James Hoagland When you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner this year, you might wonder where your domesticated turkey originated. We know there were wild turkeys when the pilgrims arrived, upwards of 11 million wild turkeys roamed the forests of eastern North America. How then did we go from wild turkeys to your Thanksgiving domesticated…
Gerry Tietje The Sept. 22nd equinox ushered in a new season where longer days have given way to longer nights and thankfully much cooler temperatures. Monsoon rains have stopped, burgundy “apples” adorn prickly pear cacti, and pods on Soaptree yucas have dispersed their seeds. As the earth’s axis tilts further away from the sun in…
Jim Hoagland It was another successful year for the SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) Cuckoo’s Birdathon event. The SaddleBrooke Ranch Cuckoos, represented by Deb Sandin and Nancy and Ben Eisenstein, recently attended the wrap-up celebration party at Three Canyon Beer and Wine Gardens on a beautiful evening. The SBR Cuckoos, one of 29 teams, took home top…
Gerry Tietje If you have seen a Gila monster in the wild, you are fortunate, because it’s a rare occurrence for most people. I’ve been fortunate to see two of them in the wild, one that was crossing South Reddington Road near San Manuel and the other on a trail in Saguaro National Park East.…
Jim Hoagland Recently Kim Matsushino of the Tucson Audubon Society and I presented a program for the Master Gardeners at DesertView Performing Arts Center in SaddleBrooke. The topic was “Common Birds of Southeast Pinal County and How to Attract Them to Your Home’s Backyard.” There were more than 220 people in attendance, and you may have been one…
Gerald Tietje Lightning and thunder invoke both awe and fear in our imaginations; there is even a name for fear of lightning, astraphobia. That’s probably why the San Diego Chargers (now the Los Angeles Chargers) chose to have a lightning bolt on their helmets, even though lightning is seldom seen in that fair city. And…
Gerald Tietje Have you ever wondered what those barrel-looking cacti leaning to one side in the desert might be called? It’s the fishhook barrel cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni). It flourishes in southwestern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas and northern Sonora, Mexico. Generally, these cacti are cylindrical in shape, 3 to 4 feet tall and 2…
Jim Hoagland The Tucson Audubon Society (TAS) held a Wrap-Up Party for their 2023 Birdathon Fundraising teams at Bawker Bawker Cider House in Tucson on May 25. The SBR Cuckoos were one of 29 teams (and 111 participants) who raised more than $88,000—exceeding their campaign goal of $70,000. Representing the SBR Cuckoos at this gathering…
Gerald Tietje Noah may have been the first person to see a rainbow, but those of us who live at SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) are fortunate to see many rainbows, especially during the monsoon season. We even see some double rainbows! Rainbows are optical illusions, dependent on the location of the observer. For a rainbow to…
Gerry Tietje One of the first things Claire and I noticed when we moved to SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) in June 2021 was how many lizards were around—in our backyard, on the Nature Trail, and in nearby state parks. With my penchant to know more about things in nature, I began to identify and study them.…