Tucson (Desert museum and raptors)

Today S took me to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum . This place is far more than your typical museum. Even the web site description that the Desert Museum is a fusion experience: zoo, botanical garden, art gallery & classes, natural history museum, and aquarium does not do it justice. The grounds are a maze of winding paths that showcase all the different flora and fauna of the region, with the Sonoran desert as a backdrop. Various art installations are beautifully incorporated into the environment around the grounds. The museum is very active in research and conservation, and many of the animals who call the museum home would not survive in the wild due to varying circumstances.

We were most interested in the Raptor Free Flight program , where various of the raptors are flown during an hour demonstration. We were able to view a Great-horned Owl, a Chihuahuan Raven, a Caracara, a Harris’ Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk. We then visited natural habitat exhibits housing a Mountain Lion, a Bobcat, a Fox, a Wolf, an Otter and a couple of Big-Horn sheep. To fully experience the Desert Museum would take more than one day.

We capped off the day with a truly excellent dinner at Wildflower .

Today completes Week 3. Tomorrow will be a long drive day, backtracking up to Utah.