The Loggerhead Shrike is common, but still a fun sighting when your are out in the field. The first time you find an insect or small reptile stuck on a mesquite spine or a barb wire is always a “what the heck?” moment. Years ago it lead me to investigate the natural history of this wonderful songbird predator or as my friend Peacock calls it, “the homicidal songbird.”
Petey thinks pocket gophers are very cute. A huh. Pocket gophers are amazing rodents, spending almost all of their life underground in the tunnels...
The art is by Cicely Mary Barker. Friend Kat Armstrong sent it my way. Bless her heart. I had forgotten that fairies gather acorns...
The genus is now Hesperocyparis, but back in the olden days I learned the rough bark Arizona cypress of southeastern Arizona as Cupressus arizonica...
