Mary Ann’s friend Julie and her son Luc visited from Switzerland. This post shows some photos from our visit to the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) and the Wet Beaver Creek (WBC) Wilderness Preserve.
The cactuses were in bloom at the DBG (btw: cactuses is correct grammar, as is cacti). I didn’t identify the species of the cactuses, but I’ll work on that. We also saw the usual cast of characters (birds). We didn’t see as many Cactus Wren as I hoped, so I didn’t get a very good picture. The ‘new guy’ is the Bullock Oriole – it was fun seeing him. Here are the pictures. (click on a thumbnail to enlarge; click the arrow, or use your arrow keys to navigate; click the enlarged picture to return to here).
Wet Beaver Creek Wildlife Preserve is a beautiful desert riparian area north of Phoenix. This wasn’t a birding trip, so I didn’t get any bird photos (when I did have the chance, I had the wrong lens on the camera :)). From the trailhead it’s a 3.3. mile hike to the large pool (where Aaron and Luc jumped off the rock). There are several side trails on the way that lead to the creek. We took one of the side trails on the way up. Another is called Weir Trail, which we didn’t take, but I’d like to next time. As with the DBG, the cactuses were in bloom. Here are the photos:
