Tucson – Dithyramb

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Mexican fencepost cactus (Pachycereus marginatus), at Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona.

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Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) visiting yellow chuparose flowers (Justicia californica). At Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona.

Duck Atlas: Northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata). At the Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona.

Shovelers will often swim together

in a loose gyre

in the shallows, bottoms up, to stir up the aquatic invertebrates that are their favored food.

Duck Atlas: Gadwall (Mareca strepera) at the Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona.

I love the arabesque patterns their feathers make. Please click the photo for an enlarged view.

Duck Atlas: female and male ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) in non-breeding plumage. At the Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona.

Wrought iron thumb-latch door handle, at Mission San Xavier del Bac, on the Tohono O’odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation near Tucson, Arizona.

The

rattlesnake motif handle was crafted by Raúl Vásquez around 1955. It is fitted on what are thought to be the original mesquite portal doors.

The portal leads to the sotocoro, the space under the church’s choir loft. Because of the desert climate there is no vestibule screen or narthex at San Xavier. The

sotocoro

opens directly into the nave, and the doors are typically propped open. Hundreds of visitors pass by each day without noticing this unique decorative embellishment.

This is for @charlesreeza, whose wonderful photos of antique door handles and hardware and architectural details helped me see the doors at San Xavier.

Zebra-tailed lizard (Callisaurus draconoides), near Tucson, Arizona.