I did not know of the Navajo County Museum in Holbrook, Arizona. Yes, I knew Petrified Forest National Park is down the road, but this museum? No. As the local said to me, “Once you see the national park and this museum, you’ve seen Holbrook!”
Wild West
We spent at least 45 minutes at the Navajo County Museum walking through rooms with different historical info. This building was the old courthouse with the sheriff’s office and jail. Other rooms included items from Native Americans, ranchers and other settlers in the county. I had never seen so many old typewriters and cameras in one place. Display cases had fossils, arrowheads, pieces of pottery and old horse saddles. One room was the old post office. There was so much to look at!
Plenty of exhibits
We just happened upon this place as we continue our drive east with many more miles to go in the day. Lovers of history could spend hours here with all this historical material.
Old post office
So … If you are in Holbrook, Arizona along Interstate 40, visit the Navajo County Museum. And if you have not been to Petrified Forest National Park, get there also to see petrified wood and the “painted desert”. Worth a stop!!
Petrified wood and more of it at the national park down the road!
White-winged doves fly around our homes this time of year. Often they’ll sit on a railing and watch other birds visiting our bird feeder.
White-winged dove
Dove checking out the feeder
And with a closer look … is this do-able?
Recently I saw a dove attempt to latch onto the feeder I set out to attract woodpeckers and small birds. It was a puzzle for the dove as it sat on the feeder. Then looked below from the cap of the feeder to the food cylinder in the feeder. Finally the bird made some flying starts at the feeder to catch on …
Fly right into it???
Can I hang on???
Maybe ????? Maybe not ????
… all unsuccessful attempts. This feeder is not designed for this large a bird. I have seen black-headed grosbeaks, pyrrhuloxia and woodpeckers, but white-winged doves don’t have a chance! No worries though as I know the doves are getting enough food from the wild and looking healthy!
Bird festivals offer fantastic opportunities to anyone with an inkling interest in birds. At these festivals one can attend presentations about specific bird topics. Or sign-up for field trips to local areas with an expert and others to see birds in the area. Plus they often have keynote speakers. Festivals have vendors in attendance to present binoculars, cameras, etc where you can put your hands-on the items and environmental groups sharing their goals for our natural areas: land, water and air. Have you been to a bird festival lately?
Upcoming: August 12 – 16, 2026 is the Southeast Arizona Bird Festival in Tucson, Arizona. Many birds fly through the southeast and at the festival you’ll have an opportunity to view birds on field trips, meet fellow birders and learn from presenters. Stop by the nature expo too. You can register for the festival at tucsonbirds.org
The new pedestrian bridge has been here for a year and I wondered if you have seen or made use of it? People who walk or bicycle ride on the Huckelberry Loop now have a faster way to get across the Santa Cruz River. It’s near Sweetwater Wetlands and Danny Lopez Park. For people on the west side of town, this bridge provides a safe way to travel from one segment of the loop to another. It’s called Suzanne Shields Pedestrian Bridge. Who was Suzanne Shields?
Bridge across Santa Cruz River, Tucson, AZ
Suzanne Shields was Pima County Flood Control District’s first hydrologist in 1979 and the first director of the flood control district when formed in 2005. The bridge was not only built for recreational activities, walking and cycling, but also to maintain the Santa Cruz River. Construction crews raised the bank protection so the bridge had enough height allowing flood waters to go unimpeded below. It is the first bridge flood control built over the Santa Cruz River spanning over 300 feet and 18 feet wide. We’re having hot days now; few people were there today. I’ll bet early morning hours and once temperatures cool down there will be many enjoying the safe pathway. See you there!
When we visit a park our expectation is to see native plants and animals there. Yet sometimes a non-native seed flies in, successfully grows to a point where park officials notice and yank those plants out by their roots! Non-native animals are more difficult to control. The animal may walk through one day or another and not be noticed. It may take having larger numbers at the park to ever be noticed. But then where should traps be set for these non-native animals to be relocated outside of the park? Or if it is breeding season, can park officials capture them all and truly relocate all the non-native animals? It would be a huge challenge and this is why we need to be sure to do our part in not creating a problem.
Have you noticed this park sign at a park near you? Or maybe a different sign with other wildlife listed.
A non-native plant or animal is invasive capable of causing issues for native species. The native species could be out-competed, presented with diseases and/or preyed upon. Therefore, we must do our part and not bring other wildlife into a park. An ecological balance exists within the park needing no disruption from an outside influence, thus the park’s signage. It is an important message.
Please understand the importance of a park’s message with their sign. There are agencies to help you relocate any wildlife you may not want near your home. Do not dump them at your local park; help the native wildlife at the park!
Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve in Flagstaff is a favorite hiking place. It is an urban park where the Northern Sinagua people had settled centuries ago and we still see hundreds of their rock carvings throughout the park.
Petroglyphs
While hiking the Tom Moody Trail, we passed a waterfall, rock carvings and a connector path to the Arizona Trail. On a recent hike, I noticed a plaque on a rock. I learned of the death of a guy I knew from bicycling in this area of Arizona: Jack Welch.
For me, Jack was the organizer for local mountain bike rides. We loved those rides! He knew the trails and the geology. I remember another time stopping at lava tubes in the area. Now I discover while reading the plaque, he was an advocate protecting this natural area and the 1,000 year old petroglyphs.
I am thankful for individuals who love nature and help to protect it. This preserve’s wildlife benefits as we do too. Here we can hike, cycle, bird watch, see history, enjoy this protected natural area and remember a fellow cyclist.
Bird watching was not something I did during my youth. In my college days, the common loon may be considered my “spark bird”. (A spark bird is that bird making you more serious and interested in birding.) But in reality, I just loved seeing that bird. Hiking miles to Adirondack Mountain lakes in upstate New York State to see a common loon and sometimes its chicks was just a thing I did. Then I thought I started birding when the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. I did not.
Recently I found a bird journal of mine. It looked like I took my bird watching to another level on August 30, 2018! I literally recorded more specific notes than I ever remember completing. Amazingly I was teaching myself the difference between some birds as I was identifying my observations. I had a 30 -70 mm camera lens at the time to help with my identifications. Two years prior, in 2016, Merlin Bird ID became available for uploaded photos which no doubt helped me identify birds.
In 2019, I continued to list birds per outing along with the guidebook page, some notes, and additional info about other wildlife seen. I also collected pictures of birds I hoped to see when visiting upcoming locations, such as “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida.
I was really learning so much about birds!
On December 25, 2019, at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona, I was caught standing between a good-sized javelina and a bobcat. I do remember that day because a woman from Florida was birding also and very scared. My only way to calm her was to have her stand on a bench as I was convinced the javelina would walk by and the bobcat would turn and leave. Which all of that did happen!
That was an interesting day; will always remember it!
August 2020 I attended my first bird festival in Tucson, Arizona. I may have believed I was a birder now as I bought camera lenses for improved bird photography. (In reality though I was birding since 2018.) Photography really helped me learn the names of birds. Attending bird festivals in Texas and California were most informative too.
I noticed in my December 2020 listing I was keeping track of my life list of bird species in eBird. So I was well on my way with 177 species, yet I thought I only began birding at the start of the pandemic. Interesting! Through 2021 and 2022, along with my sightings, I listed places for future birding visits. Time of year with possible bird sightings and directions to the place. Of course, I did set out to visit some of these places!
Interesting seeing these notes now that I am over 700 birds on my life list.
2023 I set a personal challenge to record one bird sighting, therefore bird checklist, per day. For 365 days there is at least one checklist per day of birds I saw, and sometimes there were more than one checklist per day. It was an especially fun activity as I traveled cross-country in my van and stopped at wildlife refuges, rest areas, family member’s backyards and parks … wherever I thought I’d see a bird … and created a checklist for the observations.
An endangered bird I did see here and 2 other times in my life so far.
2024, only a few notes of the many birds I saw in Sicily, Italy and later in the year in Australia and New Zealand. Now I no longer have a paper trail of the checklists of birds I see per outing. All is entered in eBird and I search there for date and locations of specific birds I need to know about from my observations. Part of me misses the writing of the info in a book. I do scribble in a list in my travel journal, but it feels different than the listings of years ago when I started birding. Now I am pre-occupied with sketching birds … that I hope to see … or did see. Who knows what format my future listings will take. But now I know I actually started birding in 2018!! In my future travel I hope to see this bird: European robin.
Will be looking for it in upcoming months!
If you are interested in learning about birds and to have access to all of the free and valuable apps from Cornell University, check out, click on this link at All About Birds. Go have some fun!
“Agua caliente” in Spanish means hot water. Here in Tucson, Arizona where this park is located it is very hot right now! We are twenty degrees warmer than the average temperature this time of year. No one is really enjoying it, especially the wildlife. Not every animal or plant can burrow into the ground or have enough energy to travel to a distant cooler location. Their survival rate can be affected. And similar to humans, animals can dehydrate and be in need of shade.
Things we can do to help wildlife: Provide shallow water containers with resting stones. Even bees can make use of it and not drown or have a way for small animals to move out of the water. Change the water often to keep it clean, disease-free and don’t use a metal container that will get hot. Provide shade and shelter. A good reason to not prune bushes right now. Lizards and others will hide out in those spaces. I’m sure if you research this topic you’ll find more suggestions.
Here’s what I did see at Agua Caliente Park in Tucson:
Cormorants spread their wings to dry them after swimming to catch fish or frogs, etc.
Allergies … Airborne pollen loves to tickle my nasal passages and force me to take antihistamines, darn! Unfortunately, I have learned and experienced allergies since my move to the desert. When I first spoke with an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) physician he explained how pollen loves dark, moist places to hang out. Lovely! At that point, my allergic reaction …. itchy eyes and breathing difficulties were due to the pollen from palo verde trees. Those trees will be blooming very soon. The palo verde is the official state tree of Arizona so it is never going away! But I now discovered velvet mesquite trees are the latest source of my misery and happening before my usual allergy season. Mesquite trees have been around forever and used in multiple ways, plus they love the desert with its hot temperatures and little water. They’ll be here longer than me for sure!
I love that spring has sprung upon us and everything seems to be blooming, but when it brings on my allergy misery I am ready to cry. Might as well since I am already blowing my nose and wiping my eyes every hour! However, thanks to some good medicines and antihistamines, hot tea and air-conditioned spaces, I will be able to face the world without a sniffling nose and runny eyes! Summer will be here and everything will be so hot … and that’s a whole other world!
Rarely do I see young birds, chicks. Parents usually do a great job protecting their chicks from predators, thus I too miss seeing chicks. Recently I was at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona. I was shocked to see yellow-orange feathered chicks jumping out of their marshy nest to be near their black and white parent! I learned these chicks are known to follow their parents into water soon after hatching.
They are American Coot chicks … 6 of them followed the parent and eventually scurried closer to get food. The competition between them had already begun! As I looked closer, the chick’s heads were bare red and black and they had a stubby red and orange bill. Of course I did not have my camera with me on this day. That’s the way it is sometimes. Also, the birds were a distance away for any good phone photo, so opportunity missed. I returned the next morning with my camera and hoping for the chicks to be in sight. Yes!! Here are my photos; enjoy!
