Birds at Tohono Chul

Verdin, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow, Phainopepla (male), Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Cardinal, Phainopepla (female), Anna's Hummingbird

These are some of the birds observed at Tohono Chul Park, a Sonoran Desert preserve and botanical garden in Tucson, Arizona.

A thistle sock bird feeder hanging from a palo verde tree attracted numerous lesser goldfinches.
White-crowned sparrows gleaned seeds from the ground below the finch feeder.
This baby sparrow was taking a dust bath under a shrub.
A Pyrrhuloxia was whistling his "what-cheer" song from atop a cactus by the cholla forest.
Hanging onto wildflower stems by his feet, a house finch was enjoying a morning snack.
Way up in a tree, some hawk-like bird sitting in a nest, was making a racket.
In the breeze, a curve-billed thrasher stood upon a saguaro cactus calling "whit-wheet." Also heard but not pictured were Gambel's quail and cactus wrens. Visiting Tohono Chul Park was a wonderful experience and turned out to be a great place to see birds without having to walk far.
I hope you enjoyed this last post in the series of Tohono Chul Park entries. Click here to see all three Tohono Chul posts including wildflowers and garden art from the park.

Art at Tohono Chul

Here is some of the garden art I found at Tohono Chul Park, a few miles west of Sabino Canyon. I spent a couple of hours at the park enjoying many sights, bird songs and floral fragrances in the gardens and along the meandering paths. There was so much to experience outdoors, I didn't even go inside the museum shop or art galleries.


Some of the sculptures I encountered were a bobcat and kittens, a giant sunflower, a cardinal, a spiny lizard, a javelina and a jack rabbit.

Click on any pictures to enlarge.

From Tohono Chul's website:

"The mission of Tohono Chul Park is to enrich people’s lives by providing them the opportunity to find peace and inspiration in a place of beauty, experience the wonders of the Sonoran Desert, and to gain knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of this region."

These are some of the many fountains and water features at Tohono Chul Park. The wall behind the blue pot fountain in the Moorish garden has these quotes painted on it:

"Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, Summer an oil painting
and Autumn a mosaic of them all."
--Stanley Horowitz

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home."
--Gary Snyder

"A garden is made up of stories, not things."
--Unknown

Some of the architectural features in and around the Outdoor Living Garden

Demonstration Garden

Exhibit House

Here are some of the park's blooming flowers that I posted on March 17th. Next I will share some of the birds I found during my visit to Tohono Chul Park.

What's Blooming at Tohono Chul

Here's some of what I found blooming at Tohono Chul Park, a desert preserve and botanical garden about nine miles west of Sabino Canyon. Tohono Chul means "desert corner" in the Tohono O'odham language.

Some of the flowers pictured here are native to the area and can also be found growing at Sabino Canyon such as: brittle bush, fairy duster, agave, penstemon, and desert bells. The other specimens are adapted to the southwest climate and grow in cultivated gardens and landscaping in the Sonoran Desert.

Goodding's Verbena

Red Fairy Duster

Dried Agave blossoms

Firecracker Penstemon and Verbena

Verbena and Penstemon

Texas Mountain Laurel aka Mescal Bean

Autumn Sage, Emory Dalea and Calliandra

Citrus blossoms

Parry's Penstemon below a Palo Verde tree

Desert Bluebells

What's blooming in your area? I mainly went to Tohono Chul Park to see what was blooming, but was delighted to find a whole lot more besides flowers. Here is some garden art I found at the park.