Bob Blackett & Debbie Harrison - 4335 W. Tule Creek Court

Out for a stroll through the neighborhood one morning, we noticed an interesting sign designating a neighbor's property as an official backyard wildlife habitat. The sign outlined the four basic habitat elements required for wildlife to thrive: food, water, cover, and places to raise young. The program was sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, and I remembered reading about it years ago, meaning to register my yard back in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and not getting around to it. We memorized the website from the sign and went straight home to see about registering our yard too.

While checking out NWF's website, I noticed that there was also a program for certifying entire communities as wildlife habitats. One of the reasons we had decided to live in Sweetwater in the Foothills was its obvious commitment to retaining the look of our beautiful Sonoran desert. Large areas of our community are protected open spaces and are essentially untouched, retaining the lush natural vegetation as well as providing plenty of space and corridors for our plentiful wildlife. Landscaping guidelines encourage the use of indigenous drought-resistant plants in keeping with our natural surroundings.

Happily, we found Casa Milagro was qualified to become a certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat. We had already enthusiastically embraced a desert friendly landscape, one that was easy on the water usage, but that also attracted the area birds with nectar, pollen, seeds, and fruit. We have two water sources, a bird bath for the avian set and an old French laundry tub that we keep filled just outside the fenced portion of our property for the javelina, coyotes, bobcats, deer and whatever else might be in need of a drink. We supplement the natural food sources of the birds with a regular seed feeder, a finch feeder, a quail block (set up on a platform to prevent the javelina and rodents from partaking), and often a hummingbird feeder.

Food, water, cover & places to raise young.

Large cholla cactus and the many trees on the property provide places for birds to nest and raise young. Dense low-growing bushes shield quail nests and provide a shady place to roost. Ground covers, leaf litter, and piles of rocks provide shelter for lizards and insects. We have a few stacks of branch trimmings in the unfenced portion of our yard, adjacent to the arroyo and common area much of our property borders, which provides more shelter for local wildlife.

We continue to add plants and other elements that will entice even more desert critters to our property. We have joined with Ellen Fountain, owner of that inspiring first neighborhood Backyard Wildlife Habitat, and with another neighbor, Sandra Beecher, who has also registered her backyard with the National Wildlife Federation, to work to make Sweetwater in the Foothills the first Community Wildlife Habitat in Arizona. With almost two dozen neighbors now registered and other certification goals either met or in progress, we are well on the way to achieving that distinction.

Meanwhile, we are all enjoying our augmented involvement with the flora and fauna of this unique location, increasing our own and our community's connection with this special place we share with it's original inhabitants…the plants and animals of the Sonoran desert.

Octopus agave bloom, a favorite of local birds and bees.

Chuparosa, a favorite of the hummingbirds, blooms profusely in the winter and spring.

House finches and lesser goldfinches feeding on Niger thistle
seed with the hummingbird and butterfly garden in the background.

Honey bees are valuable and provide tremendous benefits, specifically pollination, honey and wax.

We had a swarm of bees temporarily on a branch of a tree in our back yard in August 2006.

Swarming is a natural part of the development of a honey bee colony, and occurs in response to crowding within the colony. Honey bee swarms may contain several hundred to several thousand worker bees, a few drones and one queen. Swarming bees fly around briefly and then cluster on a tree limb, shrub or other object. Clusters usually remain stationary for an hour to a few days, depending on weather and the time needed to find a new nest site by scouting bees. The scout bees, having located a possible site, return to the swarm and do a "dance" indicating the distance, direction and "advantages" of the new site. Several scout bees may return to the swarm with information about possible sites. Somehow the swarm evaluates the information and decides on the best site. When a suitable location for the new colony is accepted, the cluster breaks up and flies to it.

Honey bee swarms are not dangerous under most circumstances. Swarming honey bees feed prior to swarming, reducing their ability to sting. Also, honey bees exhibit defensive behavior only in the vicinity of their nest where they have to protect their young and food supply. A honey bee swarm looking for a new hive location has neither young nor food to defend, so they are relatively docile, and the swarm will move on as soon as a new location for a colony is decided on. So, feel free to enjoy this unusual sight (from a reasonable distance).

If you are highly allergic to bees, or you notice that the swarm is taking up residence in your house or outbuilding, then by all means, contact a beekeeper or pest control company