2012-04-19 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Cheerleading Tryouts : www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7bM_4j5__E
2012-2013 Tryouts begin May 5. TCA has cheer, hip hop and Pom teams for ages 4 to 18. Watch us at www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7bM_4j5__E

2012-04-18 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
TCA All Star Cheer & Dance Tryouts : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgaVs3Vip
Tucson Cheer Academy just became Arizona's first dance team to win a partially paid bid to Worlds in Florida. Check out the national champion routine at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgaVs3Vipyk

2011-12-28 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Kartchner Caverns : Bacon,Applesauce,Popsicles
Kartchner Caverns

Kartchner caverns have two tours that you can take: the big room, and the Rotunda-Throne Room tours. Personally I have only been on

the Rotunda-Throne room tour. In the Rotunda-Throne Room there are a lot of cool things well first ... read more

2011-12-28 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Kartchner Caverns : Family Trip to Kartchner http://azstateparks.com/parks/kaca/
Today me, my sisters, mom and cousins went to Kartchner Caverns.  It was a little humid in there but it was also very fun!  (And pretty).  I really liked the rocks shaped like bacon.  It was really worth going to.

Ruby age 6

2011-12-28 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Kartchner Caverns : Kartchner Caverns
Today I went on a tour through the rotunda room in Kartchner Caverns. It all started with an hours drive out there. When we got there we learned that the people that owned the cave were very picky on keeping the cave a natural cave ( which is a good thing ... read more

2011-11-25 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Reid Park Zoo : We Went to the Zoo
  One day, I went to the Reid Park Zoo.  Well, I've gone there a lot, ever since I was three.  I really like going there, and I especially like the two black jaguars.  I forgot their names.
At the zoo, there is a gift shop, the stuffed animals they call ... read more

2011-10-16 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Annie's Apple Orchard http://www.appleannies.com/
2081 W Hardy Rd
520-384-2084
Family fun and U-pick apples, peaches, pears and more. Also Apple Annie's Produce & Pumpkins.

2011-10-16 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Annie's Apple Orchard : From Pickled Eggs to Stuffed Animals to Sweet Apples Annie's Apple Orchard has it all
If you want juicy sweet apples that don’t taste like rotten cookies come to Annie's Apple Orchard where there are sweet delicious apples that you can feast on all day long. There are lots of different kinds of apples.

          When we went there it ... read more

2011-10-16 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Annie's Apple Orchard : Annie's Yummy Apples
Sometimes the people there might tell you that there is not any left but you just might get four full buckets!!!

And if you look at the ground you can find good stuff there too!!!

Plus they have delicious pumpkin pie and icecream!!!

They even ... read more

2011-10-16 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Annie's Apple Orchard : Apple Annes Orchard rocks
      Have you ever been home on hot day and thought about eating a nice juicy red apple. But when you found that apple in the back of the refrigerator it looked great but when you took a bite it was neither juicy or fresh.
          If you have this ... read more

2011-10-16 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Annie's Apple Orchard : Eating Apples!!!!!!!
If you are sitting at home, being bored, or on the computer reading this article because you haven't anything else to do, and you are either really sick of old, moldy apples in your fridge, or you just wanna eat an apple, you could at least consider going ... read more

2011-08-31 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Seen a lizard, snake, toad or tortoise? http://herpcount.org
Record your observation at http://herpcount.org and help with local wildlife conservation!

Take a photo of the critter, if possible from front and side, and the biologists running the project will help you ID it.  Did you know that Arizona has wild ... read more

2011-07-27 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
The Arizona Trail http://aztrail.org
Hike, hoof or mountain bike from Mexico to Utah on the Arizona Trail.

2011-07-22 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Sonoita's Empire Ranch - History, Nature, and Family Fun! http://www.empireranchfoundation.org/
By Korene Charnofsky Cohen

Pack up the family, and head out to Empire Ranch this summer. You will take a step back in time, and also experience the beautiful 42,000-acre Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. The Empire Ranch house is a 22-room, ... read more

2011-07-21 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Toads laying eggs in Santa Cruz : Front legs!
Tiny front legs have popped out on the more developed toads

2011-07-17 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Toads laying eggs in Santa Cruz : Back legs appearing
About July 17, tiny back legs appeared on the larger tadpoles.  Not all - mainly the ones that had more space and algae to eat.""

2011-07-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Bat Flight - an Exciting Tucson Summer Evening!
by Korene Charnofsky Cohen

Looking for an interesting way to spend a summer evening in Tucson? Think bats! An adventure for the whole family awaits you at the 'bat bridge' on Campbell Avenue, just south of River Road. There are at least 20,000 bats ... read more

2011-07-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Duck Family
While not official zoo residents, these mother ducks find the flamingo pond an excellent place to nurture their baby ducklings.  

The zoo is a good place to birdwatch for wild visitors as well as the guaranteed exotic species in cages.  Sometimes the ... read more

2011-07-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Cool Capybara
Cool, clean water on a summer day.  Capybaras love to swim, so this critter is pretty happy except maybe lonely - they are very social animals in the wild.

Capys are the world's largest rodent and have been around in various forms for about 9 million ... read more

2011-07-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Laying Llama
No need to hurry, no need to worry..this lovely llama lady is showing the way to relax.

Llamas seem to be among the better-adapted Zoo animals and don't appear particularly stressed out by captivity.

2011-07-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Bat Flight - an Exciting Tucson Summer Evening! : Rillito River Project and Bat Night http://www.rillitoriverproject.org
A neat coalition of artists and scientists work on the Rillito River Project including an amazing Bat Night of performance art and environmental talks.

2011-07-08 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Toads laying eggs in Santa Cruz : Swimming purposefully & eating, I think
This morning - two days after we picked up round eggs in gel - the tadpole-lets are swimming around in a purposeful way. I think they are looking for food, and a few of them seem be eating the algae pellet fragments we put in.  We also scrape the algae ... read more

2011-07-06 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Toads laying eggs in Santa Cruz
Walking down in the Santa Cruz River (yes, today it is a river and not just a wash) we found freshly laid toad eggs up on the muddy banks.  It may be they should have been down in the water - the level had decreased some since last night.  Look for small ... read more

2011-07-06 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Toads laying eggs in Santa Cruz : Fast developers!
Because some of the eggs were laid where a muddy bank was drying out and no rain was predicted, we took a small cluster home to raise.  By 6PM, many of the eggs had eye bumps and tiny tails, and by 8 PM some of them were starting to wiggle every so often ... read more

2011-07-05 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Monsoon Arrived! (at 3:22 AM) : Monsoon Madness at Flandrau http://www.flandrau.org/now-showing/mons
Get the whole scoop about Monsoon Ecology with hands-on exhibits at Flandrau Planetarium on the University of Arizona campus.  Exhibit runs thru September.  No one understands Monsoons better than Dr Monson (what an excellent name!) and co-workers at ... read more

2011-07-04 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
What makes a Bat Bridge
Every evening right at sunset, an enormous cloud of bats emerges from the bridge at River and Campbell.  Bats are common around Tucson, and often roost under bridges in smaller numbers.  What makes this bridge so special?

A short walk underneath answers ... read more

2011-06-30 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Monsoon Arrived! (at 3:22 AM)
The Monsoon season has arrived with a crack and a bang, reaching the Southwest side of Tucson in the early morning hours.  

Look for life in the desert - ant and termite queens should emerge today or tomorrow, followed by a feeding frenzy of birds ... read more

2011-06-15 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
cicadas out?
I think just heard my first cicada of 2011 - 6/15/11

Confirmed 6/16/11 many more cicadas calling along the Santa Cruz river walk.

2011-06-15 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Lunar Eclipse going on now
This isn't a first hand observation, since you can't see the moon from Tucson at the moment - but here is the live youtube of the eclipse going on

2011-05-02 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Santa Cruz River\
Santa Cruz photos : Burrowing owl homes will be saved!
The county knows about these particular owl homes and is planning to conserve them when the Paseo de Iglesias project is implemented along the Santa Cruz river between Silverlake and Ajo.  We went to the community meeting at the Sam Lena Library on April ... read more

2011-04-17 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Groups and Organizations\
Friends of Ironwood Forest http://ironwoodforest.org
Volunteer and recreational opportunities in nearby Ironwood Forest National Monument

2011-04-04 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Trail across the road
Almost directly across from the entrance to the Desert Museum and a few yards further west is a trailhead that is said to lead to petroglyphs down the wash.  We walked only a short distance as we did not bring water, and saw the typical black rocks that ... read more

2011-04-04 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Tough babies - preying mantis have hatched
Tiny tigers of the bug world, you may see baby mantises running along the ground or on tree branches, hunting for any prey they can catch.  My best guess is that they hatched around 3/26/11 but that's only an estimate.   Saw a several-day-old baby mantis ... read more

2011-02-01 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Farms and Stables\
Cogburn Ostrich Ranch http://www.roostercogburn.com/index.php
Feed an ostrich, hike picacho peak.  The Rooster Cogburn ranch not only has ostriches, but petable donkeys, goats and lorikeets that might land on your shoulder.  Don't pet the ostriches though - they bite!

Paintable and painted ostrich eggs, ostrich ... read more

2011-01-02 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Signal Hill Petroglyphs
A short walk out in Saguaro National Monument West brings visitors to a large set of petroglyphs carved into the black rocks.  The walk to the petroglyphs is very short - about a quarter mile - but a trail does continue on offering a longer hike with ... read more

2011-01-01 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Santa Cruz River\
Santa Cruz photos
The Santa Cruz wash offers plenty of photography opportunities, as well as local history and possible archeological finds (look for chipped obsidian).  This item is a placeholder for collections of photos along the Santa Cruz wash.

2010-12-15 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Astronomy\
: Morningstar Observatory http://morningstarobservatory.com
A Tucson Backyard Observatory with some nice scope pictures - and pictures of the scope.

2010-10-09 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Tree Preservation in Tucson.
1078 N Swan Rd
520-401-3184
When hiking Ventana Canyon or Sabino please be considerate of the trees that may be in the way of your path. Tucson is full of beautiful trees and we ask that you care for them as we do."

[posted by Tree Removal Service Tucson]

2010-08-27 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Reid Park Zoo on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tucson-AZ/
Check out the cute photos and informative posts from zoo staff.

2010-08-07 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Tadpole Rescue Opportunity
Shrinking puddles in the Santa Cruz and perhaps other washes today hold tiny tadpoles.  Our Couch's Spadefoots have what is probably the world record for fast amphibian development, but even their quick metamorphosis may be too slow this week.

We found ... read more

2010-07-18 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Watch out for toads! http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_s
Monsoon or no monsoon, a few fat Couch's Spadefoot toads have emerged to eat the june beetles and cicadas.  I saw one tonight hopping near the Santa Cruz river.  

Sounds like the thunder may have called them out: according to the Desert Museum website ... read more

2010-06-28 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Peak Cicada Emergence
Tonight 6/28/10 is a good time to watch cicadas emerging from their larval stage.  About 9PM, go to any wall or tree where a number of cicada shells have been observed, and watch for larvae crawling up out of the ground and onto the wall.  It only takes ... read more

2010-06-20 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Green Mtn trail on Mt Lemmon http://blog.summithut.com/post/2010/05/1
Views from the Green Mtn trail, about 1.5 - 2 miles in.  The trail starts off parallel to the road, but soon leaves the roadside and climbs up to some piney ridges.  The trailhead is between milepost 11 and 12, and is signed "Green Mountain, Bug Spring ... read more

2010-06-11 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Tapir Going for a Swim
The Baird's Tapir enjoying his pool on a spring day. This is a young animal who arrived at the zoo about a year or so ago.

2010-06-11 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Spring Wildflowers
The wet winter of 2010 gave us a beautiful spring wildflower season.  Most of these photos were taken in late April or early May 2010.

2010-05-18 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
3 day Video Camp
4501 E. 22nd St.
520-548-4892
Laughing Dog Productions Youth Video Camp
This summer have your child or teen learn about video and uploading their own youtube videos. During this workshop we will teach the basics of story telling with a camera and learning how to edit these videos ... read more

2010-05-05 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Conservation\
Zoobot Summer Camp http://www.tucsonbotanical.org
2150 N. Alvernon Way
326-9686 ext:31
Limit 15 participants for each class . $225 per class for non-members which includes a family membership to the Gardens and $ 200 per class for members .

Zoobots 1 – June 14-18 – Grade 1 & 2 – ages 6 & 7 – 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m .

Zoobots 2 – July ... read more

2010-05-01 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
: Saguaros mostly buds, one bloom
Pima Canyon trail at the N end of 1st avenue, most of the saguaros are just buds, but we did see at least one white flower.  The whitewing doves are starting to check the tops of the saguaros.

2010-05-01 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
: Prickly Pear blossoms starting
Hiking up in Pima Canyon, about half the prickly pears were blooming, the rest are budding.  Seems maybe the ones on the sunny side of the slope are blooming first.

2010-04-24 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
: Ocotillos in full bloom
Over Gates Pass, down on Kinney Road, the octotillo plants are all bursting with red flowers

2010-04-20 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Nature Observations\
Palo Verde Blossoms Bursting Out
First noticed this spring on Mon Apr 19.  Some trees are partially in bloom, others fully so.  Small trimmed landscape palo verdes seem to be fully in bloom before the large mature trees.

2010-03-28 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Trail at the W end of 36th St
A nice short hike at the end of 36th St (a couple miles West of Mission Rd) leads to an old stone building, now roofless, up on a hilltop.  I believe the trails also connect to others in the Tucson Mtn system, but we never go that far.

2009-10-03 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Unsigned trail across from Kennedy Lake
If you drive into the parking lot across La Cholla blvd from Kennedy Lake (just N of Ajo), at the very West point of the parking lot is an unsigned trailhead.  Its a scenic, very untrafficked trail - we went about 1.5 miles in with young kids, and met ... read more

2009-10-03 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Gates Pass Lookout
More of a short walk than a hiking trail, this popular lookout is reachable from the parking lot at the top of Gates Pass.  Take Speedway all the way West of town to get there.

2009-10-03 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Hiking Trails\
Flowers in the Tucson Mtns
Blue sky and pink flowers make a pretty combination.  Anyone know what these are?

2009-07-22 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum : Title correction on book.
Re the entry 10-11-2007 "Pebbles in our shoes" is "Pebbles in Your Shoes" :

Carr, William H.|q(William Henry),|d1902-1985
Pebbles in your shoes :|bthe story of how the Arizona-Sonora Desert  Museum began and grew /|cby William H. Carr.
Tucson ... read more

2009-02-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Zoo\
Giant Anteaters
One of the zoo success stories - there have been many giant anteater babies over the years, though we don't have any at present

2009-02-12 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\
Tucson nature photos
just a placeholder item to attach lots of cool photos to - add any So. Az nature/scenery photo here

2009-01-25 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Area Parks\
Manzanita Park : great park
I grew up going to this park and it had great stuff to play with when i was growing up but the stuff is so much better now. :) very clean park :)"

2009-01-23 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Conservation\
Arizona Rivers http://www.azrivers.org
collaboration with all three universities to "promote long-term research and monitoring of riparian environments in Arizona".  They have neat sounding workshops in nearby riparian areas, and are particularly looking for educators to get involved.

2011-12-30 \Tucson\Community\Museums\
Tucson's Childrens Museum http://www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org
200 S 6th Ave
(520) 792-9985
Cool summer fun - the Tucson Children's Museum is not only open during construction this summer, several inside areas have already been upgraded: The Wee World for 4's and under has a jungle look with Mayan pyramid and highly original flying frogs (you ... read more