Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Desert Botanical Gardens

Verdin
Sundial
Monarch Butterfly
Aloe Flower
Agave
Canyon Towhee
Gambel's Quail

Desert-ground Squirrel
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Inca Dove



Yesterday morning my dad and I went out to Botanical Gardens, which is approximately 30 minutes from our Arizona house. As we arrived there we collected all our needed supplies and we followed the path to the entrance. There on today's Botanical News were Huh Judi and a notice on the Cacti & Succulent House closed for renovation and innovation. Then we paid 14 dollars to enter. When we walked in, there where people waiting for a tour. We found a bench and sat down. We looked at all the maps and events. Unfortunately it was the March news log. So we just went where we felt like going. First we passed the the Cacti & Succulent House which was closed for renovation until Spring. We took the "Do you know your Saguaro (suh-WAR-oh)" quiz. I got 4/6 correct, my dad got 3/6 correct. So we followed a birding trail which lead to Saguaro Forest which taught you about how the Indians survived in the Sonoran Desert. Then we had lunch at the cafe. My dad had Macaroni 'n Cheese and I had Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. I dropped 2 croutons and feed them to the quail and sparrows. Suddenly, towhees, starlings and thrashers came to fight for the food. Then I turned around to see... a sign that said "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE" in bold letters! I felt terrible. Perhaps it was because the birds will fight over it ha ha ha. So we finished our lunch and we went back to birding. So we went to the Herb Garden and took many picture of plants. Then we went back to the Quail Run Path. We followed this until it lead us to that bird I took a video of, then to the hummingbird gardens. We went through the children's sculptures and there I discovered we had done the whole trail backwards! It was getting late by the time we had finished the trail so we went shopping at he Botanical Store. We found quail models, toys for Jesse and a wildlife book. Soon the store would be closing so we picked up our items and went to the cashier to pay for them. Unfortunately, the debit card was only legal for Canada so we could not use it. We were just about to leave and my dad found 20 dollars in his wallet so we could pay for the book! On the way back home we were reading it and it told you everything you need to know about attracting wildlife to your backyard. And that is the end of the story so goodbye!

Birdman