“Consistency, thou are a jewel…”
- William Shakespeare (maybe)
The first order of business after stumbling out of bed is no business at all. It is the quiet time of shared waking with nature in the surrounding desert. Slipping outside in the early morning with a cup of coffee, twenty-ounces of lemon-tinged water, and something to read, the morning begins by just sitting and breathing. There is nothing like a few moments to appreciate the wonder of the impending light of day as it slowly peeks over the Santa Catalina mountains' tip.
Living in the Sonoran Desert is nothing like I thought it would be. My only prior experience in arid land was driving through the Mojave Desert between Las Vegas and San Diego many years ago. It looked pretty barren to me with lots of creosote bushes growing out of the rough ground. It was surprising because my image of the desert had been rising sand dunes, you know, without the camels.
A few years passed, followed by a move to San Diego. Then, in the fall of 2013, the adventure shifted to Oro Valley, Arizona, where we have remained.
There may be a lot of life in the Mojave Desert, but in the passing glimpses on Interstate-15, I didn’t see anything notable. No so in the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona.
The Sonoran Desert…
In the first instance, this landscape is filled with majestic fields of Saguaro Cactus. It is the only place in the world they are found. Reaching a couple of hundred years in age, it takes nearly eighty-years before they sprout the arms for which they are most famous. You see them with appendages outstretched as though sentinels protecting the surrounding desert.
During the desert flowering season between April and June, delicate and beautiful flowers emerge from the amazing variety of thorny cactus plants, daring you to touch them. There isn’t just a multitude of life in the desert, there is a vibrant and beautiful life.
Additionally, the desert is filled with all manner of creatures, from dog-like coyotes, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, pig-like Javelinas, ground squirrels, rabbits, deer, packrats, spiders, snakes, scorpions, and lizards, just to name a few.
In the morning, it is the birds that seem to be most plentiful. It’s like rush-hour, watching and listening to them as they rush to their morning’s work – whatever that may be in the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of the desert. They sing and chirp as they glide through the air. It is a dissonance of sound like individual instruments in an orchestra tuning before a concert, and yet, there is a beauty in the music.
The big birds float through the air with even wing strokes, like professional swimmers. The little ones bob up and down, beating the air unmercifully as though trying to tread water. There are Cactus wren, Mockingbirds, Ravens, Flycatchers, Quail, finches, and birds of prey – Cooper's and Red-tailed hawks.
Our piece of Sonora…
Max usually shows just a little before daybreak. The sun is still hiding behind the crest of Pusch-Ridge on the western slope of the Catalinas when she appears. In the transitional greyness of morning, the first notice of her presence is the buzzing of her wings. I have never quite understood why they are called hummingbirds. To my ear, they sound more like enormous bumblebees. I suppose they could have been called buzzing birds – although that name does not have the elegant sound of a bird that hums.
I am pretty sure Max (Maxine) is a female because even after daylight arrives, she is greyish in color. There are several kinds of hummingbirds in the desert areas of Tucson. But we are pretty sure she is an 'Anna' hummer. As the sun becomes brighter, Max moves on to greener pastures, having had her fill of the Chuparosa, Desert Willow, Grapefruit, and Mexican Bird of Paradise nectar in our backyard.
From time to time, while still on the premises, Max takes a feeding break to make sure I'm authorized to be on the patio. This morning, she buzzed my head and zipped a couple of feet directly in front of my face. When Max does this, it is unnerving because she hovers within eight inches of my nose, holding position. Then, in the blink of an eye, she is off to continue her morning feed.
These amazing creatures weigh between 0.14 to 0.16 ounces (3.9 to 4.5 gm) and appear fragile. In fact, they are fierce warriors, protective of their grazing territory. Occasionally, another hummingbird will venture into the back yard while Max is sucking nectar from a chuparosa or desert willow. In an instant, she breaks off her feeding and attacks the intruder. Like jet fighters, aerial battles between two hummingbirds are a wonder to behold. They dart, stop, turn, elevate, and drop almost instantaneously. Their agility is practically indescribable.
The right place…
Three years ago, we updated our back yard into a more desert friendly landscape. Our home had a standard ‘developer organized’ back yard. It was attractive, but little attention had been paid to water run-off (during monsoon rains) and robust desert plants that needed little watering. We found a desert botanist who helped us think through the design. In the end, we added flowering, drought-resistant plants, and two desert willows. We also landscaped the ground with swales - hollow places to gather water during the rainy season.
He assured that as soon as these plants flowered, hummingbirds, carpenter bees, and other airborne creatures would visit to nibble and enjoy the flowering plants. He was exactly right! As the plants and trees have grown, those critters and more, wander in and out during the day. However, Max has a daily yard routine in the mornings and is here with the regularity of a factory worker.
We are, by now, three years into the venture and can’t wait until the trees get tall enough to provide shade.
The mornings are always good here. Over the past few years, they have become even better. Instead of sitting alone in the mornings, Max has become a regular. I talk to and welcome her. She doesn’t seem to notice, but she does keep coming back.
Of course, we are quite different species, but I like to think she looks forward to seeing me as much as I look forward to seeing her. I like to believe we have an interspecies understanding. After all, she does keep coming back…
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