Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are wonderful and lots of folks agree. The little town of Bisbee in the Mule Mountains of Cochise County, Arizona celebrates the return of the turkey vultures with a festival and parade every March. If you have hankering to go to Ohio where turkey vultures are called buzzards, the town of Hinckley has been celebrating the return of buzzards in March since the mid-1950s. The common name buzzard, by the way, came across the ocean with early colonists who thought the huge birds resembled the hawks (buzzards) of their home country.
I can’t think of anything really wonderful to say about the invasive plant buffalo bur (Solanum rostratum)…well, it is interesting, like lots of plants in the genus Solanum… it is a North American native (Great Plains) …cool star shaped flowers that display heteranthery (homework!)…well, it’s here to stay, so may as well learn it.
The photos are mine. The little black dots in the tree are vultures. 
Xanthisma gracilis is an annual and found all over the southwest and into Mexico as well. Duh. A common name is slender goldenweed or...
In southeastern Arizona Datura wrightii is the preferred source of nectar for the moth Manduca sexta and you may also notice that the caterpillar,...
This was a nice long day trip with many wonderful stops. I jabber about several plants, but now I wish I’d spent more time...
