Celebrating Treasures of the Tortolita Preserve
With the Wild Sonoran Women – Cohort 6 & Dave De Groot, March 7, 2023
Dave is a knowledgeable, humble guide.
long way in, short way out
easy 5.25 mile hike
filled with treasures.
Night blooming Arizona Queen of the Night.
We eye-hunt for this special Snake Lily “stick” among
hundreds of scattered dead sticks.
Dana’s 35mm catches
gilded flicker and a Battarreoides diguetii.
Francesca and Merlin App identify rufous winged sparrow song.
Fresh rabbit kill
crimson splattered on rocks
like a desert painting.
Jan’s Picture This App captures Blue Dicks near cholla
Cholla captures Jan
Francesca combs out cholla.
Chris retrieves a golf ball
probably from the golf course that
cut down saguaros that morning.
Francesca carries out a bullet-riddled muffler.
The Queen of the Night eludes us.
Years old mountain lion latrine;
Wait – Chris R finds fresher puma scat!
iNaturalist it with a ruler.
Dave tries to contain his excitement
but it is okay;
We are Pima County Master Naturalists
we get excited and celebrate documenting
tiny blooms
scat and tracks
and the beauty of friendship
in the Sonoran Desert.
Written By Chris Robie and Inspired by Dave DeGroot, Jan Schwartz, Dana Hook, Chris Murphy, Francesca Ziemba. Photos by Chris Robie and Dana Hook.
Please join Dave at the Tortolita Preserve BioBlitz on April 15th and be prepared to fall in love with this treasure!
Pima Master Naturalists 
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