The Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix are hosting an exhibition of
glass in the gardens with pieces by artist Dale Chihuly liberally scattered
throughout the site.
Plan ahead and you may be able to experience “Chihuly
after dark”, which I assume, is a reference to an evening stroll with evocative
lighting rather than a sudden encounter with the artist in an unlit alleyway.
The pieces are vibrant and interesting
of form, but not really my bag. I only mention them as at noon when the desert
light is fierce and burns out colour, the installations certainly brightened
the place up and brought a bit of vitality to the photographs.
The birds were dull by comparison and
I had to emphasise the bright eyes of the Curve-billed
Thrasher to die lieblinge der wüste.
My beautiful colleagues had invited me to accompany them to the gardens, but they had come to appreciate the ambience
and plants rather than birds. Even so, they showed a polite interest; after
all, who can ignore an Anna’s Hummingbird
feeding from flowers?
Trails leading round the gardens
brought Mourning Doves, Phainopepla and Gambell’s Quail. A female caught the attention of a male quail and
was chased through the flowerbeds as we watched.
A Gila Woodpecker used the metal of a shade cover to drum out his
spring message and a male Anna’s Hummingbird treated us to a J-shaped display
flight.
There was a butterfly exhibition at
the gardens which we visited for an additional $3.50 each. The butterflies were
shipped in from Florida and kept in a polytunnel-type structure. It made for
easy pictures, but I would have preferred to have seen more examples of Arizona
butterflies.
Bird list for Desert Botanical
Gardens; 17
Gambell’s Quail 10, Red-tailed Hawk
1, White-winged Dove 2, Mourning Dove 8, Anna’s Hummingbird 5, Costa’s
Hummingbird 1, Gila Woodpecker 6, Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1, Verdin 12,
Northern Mockingbird 6, Curve-billed Thrasher 15, Phainopepla 20, Yellow-rumped
Warbler 1, Great –tailed Grackle 12, House Finch 15, Lesser Goldfinch 1, House
Sparrow 8.
The gardens can be found in Papago
Park, Phoenix and the following Google Earth ref gives the entrance from the
parking lot ( 33 27 44.54N 111 56 40.61W ). Entrance (April 2014) is $22, but a
discount can be had with an airline security pass.
A previous post from the gardens can
be seen at the link below;
Visit the dedicated USA and Canada page
for more posts from Phoenix, including; Madera Canyon and the Riparian Reserveat Gilbert Water Ranch.
Birding, Birdwatching Phoenix,
Arizona
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