We just spent a week in Arizona, mostly helping Paul – my father-in-law – pack up his place so he could sell it.

Paul lives in a development called Westward Look, in the northern part of Tucson. The landscape is all desert vegetation, and it’s very hilly with close up views of the Santa Catalina Mountains. It’s fun staying there because of the plants and birds and the beautiful views just outside his door.

Santa Catalina Mountains in the sun.

Most of the times we’ve been there before were a little later in the spring, and the weather was mostly hot and sunny. This time it was cool and we had a couple days of rain – snow in the mountains.

Santa Catalina Mountains in a snowstorm.

Rain and snow over Tucson

Sunrise over the mountains

The development doesn’t plant wildflowers – just larger plants – so Paul grows some wildflowers near his front door.

California Poppy

Desert Bluebells

Here’s a Mourning Dove in its nest above the patio.

These are some of the common birds in the planted desert vegetation.

Pyrrhuloxia

Pyrrhuloxias are related to Cardinals, but have a thicker, curved bill, and more gray feathers. They’re found in southern Arizona, New Mexico and south-western Texas.

Phainopepla

Painopeplas are in a family of birds called Silky Flycatchers. They are closely related to Waxwings and like them they eat both insects and berries. Their eyes are bright red.

Verdin

Verdins are small active birds about the size of chickadees. They live in south eastern California, southern Nevada Arizona and New Mexico, and southwestern Texas.

We didn’t see many butterflies, but this one was sitting in the middle of the path. It was cold and cloudy, so it sat still and let me get very close. After I took the photo I picked it up and moved it off the path so it wouldn’t get stepped on before it warmed up enough to fly.

Hackberry Emperor

Santa Catalina Mountains after the storm.