Migrating Turkey Vultures Near The Tanque Verde Wash — Fine Marker Drawing by kenne
They arrive each spring
Hundreds resting overnight
Morning departure.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Tanque Verde Wash’ Tag
Migrating Turkey Vultures 2 comments
Trash In The Wash Leave a comment
Trash in the Tanque Verde Wash — Image by kenne
Flash flood left behind
Trash in the Tanque Verde Wash
Not sustainable.
— kenne
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Great Blue Heron In The Sonoran Desert 2 comments
A Great Blue Heron Atop a Neighbor’s House — Image by kenne
Flooded agricultural fields, riparian water ways, lakes and ponds throughout the Sonoran Desert are often visited by Great
Blue Herons. Large stature, long serpentine necks and crest feathers give this bird, especially in-flight, a prehistoric look.
The plumage is largely slatey gray-blue except for the head with is white with a wide, black stripes on the cap.
Just about any water or wetland dwelling animal that is small enough to swallow (and occasionally too large) will be
taken as prey. Like all herons, great blue’s use stealth with great striking speed to spear their prey below the water surface.
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Turkey Vultures Take Flight Leave a comment
Turkey Vultures Take Flight (09/28/20) — Images by kenne
After a brief stay overnight along the Tanque Verde Wash,
turkey vultures continue the migration south into Mexico.
Some see these birds as ugly, which is in the eye of the beholder, to some,
the bald head of a vulture is just another reason to admire them.
–– kenne
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Amaranthus palmeri – Carelessweed Leave a comment
Amaranthus palmeri – Carelessweed (Near the Tanque Verde Wash in Tucson) — Image by kenne
These plants are often found growing in fields, along roadsides, in drainage areas, and along desert washes.
The spine-tipped flower bracts are prickly (especially when dry) and can scratch bare skin.
Do not walk through a dense patch of dried Carelessweed while wearing shorts.
— kenne
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Sunset Near Tanque Verde Wash 1 comment
Sunset Near Tanque Verde Wash (09/15/11) — Image by kenne
Such a beautiful tree —
so representative of life.
Yet, we often see beauty only
in the foliage and blossoms
nature provides in one of life’s stages.
Why?
Beauty is everywhere —
there is beauty in death,
marking the stage so important
in the cycles of life.
This tree (image of) is amazing,
a sculpture in the face of the sun,
containing the shapes we use
to design our places in this world.
What image do you present
in the face of the sun?
Does it add?
Does it subtract?
Be honest!
— kenne
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Tree By The Tanque Verde Wash 2 comments
Tree by the Tanque Verde Wash — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life.
If you continue to believe as you have always believed,
you will continue to act as you have always acted.
If you continue to act as you have always acted,
you will continue to receive what you have always received.
If you want different results in your life or your work,
all you have to do is change your mind.”
— Unknown
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A Morning Walk Along The Tanque Verde Wash Leave a comment
A Morning Walk Along The Tanque Verde Wash — Images by kenne
Our community of Tanuri Ridge backs up to the Tanque Verde Wash. The wash continues to eat away at our property line.
Soon, this part of the trail will be washed away, along with the “branch art” monuments along the Tanque Verde banks.
Recent mountain rains in the Catalinas are beginning to bring ash from the Big Horn Fire to the wash.
— kenne
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School Is Where You Make It Leave a comment
Images by kenne
Two pre-schoolers live with their parents at the end of Tanuri Drive making it easy to put lessons on the street.
Everyone in Tanuri Ridge is now sheltered at home. There are only 72 homes in our community
where many of us are spending some of our days walking the streets of Tanuri Ridge.
Some of us wander off down by the Tanque Verde Wash.
Stay safe, everyone.
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“. . . how beautiful he looked, veering away” Leave a comment
One Beautiful Bird (Turkey Vulture) — Image by kenne
I had walked since dawn and lay down to rest on a bare hillside
Above the ocean. I saw through half-shut eyelids a vulture wheeling
high up in heaven,
And presently it passed again, but lower and nearer, its orbit
narrowing,
I understood then
That I was under inspection. I lay death-still and heard the flight-
feathers
Whistle above me and make their circle and come nearer.
I could see the naked red head between the great wings
Bear downward staring. I said, ‘My dear bird, we are wasting time
here.
These old bones will still work; they are not for you.’ But how
beautiful
he looked, gliding down
On those great sails; how beautiful he looked, veering away in the
sea-light
over the precipice. I tell you solemnly
That I was sorry to have disappointed him. To be eaten by that beak
and
become part of him, to share those wings and those eyes–
What a sublime end of one’s body, what an enskyment; what a life
after death.
— Robinson Jeffers
Turkey Vultures leaving their overnight stay along the Tanque Verde Wash as they continue their migration north.
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Turkey Vultures Migrating North 3 comments
Turkey Vultures Migrating North — Photo-Artistry by kenne
This is the time of year when hundreds of migrating turkey vultures
spend the night along the Tanque Verde wash, each morning they start
circling up seeking wind currents in their ride north.
This image is a composite of four images placed on a sky background.
— kenne
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While On My Morning Walk 1 comment
Cactus Blossoms — Image by kenne
Turkey Vultures Migrating North — Image by kenne
The other morning we counted over 250 turkey vultures
leaving the Tanque Verde Wash just south of our community.
This time of year hundreds of turkey vultures spend the night in trees along the wash.
— kenne
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Turkey Vultures Against A White Sky 1 comment
Turkey Vultures Against A White Sky — Image by kenne
“Turkey Vultures are large birds, cloaked in loose-fitting brown/black feathers that make them look shaggy and unkempt when perched. The legs and feet are sturdy and unfeathered; the color, where not coated in excrement, is cherub pink.
The face is ruddy and wrinkled and topped with an embarrassingly sparse cap of feathers. Its expression is uncommonly serene and there is something about it that suggests infinite patience. Huddled on their perches, wrapped in shabby vestments, the birds look like a group of balding monks gathered in prayer.”
— Pete Dunne, The Wind Masters
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Somewhere Along The Tanque Verde Wash Leave a comment
Somewhere Along the Tanque Verde Wash — Image by kenne
Life,
Hiding in the shadows
Giving distinction to words
Passing with each moment
Death,
Longing to connect
Extending a hand
In its dark silhouette
Seeker,
Walking in the aura
Existing on the watch
Rotating with each reflection
— kenne
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Bougainvilleas: Love/Hate Relationship Leave a comment
Bougainvillea — Image by kenne
We all love the beautiful Bougainvillea blossoms. They add a lot of color to the Tucson landscape. However, maintaining them can be very frustrating. For starters, they have very long thorns, so pruning must be done very carefully, and they will die at the first frost, which can happen easily since we live near a wash allowing the cold night air to drop lower than the surrounding areas.
He loves bougainvilleas
but hated the thorns.
He wanted to know
why all beauty came
with such pain and
was it as answer less as
where eggs came from
when life is all about the eggs,
“because we need the eggs.”
— kenne
