A green oasis in the desert, the Desert Botanical Garden is located at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The Desert Botanical Garden is easily accessed from hotels near Sky Harbor International Airport and makes a wonderful side trip for business travelers with a flexible agenda. Encompassing only 50 acres, the lushly planted gardens include 139 rare and endangered plant species from around the world. Once inside the Garden it is difficult to believe that you are in the middle of a metropolitan area boasting a population of over 3 million people!

Drinking fountains are sprinkled throughout the Garden but I still advise those of you who are visiting during the hot, summer months of the year to carry plenty of water with you. When temperatures hover around 110°F to 118°F in the shade, dehydration can quickly set in. Carrying a water bottle with you can make for a more pleasant visit and can be refilled from the various water fountains. Also, if you are particularly sensitive to the sun, be sure to wear a hat that covers your face and ears and apply a generous lathering of sunblock before going out in the Arizona sun.

All of the trails within the Garden are very well groomed. Main trails are paved with small bricks and side trails are wide and smoothly graveled. All of the trails are accessible to the handicapped. If need be, wheelchairs, both pushable and electric, are available for rent at the admissions counter. The electric wheelchairs easily traverse all of the trails, even the more steeply graded hillside trails.

Be sure to explore all of the trails. Many of the trails have water features that make for cool resting spots and attract large numbers of birds during the hotter summer months. I have sat quietly at some of these water features, found mostly on smaller side trails, and have had close encounters with birds such as Pyrrhuloxia, Mourning Doves, White-winged Doves, and some of the woodpeckers. Besides, these water features are placed in refreshingly shaded areas and make for cool retreats from the hot Arizona sun.

The obvious focus of the gardens is desert plants, as the name implies. To the right is just one of the many cactus gardens to be found throughout the Desert Botanical Garden. Most of the cacti bloom beginning in March and continue blooming until July. The cactus blooms are quite spectacular and repeat visits will be necessary to view all of the cactus in bloom.

I spend a great deal of time at the Desert Botanical Garden photographing the cactus blooms. I do advise you to be careful not to block the trails if you use a tripod and I also suggest that you go equipped with some long focus lenses. Many cacti are positioned well off the trails.

Besides being a collection of rare plants, the Desert Botanical Garden sponsors regular events, performs botanical research, and sports various buildings on the grounds that house a research library, an auditorium, and a couple of sidewalk cafe's. Also situated on the Garden grounds is an experimental desert living house that occasionally is open to the public.

The Garden includes a variety of habitats from heavily planted non-native gardens to fairly large tracts of natural Sonora Desert landscaping. It is this variety of habitats that attracts a large number of bird species to the Garden. The hot summer months can be relatively unproductive for bird photography. The variety of migrant birds is greatly reduced and the heat of the day keeps the resident birds deep within the cool shade provided by the shrubbery.

If you do plan to photograph birds at the Desert Botanical Garden during the summer months, it is best that you arrive right at opening time in the early morning. Most opportunities to photograph birds are ended by 9:00 am. Regular visitors may access the gardens at 7:00 am from May through September. If you purchase an annual memebrship, as I do every year, members may access the gardens at 6:00 am, Sundays and Wednesdays, May through September. Annual memberships are not terribly expensive and that extra hour in the summer can make all the difference photographing the resident birds.

Water is readily available to birds year round, either from the pond, pictured at right, or from several smaller, semi-secluded water features scattered throughout the gardens already mentioned above. During the hottest summer months, the Desert Botanical Garden will keep several small drip systems running during daylight hours to keep the birds hydrated. If you like dragonflies, as I do, the pond offers up a respectable number of dragonfly species.

Just to the south of the pond is a grove of tall Cottonwood trees. Pay particular attention to this grove of trees. Many ground foraging birds can be seen in the leaf litter below the trees and many birds will perch in the Cottonwoods overnight or to escape the desert heat. I have observed owls in the Cottonwoods as well as Great Blue Herons roosting in the dense, green leaves. Abert's Towhees and Curve-billed Thrashers, along with Gambel's Quail, commonly scratch around in the leaf litter in search of meals.

Over 115 species of birds have been reported from the Garden. Guided bird walk tours are held weekly, every Monday morning, year round. In my opinion the best times of the year for birding the Garden is from March through July. My very favorite time of the year to bird the Garden is when the many Saguaro cacti have fruited in June and early July. Saguaro cactus fruits draw White-winged Doves like magnets! It seems like every Saguaro cactus in the Garden has one or two White-winged Doves battling over the sweet red fruits. Curve-billed Thrashers and Gila Woodpeckers are also attracted by the Saguaro cactus fruit.

Visit the Desert Botanical Garden web site for more details.