain social distancing.
— kenne
Elementary School Class In Sabino Canyon (February, 2012) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Since March of 2020 Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) have not bee working with students on field trips
in the Tucson area. We are hoping to start offering nature classes again this fall. Meanwhile, SCVN has developed
a series of videos called The Canyon Classroom covering some of the “Fun Facts” covering the history, geology,
ecology, and wildlife of Sabino Canyon.
(Original image provided by the teacher.)
— kenne
Two Visitors Waddle By (04-15-15) — Image by kenne
A Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist is teaching kids as two mallard ducks waddle by.
Nothing like being outdoors in nature’s classroom.
‘Thank You’ Art from Children Who Went On Field Trips To Sabino Canyon Before The Pandemic
It has now been over a year since teachers have brought students to Sabino Canyon — they are dearly missed! We are hoping that by October, our normal five days a week schedule will return.
Meanwhile, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists have been busy creating videos for the Sabino Canyon – The Canyon Classroom. Check it out and Subscribe.
— kenne
Teaching Elementary School Students Geology in Sabino Canyon (January 2019)
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) stopped offering their Elementary School Nature program in March of 2020 because of the pandemic. Since teachers are no longer able to bring their students to the canyon, SCVN has begun creating a series of videos, Sabino Canyon, The Canyon Classroom, and placed them on YouTube.
Several videos have been created to date. The most recent one is Harvester Ants.
Naturalist Jeff Hahn with Elementary School Students — Images by kenne
Kenne with Elementary School Kids In Sabino Canyon — Image by Teacher
Starting in October of each year Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN)
teach elementary school kids about nature five days a week, However, because
of the pandemic classes will not be coming to Sabino Canyon till at least next October.
— kenne
CJ Woodard, Santa Catalina District Ranger
On Friday, September 18, 2020, District Ranger conducted a guided tour for Partner members ahead of the Scheduled Reopening of Sabino Canyon Recreational Area on September 21, 2020. Fifteen Partner members, five each from:
Friends of Sabino Canyon
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists
Santa Catalina Volunteer Patrol
In addition to the following video, images of the Drive-thru are in this Flickr Album.
David Lindo (London, England), The Urban Birder at the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center — Image by kenne
— kenne
Bear Canyon Trail In Sabino Canyon Recreational Area — Image by kenne
We spent this morning teaching 2nd-grade students how the Hohokam peoples of southern Arizona lived hundreds of years ago. The Hohokam left much evidence of their presence in Sabino Canyon, which was not only their home but also the source of food, clothing, and shelter materials. Over the years, the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) have developed activities, Back to the Past (BTTP), geared toward explaining the Hohokam and how they existed in the Sonoran Desert.
Today was such a beautiful fall day in Sabino Canyon, I had to share at least one image taken on our walk back to the Visitor Center.
— kenne
Could I but speak your tongue
I would sing of pastel colored cliffs
Where, under sapphire skies,
The raincloud gently drifts.
Of wondrous sunlit valleys wide,
Timeless home of your clan — your tribe.
Could I but speak your tongue
I would sing a prayer that in future days
You would ever honor your ancient ways,
And that the Gods of health and peace
In their boundless blessings, never cease,
To be generous to these children here below,
These children of the Desert.
— C. J. Colby, “Song to the Indian,” Arizona Highways, August 1973
Jim and B.J. Martin, May 7, 2018 , were honored by achieving Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist (SCVN) Emeritus Status.
— Image by kenne
I went to another funeral today, something I began doing at an early age while living with my grandparents. Old people’s friends die. Back then I didn’t always know the people and spent my time running around the graveyard across the road from the church with other children, in a small northeast Alabama rural town.
It’s different today being one of the old people whose friends are dying. When I became an SCVN member in 2011, Jim Martin had been an active member for 23 years, teaching elementary school children about nature and conservation, leading and participating in SCVN hikes, and serving a treasurer, VP, and President of SCVN. I first met Jim on one of the SCVN Friday Hikes. He was an 82-year-old active hiker, a quiet, pleasant guy to be around — always smiling!
Jim pasted away at the age of 90, July 16, 2019.
— kenne
Before Image by kenne
This is a before snapshot of soft feather pappus grass in and area where Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN)would be removing invasive plants. Our focus would be to clear this area where we teach elementary children about nature, October through April.
After Image by kenne
This after image illustrates how effective invasive plants are at crowding out native plants.
Rattlesnake Image by kenne
Removing invasive plants requires a lot of caution, keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes. There is a western diamondback rattlesnake in this image, which is a good example of how well the blend into grass. The snake is coiled center-right in this image.
![Zographus regalis cuprea [Cameroon]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52783978513_e3da275118_s.jpg "Zographus regalis cuprea [Cameroon]")
Becoming is Superior to Being 