Birding in Southeastern Arizona: Saguaro Forests and Sonoran Desert Scrub
Continuing our birding adventure through southeastern Arizona, we headed north from the Huachucas , leaving the Sky Islands behind us to travel across a sea of saguaros. We spent one night at Saguaro National Park and the next at Lost Dutchman State Park, solely because I wanted to truly experience the Sonoran Desert. This, of course, can't be done from inside an air conditioned vehicle on paved roads or the comfort of a hotel room. To really experience this magnificent desert, one must feel sun on skin and smell creosote bush in the heat; one must hear the crunch of gravel underfoot, the soft tremolo of Lesser Nighthawks rise as darkness falls, the mournful cries of a pack of coyotes breaking the utter stillness of a desert night. And so, as the sun began to sink low over the western hills (and the temperature began to become tolerable) we rolled out our tent beneath the vast desert sky and prepared to experience the desert. Sunset over our camp near Saguaro Natio...
