The riparian woodland Ms. Mesquitey and I were hiking in is at around 6,000 ft. in elevation. I think that may be the upper limits of the elf owls elevation range. Elf owls (Micrathene whitneyi) winter in southern Mexico then migrate in the spring to southern Arizona, southwest New Mexico and west Texas to an amazing bunch of biotic communities where they breed and summer over. Lucky us!
The photo is taken from Wikipedia. I thank the unknown photographer who took it in Madera Canyon of the Santa Rita Mountains and shared it. It is a beautiful photo of the elf owl perched by a hole in a sycamore tree. Thank you very much, unknown photographer.
Petey whines a little about the wildflower display near his home, but finds a flower that calms him down.
Berberis fremontii is in the Barberry family or Berberidaceae…that’s fun to pronounce. Fremont barberry has quite a range north of the Salt River in...
Petey feels the need to blame someone for our erratic monsoon and takes it out on La Nina.
