Sunday April 25th, 2010

I put in about a 65-minute run/walk both yesterday & today @ Dreamy Draw. Early summer is definitely approaching. Most of the spring wildflowers are now gone, and the landscape isn't quite lush and green anymore, but it doesn't quite have that brown summer barren look either, kind of a transitional stage between the two. In the mid to upper 80's this weekend.

I saw an Ash-throated Flycatcher today on the main concrete path, about 5 minutes walk from the toilets. And yesterday in the same area a VERY large jackrabbit - not so uncommon to see them far out on the outer trails, but this close to the toilet area is a bit more unusual. I haven't seen any Roadrunners recently, none since last year.

**I took this photo last month when it was still pretty green. A view of downtown Phoenix from Dreamy Draw.

Saturday April 17th, 2010

A very warm day today, about 88 this afternoon when I went hiking for about 80 minutes today at Dreamy Draw. Not too many people there today, parking lot was only about half full and most of them were there for what appeared to be a party of some sort at the ramadas. That meant that the trails were very lightly populated this afternoon, which was nice!

This gave me an opportunity to snap a few photos of some birds. The first two photos are of perhaps the most abundant bird species at Dreamy Draw, the Mourning Dove. A favorite of mine, despite their popularity. The third photo is of a Verdin's nest. I watched her building on the nest for a few minutes and followed the bird around the brush but was unable to get a good photo of her. And the last photo is one of my favorites at Dreamy Draw, the Brown-crested Flycatcher.

*Remember that you can enlarge the photos to zoom in and get a better look!

Sunday April 18th: The high temp today was 95! That is well above the average temp for this time of year. But the forecast for the rest of the week is in the 80's.

Saturday April 10, 2010

About 88 today in Phoenix, and the parking lot and the hiking and running trails @ Dreamy Draw were surprisingly sparse today. The last few weekends the parking lot was full and only overflow parking was available, but today the parking lot was only about half full. But temps are about 10 degrees warmer as we now transition from spring to early summer (my favorite time of year!) and the pollen counts have been really, really high all week. Plus the spring wildflowers are beginning to diminish, so all of that accounts for less peoples I think.

As I was driving out of Dreamy Draw today, I saw a VERY large rattlesnake, about the longest I've ever seen I think - had to be 6+ feet, and it was moving across the road and being attacked by a Mockingbird! Gotta luv those Mockingbirds - they are fearless, and will attack anything!

*I took this photo a couple of weeks ago. Its the view west of Dreamy Draw looking back on north Phoenix. The large Spanish-style structure you see in the foreground there is an office complex that houses some law and medical offices mostly.

Saturday April 3rd, 2010

I went running & walking today at Dreamy Draw for about 45 minutes. Stayed on the concrete paths today as I was planning to run and walk, not hike. Therefore, I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to have to manage it while I was running. However, I missed an opportunity to take a photo of a juvenile rattlesnake that crossed my path! Luckily I was walking, not running, at the time so I was able to approach him slowly. Not sure what species of rattlesnake, he was rather a non-descript sand color with a distinctive black/white tail in place of the rattles that an adult would have. Pretty small and slim, about 3 feet I'd estimate. Not very aggressive either. I was able to get up close to him and he just kept an even pace until he reached the other side of the concrete walking path and slid into some shrubbery. I've seen other rattlesnakes out here before, but the others I have seen were more of a darker color, green or brown I think, not as light-colored as this one.