Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Vermillion Flycatcher There is a place just northwest of Phoenix near Wickenburg AZ that draws birders and nature lovers.   It is a desert oasis with cottonwood trees, palm trees and a pond where frogs and water fowl are found.   The Hassayampa River Preserve was purchased in 1986 by the Nature Conservancy and is being restored.   “ In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.”   http://gosw.about.com/od/bestsightstosee/a/hassayampa.htm The Hassayampa River courses 100 miles through the Sonoran Desert and most of the water flows underground.   It looks like a dry riverbed until you dig down a little ways and feel the moist sand.    In the preserve, the wat

I miss my Bobcats!   After living in Tucson AZ for 25 years, Bobcats were just part of my yard.   A wash (slightly depressed path where water ran when it rained very hard) ran behind my house with no fencing and was a corridor for a lot of wildlife.   On hot summer days just after I watered down the flagstone patio, a mother Bobcat would bring her cubs and cool off.   Somedays, she would come to drink from the small pools in the stone and stretch out by the back steps.   I loved watching from inside my enclosed Arizona room while I created jewelry.   These are wild animals that seldom bother humans and in Arizona we’ve learned to coexist!       Bobcats are found at all elevations, especially in rimrock and chaparral areas, and in the outskirts of urban areas where food is generally available.   My house was in the Catalina foothills and a perfect place for them to visit.          They can jump 12 ft. high and are often heard walking on the flat rooftops of the houses or curled