Cactus Blossoms

Orange Cactus Blossom

If you think we're nothing more than tumbleweeds, cactus, dust storms, monsoons, hot as ___ heat, etc., let me show you just a tad of Arizona's colorful side.

We have a variety of color throughout our state.  And yes we do have lots of the other stuff, including the HOT as ___ HEAT, but we also have other seasons that bring cool weather and snow up north.  Sometimes the cold white stuff hits down here in the valley, in some locations, which makes us all get wildly excited.  We also have lush green forests up north, beautiful trees, eye catching cactus blossoms, flowering shrubs, the mesmerizing red rocks of Sedona, breathtaking sunsets, and so much more.

Pink Cactus Blossom

Whenever we go on walks or hikes, I can't resist taking photos of nature (these were all taken with my Samsung Galaxy S6).  There is so much to see all around us.  In fact, there are times that I see things in nature, like when you see things in clouds (which I do often).  I've seen some hilarious cacti that looked like... well, I'll save that for another time. 

Then one day I saw kissie face cactus.



Kissie Face Cactus

 

This is Kissie Face Cactus.  Yep, I named it that because that is what I see.  We came across this cool blossoming cacti while birding at the Rio Salado Restoration Habitat a few months ago.  I couldn't stop staring at it!  Do you see the kissie face its making or do you see something else?  Kissie Face also made it to Az Central's website, which you can see here.

 

See?  We do have color here in the desert.

 

Peace and happy birding... and nature exploring,

Rocki



Tattooed Bird Nerds

Tattooed Birders:  Rocki and Bullwinkle

My lovely sis-n-love Tina, who is now blogging about their fun adventures (Southwest Travelers) inspired me to start blogging about our birding adventures.  I have a couple other blogs for my raw vegan recipes, my studio, and an old blog, but didn't think my birds would feel at home there ;)  So I'm dedicating this blog to birds, birding, nature adventures... you get the idea.

First let me give a brief intro (more about us in the About Me tab).



Bullwinkle spotted a birdie

Above is my best friend, love of my life, soulmate, fellow bird lover and adventure partner - aka my loving hubby Mark (Bullwinkle).  Mark is an accountant and a self-proclaimed geek/nerd.  We both used to ride motorcycles, but had to stop due to health reasons.  One of these days we hope to buy a trike, but it has to be able to hold our birding gear. 

We may not be your conventional birders, but we love birds all the same and are enjoying every aspect of birding.



Rocki spotted a pretty birdie too

We have a few tattoos.  Okay, more like I have 18 and Mark has... well, he has much less than I do (tee hee hee).  He's trying to catch up, but I keep telling him there's no way.

I know there are other birders with tattoos, so I'm not trying to say we're unique or abnormal (well, actually that's a whole other can of worms ;) but since we became "official" birders, it's fair to say that we are not of the "norm".  When we went on our first group bird walk in Prescott last month, nobody made us feel unwelcome or strange.  We had a blast of a time and I finally got to use my new bridge camera!  More about that in a future post.



Yep, that's me - Rocki.  Yep, I have pink hair.

This is me pretty much most of the time when I'm not in my birding attire.  No you're not seeing things, I'm wearing glasses - lol!  Yes, I have pink hair.  My gosh, tattoos and pink hair... and a birder! 

So, that's the very short version of Rocki & Bullwinkle - the Tattooed Bird Nerds.  I'll update the About Me page tomorrow as now it's time to switch gears and package up orders.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki