Tucson Souvenirs

Earrings! They are my favorite souvenirs – not too expensive and small enough to be easily packed for the trek home.

The most unusual earrings I purchased this time were the ones that used cholla cactus stems as a large ‘bead’ (upper left). I noticed the cholla cactus around Tucson because they seemed to be more colorful than just about anything else.

I bought the hummingbird earrings since we did see quite a few hummingbirds during our walks…. again, the earrings are a good reminder of one of our trip highlights.

The bear earrings were a serendipity. I bought them as a reminder of the excellent black bear lecture I attended just before our trip….and I liked the symbolic representation. When I saw the arrow inside the bear symbol I thought of the 20,000 calories a day the bear needs to eat in the fall (does the arrow represent the digestive tract?)!

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a favorite outing during our Tucson vacations. The drive through the Tucson Mountain Park to get there just sets the stage for a day enjoying all the wonders of the museum. There are lots of different kinds of cactus – of course. I tend to look for cactus that have something a little different: bigger spines or spines in an interesting pattern, colored fruit or spines…or outer flesh that is not green at all. I like the landscapes of different kinds of cactus growing on hillsides.

 There is a hummingbird aviary and hummingbirds outside too.

There was an Anna’s hummingbird at a feeder that moved slightly and the color of the head changed completely. Hummingbirds have prism-like cells within the top layers of feathers on their heads…and the color we perceive varies based on the refraction from those prism-like cells.

Some other birds that we saw:a female Gila Woodpecker (since it did not have any red on its head)

And male Gambel’s Quail.

There were a few plants that were blooming. I didn’t notice the aphids on the close-up I took of one small flower until I looked at the image on my computer monitor!

And then there are rocks…some with brilliant colors

And some just a collection of small stones between plants

And an outcrop on a hillside – red with its iron.

Tomorrow I’ll write a second post about the Raptor Free Flight programs we saw on our visit to this museum last month.