Sonora Desert Museum

It was really difficult choosing which photographs would make it into today's blog post about our visit yesterday to Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Everywhere I turned I saw something else to photograph, so I took a lot of pictures.

We arrived at the Museum via a twisty mountain road with breathtaking scenery. Bob and I had purchased a coupon book at the campground office for $20 and we were able to break even using it at this place.  Entrance fees were about $20 per person and we had a two for one coupon.  The Yankee in me loves a bargain!

This is an outdoor museum, so visitors are told to wear a hat and sunscreen, walking shoes, and to carry water. Fortunately, sunscreen is offered free from a dispenser in all rest rooms, and water fountains abound. We had lunch, then began wandering about the grounds. The views were breathtaking.

Along the paths were native plants that were identified with labels and animals typical of the area.  We came across bee condos, shown above. I never knew there was a real estate market for this kind of housing. The bees live in the little holes drilled into these posts.

Looks a bit cramped to me.

We came at a great time because there were a lot of blooming plants. Gorgeous!

I think my favorite area was the hummingbird sanctuary. It turns out that hummingbirds are very difficult to photograph, especially with an iPhone. Above is a female sitting on her eggs.

And this little one, above, was fascinated with the underside of this bench.

We saw tarantulas...

...bighorn sheep...

...a river otter who posed for photos..

...and a family of prairie dogs. They were very cute.

This is a Crested, or Cristate Saguaro.  Occurring only once in every 10,000 Saguaro cacti, no one knows why they grow like this. Specimens are very rare and are implanted with a microchip so that they may be found if stolen.  Apparently there is a large Black Market business for Crested Saguaro.

Throughout the museum grounds are docents who answer questions and talk about specific animals and plants.  What a wonderful resource for people in the Tucson area who want to learn more about the native plants and animals. We thoroughly enjoyed our day.