Robert Thoresen
Quail Creek Photography Club members spent the morning of October 25 taking a photo shoot of the raptor flight demonstration at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in the Tucson Mountains southwest of downtown Tucson. The weather was perfect for the morning demonstration although the hawks decided to limit their performance and not take the approach flight to the hillside Ramada. According to their spokesman they have been provoked not to do a full performance over food and benefits issues. The Great Horned Owl and two Chihuahua Ravens did their full show bill. The raptor demonstration takes about 30 minutes which gave club members additional time to tour the grounds.
The museum dates back to 1952 and has a worldwide reputation as an innovative model institution for presenting native plants, animals and ecological exhibits of the highland desert region. The site was a natural desert when first developed with a few scattered buildings created by the C.C.C. Those original buildings are still in use today.
The bird and hummingbird aviaries are active all day as well as the otters, prairie dog and mountain goat enclosures. Most other mammals get best viewing early in the morning or late afternoon.
Club members trekked to the Ironwood Terrace self service dining room for the always planned group lunch which allows an opportunity to exchange photo results and personal experiences. There were very positive culinary reviews of the Tohona taco salad, the chicken Caesar salad, and the tacos supremos. Finer dining is available at the Ocotillo Café but it has limited seasonal hours.
For current events and details of the PCQC visit the club’s website at http://www.pcqc.org.