Snowy Arizona

This storm has been in the making for some time.  We've been hit with storm after storm here.  Visitors escaping the frigid cold temps of the North aren't so happy, but we, the locals who live here, have loved it. The night before the storm arrived, our local weather forecasters told us to get ready for the arctic blast. 

Schools were closed and an official "snow day" was declared. The night before we planned a trek to Saguaro National Park to take pictures. In the morning, there was just rain and then I heard Micheal yell from the dining room, "There's snow!"  Snow in midtown is RARE.  In fact, I don't ever recall seeing snow here.  The closest thing to white this neighborhood ever sees is cocaine or maybe a leucistic Rock Pigeon:)

As always with these two crazy friends, one was focused on using her new camera in the snow while the other was throwing snow balls.  We were amazed by the amount of water here. 

I counted birds and did my surveys at my local patch, Reid Park, taking lots of documentation photos.  For those of you who know Tucson, you know how hot it gets here.  So today was for Tucsonans.  There were so many happy faces everywhere. 

It was an unofficial holiday. For one moment, there wasn't any Christmas madness in the air.  The news focused ONLY on the weather.  And for the first time in a long time, I didn't hear that orange baboon's name ONCE.  We were just people in Tucson, in Arizona, having fun in the snow.

The weirdest thing that I witnessed was this cat below playing in the snow with his human companion.  They were doing a photo shoot together and this cat acted like a dog.  Never in my life have I seen a cat do something like this before.  The guy snapped his finger and the cat chased him on the lawn.  If I did that with our cats, we'd have a revolt!

Then there was the day after. WOW!  The views were incredible.

I continued counting birds and enjoyed the cool temps. 

Ferruginous Hawk

The birds were hungry after the storm. During the storm, they huddled under the bushes to stay warm. Every species acts differently in extreme weather. 

the Southwestern Song Sparrow

 Some people were stupid. In the pic below, we saw this submerged truck in Willcox around Lake Cochise.  It's either a stolen truck dumped in the grasslands OR a bunch of idiots who thought it would be fun to go "mudding" in the snow.  Either way, it looked like a perfectly good truck.

It was a strange weekend full of fun and rare snow birding. 

Curve-billed Thrasher

The wildflower show should be amazing this spring. In a way, it was sad saying good-bye to the storm because the summer temps will be arriving soon enough.

Marsh Wren

 For now, I'll try to take in every moment I can outdoors.  There's no rush:)

Until next time.....