On March 28, we headed out to Saguaro Lake, which is the
west most lake shown on the Salt River map from my last post.
We hiked about 3/4 of a mile out the Butcher Jones Trail
(starting at the dot), to just before the point where the trail swung towards
the east. This is a popular 4.9 mile out and back
trail which I have hiked with my hiking group here in AZ
a number of times. Although the elevation gain is only about 540',
it is rocky and very narrow in many places.
Shortly after we started our short hike, Eric heard some squeaking in
a nearby tree,(just to the right side of this photo of Saguaro Lake), so we
all went back to see what was creating all the commotion. As we
walked back, Eric said he couldn't tell if it was a blue or a black colored
bird. Well no wonder...
There in front of our eyes was a Great Tailed Grackle which is the largest member
of the grackle family with males being up to 18”. In flight their tail is often held in
a vertical position. They were once considered to be a subspecies of the
“Boat-tailed Grackle” which appears along the east coast.
Probably explains the vertical rudder like position their tail assumes during
“take off”, which this one did shortly after 4 pairs of eyes tried to get a closer look!!!
We continued along Butcher Jones Trail
and stopped to take many photos, since the day was much nicer
than the one we experienced at Canyon Lake & Fish Creek Overlook
(see Part 1).
These were some of my favorite shots, so enjoy the hike...
I must admit, that I added this panorama from a hike I took
with our hiking group on 12/10/2014!!!
Today it looked just as good.
As we approached the parking lot, Susan noticed a group individuals doing
yoga on their stand up paddle boards.
Then we all tried to help Don find a geocache, but this time
the geocache won and that's with 3 extra pairs of eyes!!!
I hope you enjoyed this leisurely walk because Part 3 is
going to take some serious concentration. See you down the road.
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