Friday, August 24, 2012

Prickly Pear Festival





Superior’s debut Prickly Pear culinary festival is this Saturday, Aug. 25th. Ripe cactus fruits red as rubies and garnets are at their peak in August - and the historic copper-mining town of Superior celebrates this year with a debut culinary festival showcasing cactus-based menu items at local restaurants, a class teaching participants how to pick, de-spine and prepare the forbidding fruits - and plenty of opportunities for sampling. There's even a "prickly pear IPA" class for home-brewers!

Get there early before the squirrels eat everything!


SUPERIOR PRICKLY PEAR FESTIVAL
In Partnership with the Boyce Thompson Arboretum
August 25, 2012 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

6:30 AM Meet in front of Porter’s Café, 404 W. Main St., Superior for a guided desert walk with Scott Wood, Tonto National Forest ranger, at the site of the old mining town of Pinal City. Enjoy a history tour and learn more about the edible prickly pear. FREE

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Porter’s Café - Enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast enhanced with prickly pear syrup hosted by the Superior Fire Department. A donation of $6.00 would be appreciated.

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Prickly Pear India Pale Ale class, Porter’s Café. There is a limit of 25 participants for this great home-brewing class taught by Pete Rendek who is well-known at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for his delicious pale ale created with prickly pear juice. Price per person is $25 and is by reservation only. Email mila.lira19@gmail.com to receive a reservation form, or call Lynn Heglie for more information, 520-827-9398.

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM Superior Senior Center, 360 Main St. (air-conditioned). Don’t miss a special morning event (FREE) at 10:30 AM with author Jean Groen, a prickly pear expert who will instruct you in “how to pick and juice ‘em”. Jean is well-known for her popular series of classes at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Also enjoy chocolate prickly pear truffles created by the “Chocolate Lady” and an assortment of cactus edibles available from Cheri’s Desert Harvest. Visit with vendors sharing recipes and offering cookbooks, photos, handbags, notecards, and much more, all with a prickly pear theme. Enjoy live music by local musicians.

Unique "building art" can be found throughout Superior.
  Take a drive around town and see how many you can find!


ALL DAY - Visit local restaurants and try their special prickly pear dishes prepared just for this event!
Jade Grill, Asian Barbecue, 639 US Hwy 60, Superior
Offering delicious pork rolls with prickly pear syrup
Porter’s Café, 404 W. Main St., Superior
Sip Prickly Pear margaritas and Prickly Pear lemonade and listen to live music

*PRICKLY PEAR GIFT BAGS FOR THE FIRST 100 VISITORS!*

Click below for my slide-show of Superior's building art:

 


Squirrel on Prickly Pear photo by nature photographer
Jeff Stemshorn, a.k.a. Big Bird

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Wordless Wednesday







Photos courtesy of Wildlife Photographer Denny Green
and one very bored burrowing owl.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Wordless Wednesday







Photos by wildlife photographer Denny Green, on location
along Moraine Creek, Alaska, Aug. 2012.
For you "Bird Blog" purists, there is actually a bird
in the foreground of the second image :-) .

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Sea Diving Cormorant

Wow, it makes me wonder how deep the Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants at Arizona's lakes might be diving!?!

From AudubonMagazine.org, Aug. 4th, 2012 ~
Imagine plunging 150 feet down into the ocean in 40 seconds. Cool, right? Now imagine propelling yourself down through the water with wings. New video footage reveals that that is exactly how the imperial cormorant, a South American seabird, hunts for fish.
Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society fitted one lucky cormorant with a tiny camera to observe its feeding behavior for the first time. The cormorant dived an amazing 150 feet down to the seafloor in 40 seconds, fed on the bottom for 80 seconds, and returned to the surface just as quickly with a fish. The camera is strapped to the cormorant’s back, and viewers can see the bird’s head bob along as it propels itself to the seafloor.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Wordless Wednesday








Photos by Arizona Wildlife Photographer Helmut Hussman aka H5
Do you have an event, bird walk, meeting, or nature walk that belongs on this calendar? Please send info to birdbloglady@gmail.com


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