Desert Museum and National Park (Tucson, AZ)

We visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson AZ 16 March before moving on to Yuma.  Big mistake on our timing for the museum!  Between Spring Break and warm weather, not to mention, a Friday, the place was very busy.  Even some of the employees commented this had been their busiest day in quite awhile.

We were already there, so we decided we might as well brave the crowds and enjoy ourselves.  The highlight of our visit was the Hummingbird Aviary.  Hummingbirds were buzzing all around us.  Adults and children were quietly walking around in awe of the little guys.

Costa's Hummingbird

There was another bird aviary with a few different birds, but it did not compare to the Hummingbird Aviary.

 We checked out the Cat Canyon with Bobcats, Mountain Lion, Ocelot, and a nearby Fox as well.  Of course, on a hot afternoon they were not moving around much.  The Mountain Lion was belly up in a deep sleep next to the window while the bobcats were bathing themselves in the shade. 

Grey Fox sleeping on fur.

We did not stick around for the Raptor Free Flight since we figured we would not get a good spot for viewing on such a busy day.

Kestral

After spending a winter with 320 acres filled with wildlife, the Desert Museum did not seem all that appealing to us.  Part of walking in the woods was the anticipation of meeting something along the way and if it was a bird or an animal we have not seen before....well, that was just an extra bonus for us.

Saguaro National Park

The Saguaro National Park is actually located in two areas.  One is on the west side of Tucson near the Desert Museum and the other is on the east side of Tucson near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  We have visited both now and we agree the east side was a lot nicer, but the west side had wonderful vista views of the valley below with Saguaro cactus stretching out for miles in of us.

It's a good thing we visited both of these places on Friday because a cold front hit the area on Saturday night.  Sunday, we had sporadic rain and high winds.  By Monday, we were watching snow flurries.