Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Look at this glorious scenery!  This is the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, right outside Tuscon.  In my opinion, this is one of the most gorgeous places on earth!

The sunsets are as lovely as anything I've seen on either coast.

Of course, what was most exciting to me was seeing 4 life-listers before I left the parking lot!  This was my first glimpse of a Cactus Wren.

Familiar shape and very wren-like poses, but oh so different from any wren I've ever seen!  How about those spots on him!  So perfectly symmetrical!

In the desert, comfortable perches are in short supply, evidently!

How exquisite are these many varieties of cacti, though?  Worth some minor discomfort for locals and visitors alike.  My advice?  Don't miss this indoor/outdoor museum if you're within 500 miles of it. Spend a few days exploring every nook and cranny.  I guarantee you will be delighted with everything you see!  I have more images from the Sonora Desert Museum to show you next time.  I promise you will be absolutely astounded!

California Stilts and Avocets!

I would not blame you for doubting that I saw 40 new species on my latest trip out west.  It will take me a while to prove my claim at this rate, anyway!  But I couldn't resist showing off some of my all time favorite (yet never before seen) species - especially since the photos came out pretty good.  This is a bird I love more now than I did before: a Black-necked Stilt!

How about Stilts and Avocets together?  How about a dream come true!

I'm in love.  Aren't you?  That image defines sheer avian perfection in my book!

Not such a perfect image, but a stunningly beautiful bird, wouldn't you agree!  And I have so much more to show!  I'm sure you are all perched on the very edge of your seats . . . with good reason!  Don't worry - you won't have too long to wait!

The State of Nebraska

For me, driving across country didn't feel really strange until we reached Nebraska.  I'm not saying anything negative about the state of Nebraska; in fact it was beautiful.  But for two girls from New England, it was in Nebraska that things suddenly seemed very very foreign.  For one thing, they aren't joking about the big sky country.  It's hard to capture in photos taken through a car window on an iPhone, but the sky really is enormous!

And from Route 80, at least, it appears that nothing but corn is grown in Nebraska.  I could elaborate on what effect all that corn has on the environment, but I wont.  Suffice it to say that if Nebraska is part of the breadbasket of this country, then all we should expect is corn bread!

Actually, there are quite a few cows in Nebraska, as well.  Meghan and I decided these were Black Angus cattle because they were black and we started to see them around Omaha.

The wind really goes whipping across those plains, too!  It took us all day to drive across Nebraska, and the wind never stopped blowing the car off the road! It also never ceased to increase in elevation across the state.  We began at about 1200 feet above sea level, and ended at about 5000 feel elevation.  I drove for about seven hours that day, and then I fell apart with the strain of trying to keep the car on the road while the wind and the trucks conspired to blow us away.  Oh, and the NEVER ENDING construction on the interstate didn't help me relax at all!

By the time these pictures were taken, however, Meg was driving and I was enjoying the scenery.  We followed the North Platte River for endless miles, and it was not only beautiful, but I think I saw two flocks of Sandhill Cranes in flight.  Seeing Sandhill Cranes would have been a big thrill, but Meg was not even close to being enthused enough to stop the car. Despite the fact that I missed out on a lifetime bird, I found the state of Nebraska both beautiful and exotic - and so did my daughter.  If you've never been there, you really should visit!