Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Botanical gardens abound in the desert, almost in defiance of the preconception that life doesn't thrive in arid climates.  Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, Arizona's oldest and largest, takes the idea to another level.  It makes a point to feature not just native Sonoran Desert flora, but plants from all the dry landscapes of North and South America, southern Africa and Australia.   Spread over close to 400 acres, the park's paths meander through endless collections of cacti, agaves, trees, bushes and flowers.  The preserve owes its existence to mining magnate Colonel William Boyce Thompson, who donated his winter house and its surrounding garden to the arboretum in 1928.

Nestled along Queen Queek, below scenic Picket Post Mountain, the park is an easy one hour drive east from central Phoenix into Tonto National Forest.  It features various biomes, including a eucalyptus forest, an expanse of the Chihuahuan Desert, a grove of fruit trees and a man-made lake.  Pathways take you through these landscapes, or if you prefer, above it all in the desert wilderness along the High Trail. On the day I visited in mid spring, both wildflowers and cactus flowers were resplendent.   At 2,400 feet, this area is higher than most of the surrounding desert, so the blooms might have just been getting started. 

But as usual, I came for the birds.  I mostly wanted to see the broad-billed hummingbird, a colorful member of the species.  Thanks to a couple feeders, I wasn't disappointed.  While he competed with our local Anna's and Costa's for the sugar water, he paused long enough for me to get a few pictures. His bill and torso are more colorful than those other two birds, with an orange beak and a blue neck and a green torso.  Also, he's only a summer visitor, spending winters in central Mexico.  And this park's location may be his very farthest north and west domain. So it's the easiest way to see him if you live in the Valley.

Northern cardinals also seem to like the park's environment, but probably year-round.  While I chased  several and succeeded in photographing a couple boisterous males, I barely got a glimpse of a female.  Her furtiveness might have something to do with the mating season.  In addition, I saw cactus wrens, phainopeplas, lesser goldfinches, house finches, mourning doves, curve-billed thrashers, verdins, white-crowned sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers, turkey vultures and another unidentified warbler or vireo.  

While waiting patiently for a noisy but shy cardinal to come out of a thicket, a pretty Cordilleran flycatcher landed close by, affording me my best shots of the day.  This olive and yellow colored bird is probably a transient from Mexico, heading to cooler pine country for the summer.  It's an example that many of us will follow very soon. 

Boyce Thompson sits below Picket Post Mountain near Superior, Arizona.

Agaves and aloes in the garden.

Cluster of barrel cacti.

Eucalyptus forest in the Australia habitat.

Desert marigold blooms were everywhere. Purple prickly pear cactus in background.

Blooms of a type of bottlebrush plant or tree.

Some visitors paint instead of birdwatch.

View of Picket Post Mountain, possible subject for the above painter.

Array of wildflowers. The pink should be Mexican evening primrose.

At the park's feeder, I was able to get this close-up shot of the broad-billed hummingbird.

Another close-up.  Unfortunately the feeder was in the shade.  However, you can clearly see his blue neck.

As to be expected, Anna's dominate this area. This is a male, his magenta head feathers catching a ray of light.

A female hummingbird, probably an Anna's - but maybe a Costa's - displaying her nectar gathering tool, her long tongue.

One of my colorful subjects, a male northern cardinal.

The same male in bright light.

Another male northern cardinal.

The same male, through a tight mesh of branches - always a photographic challenge.

My only shot - I can barely call it that - of a female northern cardinal.  You can just see a glimpse of her orange bill and eye through the leaves. 

Yellow-rumped warbler and his yellow rump in a blooming sweet acacia tree.

A reward for my patience, a Cordilleran flycatcher.

Another Cordilleran flycatcher.  See you soon in pine country!