Usery Mountain Park Flowers

After talking about it for several days, we finally went out to one of Maricopa County's neat parks to check out the wild flowers today. At first glance and from a distance, it looked like several of the cacti had reddish blooms, but it was actually only the color of new growth --

There were lots of Globe Mallow still in bloom --

There was other orange to be seen --

as part of a Chuparosa bush --

The Mexican Gold Poppies were out --

Both interspersed with lots of Brittlebush --

I noticed this Cactus Wren hopping between the ground and a large cholla cactus --

Then I spotted this nest nestled in amongst the spears of the cholla. If you look carefully you can see two little babies inside. When I made a noise as I was taking the picture, the little beaks popped open.

These are Hedgehog cacti --

They are called Strawberry Hedgehogs because of their flowers --

Some of the Hedgehogs are just loaded with buds and blooms. Another few days and they'll stand out like candles at night!

Usery Mountain Regional Park

After a false start or two, we headed out this afternoon northeast of Mesa on Ellsworth Road. We had seen the Usery Mountain Regional Park on a map and thought we should check it out. What a gem we discovered! They charged us $6 for a day pass (though there is an annual pass available). The park is run by Maricopa County.
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One of the nice things about Phoenix is that you can drive just twenty miles or so and be out in some beautiful desert --

This park has an incredible variety of prickly, spiny plants --

Usery  Mountain looms colorfully against the desert lowland --

With the Goldfield Mountains purple behind --

We didn't see many birds today. I don't think they liked the showery, overcast day either. We did see the Gila Woodpecker perched on a saguaro.

The park has some incredible saguaros.  When you think that they are usually a hundred years old or so before they sprout arms...

These Thrashers were a long way away. Too far to identify which kind they might be --

 

This directional sign is just outside the park boundaries --

I got a chuckle out of this cute little budding arm on this nice plump saguaro --

It was starting to get dark as we finished the loop around the park. We are definitely going to have to come back here again. Maybe we'll even get out on some of the trails.