The Radagast Factor

Antelope Ground Squirrel

Learning to "speak" bird and animal takes time. In this final two part series, I finish up my notes and observations about "talking to the animals".  While on a trek to Saguaro National park, I was hoping to find the elusive Crissal Thrasher.  Still a no show for me!  Maybe I have a new Nemesis bird!  While trying to call  out a Thrasher, I attracted this above Antelope Squirrel.  And for several moments we were chatting back and forth together.  He got super close to me and I forgot about where I was.  Kathie was with me on this outing and snapped me back to reality because the Thrasher was staring at me.  Oh how that must have appeared!  She had thought I was looking at a bird and it turns out, I was hanging out with a ground squirrel.
Maybe these are the steps into "crazy":)

Curve-billed Thrasher

Here's the Thrasher staring at me.  Don't judge me!:)

Sunset at Catalina State Park

I'm having too much fun out in the wild.  I never go home empty handed.  This post today includes two of our wonderful parks from around Tucson.  One is Saguaro(with Kathie) and the second set of pics come from Catalina State Park. All in search of the Crissal Thrasher! I should mention that the best time to find Thrashers is early in the morning or at sunset.  Now you can find them anytime really, but they make nice appearances at these times.  I feed one Thrasher here at El Presidio.  In fact, in Arizona, you can find Bendire's, Curve-billed, Crissal, Sage and Le Conte's Thrashers.  I have yet to find the last 3. And there are two others outside of our state that I still need to find.

On our trek through Saguaro, this Cactus Wren perched perfectly above the sign.  I had to take the pic:)

But the title of the post?

Sunset at Saguaro National Park-East

Well if you read "The Hobbit" or saw the movie, you might recall a certain brown wizard known as Radagast who was the protector of all things wild.  He was put on Middle Earth to protect the forest and the critters.  Many times he had difficulty understanding the outside world and couldn't relate to mankind, dwarves or elves.  He was considered by his peers as the odd wizard.  However Gandolf respected him.  Saruman not so much.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

I don't think there is anything crazy about connecting with nature.  Whether someone is a tree hugger or a birder, it's one of the best ways to forget the negative outside world.  Commune with nature!

Townsend's Solitaire

And if you go alone, you may hear the "quiet" presence of life around you. Stop.  Look up.  Look down.  Look all around. And you may just find a Townsend's Solitaire staring back at you.

Here's a clip of Radagast helping Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves out.