The Mighty Cottonwood Tree

I spend quite a bit of time in riparian zones in the border area of Southern Arizona and the most impressive living things that I have encountered there are the Cottonwoods. I cannot resist photographing them sometimes over and over again because each time I visit they have a different face or a new inhabitant.

Their amazing size and longevity draws me to them each time I visit San Pedro National Conservation Area or the Arivaca Cienega where the water stays close to the surface and supplies the Cottonwoods with the hundreds of gallons needed on a hot, dry desert day.

Information on the cottonwood can be found here at www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/species/fsheets/key/cott.html



Usually growing to 50 feet tall cottonwoods can grow under the right conditions to 100 feet or more. These trees have a life expectancy of 100 year with some lasting more than 150 years.

Cottonwoods are a great indicator of the presence of water as they cannot survive for too many years without proper moisture.


Cottonwoods thrive at the Arivaca Cienega and along Arivaca Creek. They are home to many species of birds and are the best place to find Gray Hawks.






At the end of life this tree might be a victim of the water table dropping out of it's reach or just plain old age.

San Pedro River Riparian National Conservation Area

Happy International Migratory Bird Day!

On March 18th we made our second visit to the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area near Sierra Vista. San Pedro is the first officially designated global important bird area in the United States. The San Pedro River winds it's way northward from Mexico and is the life blood of the beautiful cottonwoods that line it's banks as well as the millions of birds that pass through here each year.

The San Pedro House is the primary entry point to the preserves 56,000 acres and is located on route 90 south of Sierra Vista.
Located within the preserve are 100 species of breeding birds as well as 250 species of migrant and wintering birds. 40% 0f all nesting Gray Hawks in the United States are found at San Pedro. Each year approximately 4 million migrating birds pass through San Pedro.
On this trip we decided to head north from San Pedro House which is operated by the Friends of The San Pedro River. Information about the Friends of The San Pedro River can be found here: www.sanpedroriver.org/fsprhome.shtml
On our walk we encountered many of the birds that call San Pedro home but our primary focus was on photographing the trees and the river itself so that we may document the transformation over the year of both the river and the cottonwoods some of which are over 100 years old.
We hope to return once or twice a month through the year to photograph and hike this amazing place. Our next visit will focus on the life at the ponds within San Pedro and frankly I can't wait.
The next time we head to San Pedro these trees will be fully leafed out and will provide a beautiful soft green canopy.
A ribbon of cottonwoods flows northward just like the San Pedro. Here we see that the trees are beginning to shed there winter blahs and will soon provide much needed shade for both the river and it's inhabitants.

Each visit we have made to San Pedro we have been watched closely by this hawk that perches at San Pedro House.

Bighorn, Pronghorn and Ironwood in Arizona

I have a 10 day vacation coming up at the end of this month and I have decided to use the time making visits to Ironwood Forest National Monument, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Cabeza and Organ Pipe are about 125 miles from our home near Saguaro National Park West and Ironwood is a short 30 miles from here. I am hoping to get some pictures of Bighorn, Pronghorn, Ironwood Trees and lots more. Stay tuned to Sonoran Connection to see photos from these remote areas. Vacation starts on April 22nd.

Just a note to let you know that I got sick at the beginning of my vacation and almost none of my plan came to fruition. I have not given up on these visits and hope to try again this fall after I return from my trip to New England.

Walk through the Trees at the University of Arizona

I find walking among mature trees very comforting. There's something about a living being that is able to survive in single location rooted for years through all kinds of weather and subjected to all manner of adversity brought on by the presence of human beings.

As a photographer I can never resist trying to capture the significance, the beauty, the complex relationships of these majestic beings in our environment and in our lives. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't marvel at the reaching for the sunlight, the dependence on life sustaining nutrients being delivered to their precise location or the flowers and the leaves that come and go to assure another season of survival.

The Palo Verde here in Tucson is both a blessing and a curse for allot of us. The yellow flowers that arrive each April are so beautiful it's hard to imagine if you haven't seen them for yourself. Some of us unfortunately are victims of allergies but even so the desert would not be the same without these wonderful displays.

I have been meaning to come to the U of A campus for some time now to see for myself what it had to offer in the way of art and science. I am just beginning a 10 day vacation so I decided to take an early morning walk on campus which sits in the middle of downtown Tucson Arizona. Surprisingly there were very few people out and about when I arrived at 5:30 A.M. I actually expected more runners and bicyclists and walkers but for a while there were just a few of us.

One of the things on my bucket list is a visit to the Arizona State Museum and now that I have seen the outside I can't wait to get inside and see what it has to offer. Perhaps this week as I have no plans that are written in stone.

I didn't take time to identify the types of trees on the grounds but rather just enjoyed my stroll and sat on a few benches listening to the birds. There are some really beautiful buildings and some really utilitarian ones but all in all the campus is quite extraordinary. Signs were everywhere exclaiming the accomplishments of the university in the environment and in space and in all manner of interesting subjects. Sports is huge at U of A and there are lots of venues and monuments to the athleticism that thrives here.

The trunks of olive trees from distant lands are quite amazing and there are many examples around the campus to marvel at.

I was surprised and happy to see a monument to the accomplishments of women in Arizona.

Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" has stayed with me since childhood.

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

This is the "Moon Tree". A sycamore whose seeds traveled to the moon on Apollo 14. Read about Moon Trees at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html The moon tree at the university was planted in 1976 on April 30th which happens to be my birthday.

There were a couple of left over displays from Earth Day and I really liked this one. If you do the math that's 367,920 plastic bottles on one university campus! I wonder how many actually get recycled!

Burrowing Owl in the Morning

We originally set out at 4:30 A.M. to see if we could locate wild horses near Casa Grande Arizona. Long story short we didn't see any horses but the sunrise was quite beautiful and held a few surprises for us.

After taking a left when we should have gone right we found ourselves deep in farm country which was quite nice at that time of day. At one point we spotted this little guy sitting beside the road. I have only seen Burrowing Owls a couple of times so I was very happy to have a chance to get a couple of pictures. I expected to get a couple of distant shots and was surprised that this bird was not giving up any ground. At one point it flew to a nearby post and showed it's annoyance with me by bobbing up and down and scolding me but did not offer to fly away.

Burrowing Owls, so named because they live in burrows in the ground, have disappeared in much of their historic range and you can learn more about the Burrowing Owl at: www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/burrowing_owl.php

Fantastic Journey Photography

This photo will be the front page of my new website which will showcase my photography and serve as a means to sell my images directly to the public. Fantastic Journey Photography will officially open for business in April and will feature landscape, nature, portrait, fashion, and commercial projects. I can be contacted at rpg@thefantasticjourney.com.

It's a Super Moon

                This picture was taken on March 18th in Tucson Mountain Park in Tucson Arizona.

Wa:k Pow Wow-Tucson Arizona

We headed out to the Wa;k Pow Wow at the San Xavier Mission hosted by the Tohono O'odham Nation. We came early as we had never been to a Pow Wow and really didn't know what to expect.

The Wa:k Pow Wow is an intertribal dance contest that is put on annually to raise funds for the San Xavier community.

We were only able to stay through the opening ceremonies because by then we had all the sun that we could stand. We will know enough next year to go later in the day so that we can see the dance contest.

I hope you enjoy the photos and find the native dress as beautiful and amazingly ornate as I did.