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| Desert lizard by C. Caplinger. Twenty-Nine Palms has 27,000 people and a vast number of murals! Last week when I was visiting there, I posted images of several historical murals in the town: See This Post. |
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| On the same building: a roadrunner that captured the lizard! |
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| This entire building is one huge mural. |
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| Another side of the building. |
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| Cottonwood Spring Oasis at Joshua Tree National Park. We visited on our way back to San Diego on Sunday morning. |
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| A Townsend’s Solitaire was on the ridge above the oasis. We didn’t see many birds. |
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| Now we are back in Michigan with nasty cold rain and occasional sleet, and the desert seems like a mirage. |
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| Saturday morning we drove to Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, down the mountain from Joshua Tree NP. We could see the unusual sight of snow-capped mountains, which received a huge snowfall last week. |
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| A stature of a mountain lion watches over the feeders, where several people were looking at the birds. After watching for a while, we followed several of the beautiful trails around the preserve. |
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| Recently, Cassin’s Finch has been at the feeders for the first time on record.— perhaps driven down from the mountains by the snow. |
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| Opportunists always — squirrels were gathering fallen birdseed in their cheek pouches. |
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| We revisited the most beautiful loop road through Joshua Tree on the way back to our hotel. |
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| Several very large murals commemorate the history of the town of Twenty-Nine Palms. I took photos of three of these, which present local events from several historic eras. |
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| A couple named Campbell played a large role in the town during the early part of the 20th century. |
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| Another mural is a memorial to the miners of the early days in this area. |
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| The Oasis of Mara is the subject of another mural. This oasis was once an important crossroads for trade among the native peoples of California. We took a walk at this site Friday morning. |
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| On the Park Service Building at the Oasis of Mara is a mural dedicated to Minerva Hoyt, whose recognition of the value of the area was instrumental in eventually creating the park. |
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| Many other murals, such as this one, give the town an interesting look. I’ll post others later, to share with Sami’s Monday Murals. |
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| A Roadrunner in a tree! |
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| Juvenile Phainopepla. |
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| A raven in a Joshua Tree. |
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| Cactus Wren perched on a cholla cactus. |
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| Costa’s Hummingbird |
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| Manzanita in flower. |
What is a Joshua Tree? According to the National Park Service info:
“Known as the park namesake, the Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, is a member of the Agave family. Until recently, it was considered a giant member of the Lily family. However, modern DNA studies led to the division of that formerly huge family into 40 distinct plant families. Because of these studies, Joshua trees now have the more accurate Agave family designation.”
We’ve checked into a nice hotel, and hope all will be well for our continued visit to the park.
Blog post © 2023 mae sander
