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.
I don’t know any poultry fanciers that don’t have a guinea fowl story or two or three. Chickens are where it usually starts as...
“Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!” I know, often overused, but that line from the Rubaiyat fits the way I’ve always felt about getting out...
Petey sees his first official wildflower of spring and is his usual excited self.
