Historic Canoa Ranch was proud to host the 2024 Hunger Walk in Green Valley. Our friends at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona report that 345 people registered for the event and the amount raised was just over $23,000! Participants enjoyed beautiful weather, entertainment, food, and walked around Canoa Lake to support their community food bank.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this wonderful event! 

Although they are small and secretive freshwater marsh dwellers that are heard more often than seen, soras are, in fact, the most abundant and widespread member of the rail family in the United States. Look for them in the reedy shallows of the ciénega in the early morning or late afternoon when they are most likely to be out feeding.

There are a few sightings in spring migration and early summer months, but the majority of Canoa Ranch sightings are during fall migration with peak numbers in September and October.

Males and females are difficult to differentiate under field conditions. Both show a black face and throat with a bright yellow bill and gray neck in breeding plumage, but by fall migration (when we most often encounter them locally) those features will be less distinct.

A pair of soras in the Canoa Ranch ciénega, August 2024; photo courtesy of Karen Long.

Native to coastal Baja California, the hatpin cactus, Ferocactus emoryi ssp. rectispinus adapts well to desert gardens in our area. It is a late-summer bloomer with beautiful lemon-yellow flowers.

Although it is related to the fishhook cacti, this subspecies is aptly named for its straight, long, and lethal-looking spines; it is also known as long-spined barrel cactus. Specimens can be seen at the ranch in the office yard and in the planters along the east wall of the Manning Senior house.