Welcome To Our Fresh Newsletter Format 

We hope you like our new way to get our newsletter to you. This allows us more consistency and ease in keeping our email list current. As you look at this in our email you may think it is a short email, but look carefully at the end of the email and there should be a message like "Click here to see entire message." When you click, the entire newsletter should be visible to you. It's that simple. Let us know what you think.

President's Message

Happy New Year to you all! I hope this is the beginning of another year of discovery and wonder. The Sonoran Desert is the perfect place to find, learn, and connect with nature.

We closed last year with some wonderful hikes, a very fun nature journaling class (thank you, Jan Muir), and an excellent first speaker (thank you, Ed Madej!). We are starting 2026 with a fresh new way to get our newsletter to you- via our new website. We now publish and send the newsletter directly from the website, making it much more accessible to people in the community. It also gets you used to checking out the website for new posts and information. Let us know what you think!

As you read through the newsletter, and hopefully explore the website, you will see that we are starting the year with excellent speakers and wondrous outdoor adventures to connect you better with the surrounding desert. I look forward to seeing you all during the coming months.

-Vikki Jackson

(Photo by Kristin King)

Wanted: Publicity Volunteer!

We are looking for a volunteer to be our publicity person. We need help making sure our events get advertised and are looking for a creative volunteer who is comfortable with Facebook and promoting events. Interested? Contact Vikki at president@cabezaprieta.org.

Come check out our bookstore at the Saturday Mercado at the Plaza January 10th and 24th, 9 am. - 1 pm. We have a wide range of natural history books, maps, cool hats and staff to answer your natural history questions.

Bookstore finds (photo by V. Jackson)

Reminder: Please don't forget to pay your membership dues!

Desert Globemallow (photo by V. Jackson)

Upcoming Events*

Thursday, January 8: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm. Speaker Michael Bogan: Ephemeral Jewels: Hydrology, Ecology, and Trails connecting of the Pinacate. For more details, visit here on our website.

Friday, January 9: ANHA Board Meeting, 3:00-5:00 pm. Members are welcome at our board meetings. In our board meetings we discuss upcoming events and general business operating our fine association. We value members input. It is a great way to see if there is a way you can volunteer for tasks. It takes a village! If you would like to attend our meeting email Vikki at president@cabezaprieta.org (yes, we have not yet updated email addressed to our new name).

Saturday, January 10: ANHA Bookstore at the Mercado, at the Plaza 9:00 am - 1:00 pm. Come by and check out our wonderful selection of natural history books, maps, cool hats, and some very fine T-shirts. You can also renew or sign up for membership with ANHA. The bookstore is staffed with ANHA volunteers that can answer your natural history questions or share cool local places to visit.

Sunday, January 11: Field Trip to North Ajo Peak, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm. Meet in the parking lot in front of Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge (1611 N 2nd Ave). Departure time is 8:30 am, so arrive a few minutes early. Carpooling is recommended. Free for ANHA members; $5.00 per person for non-members. Go here on our website for more details.

Wednesday, January 21: Field Trip to Bluebird Mine, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm. This trip will be limited to AHNA members and will have a cap of 12 people for the outing. Contact Vikki to register for this walk at president@cabezaprieta.org. More details are available here on our website.

Thursday, January 22: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm. Speaker Greg Starr:  Cool Succulents for Hot Gardens. More details are here on our website.

Saturday, January 24: ANHA Bookstore at the Mercado, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm at the Plaza. Come by and check out our wonderful selection of natural history books, maps, cool hats, and some very fine T-shirts. You can also renew or sign up for membership with ANHA. The bookstore is staffed with ANHA volunteers that can answer your natural history questions or share cool local places to visit.

Thursday, February 12: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm. Speaker Tanner Bland: Desert Bees. More details available here on our website.

Thursday, February 26: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm.. Speaker Don Swann: Natural History and Ecology of the Saguaro Cactus. More details available here on our website.

March 9-12: 9th Tri-National Sonoran Desert Symposium. The Symposium celebrates and promotes increased understanding, conservation, and celebration of the natural and cultural resources of the Sonoran Desert. Registration is open. Most events are held at the Curley School auditorium and Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center.
Visit the Symposium website here for more information.

Thursday, March 26: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm. Speaker Pinau Merlin: Uninvited Guests: the Lifestyles of Parasitic Plants. More details available here on our website.

Thursday, April 9: Lecture Series, 7:00-9:00 pm. Speaker Jeff Babson: Southern Arizona Moths. More details are here on our website.

*Note: All membership meetings and lectures are being held in the Ajo Ambulance meeting room, 1850 N. Ajo-Gila Bend Hwy.

(photo by Bill Perry)

DESERT BEAUTY PARLOR by Bill Perry

On returning to our Ajo, Arizona, home after six months away, we noticed a puzzling 10” circle in the dirt next to our entry path. What a mystery! What natural event or animal would clean away the gravel and leave a perfect circle of fine smooth dust in its place? After weeks of sub- conscious thought on the subject, I finally noticed a cactus wren bathing in the dust of a neighbor’s yard and it suddenly became clear! What we were seeing was nothing less than a well-established beauty parlor for our own resident wrens.

 Cactus wrens, the Arizona State bird, reside in the desert, where dryness dominates. To perform the necessary habits needed to stay healthy and attractive to other wrens—especially during the arid summer and fall months—our wrens must resort to dust instead of water to bathe. Standing in a shallow hole at the center of its round salon, the wren spreads its wings and tail out in a circle over the ground and then wriggles vigorously to get fine dust all over its feathers and skin. The dust smothers parasites like lice, ticks and mites, making them abandon ship. The bird’s dead skin cells also fall away. Best of all, the dust is absorbed by the natural oils on our wren’s feathers, keeping them from becoming matted or greasy and making them much easier to preen and be attractive to other wrens. Also importantly, dry, well-groomed feathers work better for flight and for insulation from both cold and heat.

 Noteworthy, and no doubt resulting from millennia of evolution, is the fact that our cactus wrens instinctively know exactly what kind of soil they need in their dust bath to effectively perform these functions. The finer the dust, the better it works against parasites and at absorbing oils. They know when they’ve got it right, and if we don’t get too close, we can see them bathing with their eyes half open, relaxing and obviously enjoying the experience.

The best way to locate cactus wrens is to listen for their distinctive “Zhu-zhu-zhu” call, often heard early in the morning. Because they live in this nice warm desert and don’t have to migrate, the ones in our yard seem to have plenty of time to forage or work on nests. They prefer to nest in a good thorny cholla, but in our yard they’re often seen carrying tufts of nesting material into the dead fronds of a Washingtonia palm, even in mid-winter. And now that I know that they not only nest here, but that they’ve selected our yard for their summer beauty parlor, they’re even more lovable.

Cactus Wren. Photo by Doug Backlund

Membership Information

Please reach out if you would like more information about our upcoming events, memberships, and this magical desert region. Membership in the Association is open to everyone.

Why join? All membership fees directly support ANHA's mission of providing education about and opportunities to engage with the Sonoran Desert around Ajo.

One way ANHA does this is by its annual lecture series. Lecturers often travel a significant distance to share expert knowledge in their field of specialty, and ANHA covers those costs while keeping lectures free and open to the public.

Fees also support field trips and workshops, most of which are offered at no cost, and members are the first to learn about upcoming events and have the opportunity to sign up first for activities with limited space.

Membership Dues: Annual Individual: $15. Annual Family: $25. Lifetime Individual: $80. For membership questions, email Vikki at president@cabezaprieta.org.

We are working on a way to join and pay for a membership online, but in the meantime you can pay for memberships at our Bookstore at the Saturday Mercado or our membership meetings and lectures or mail in the form to:

Ajo Natural History Association
P.O. Box 234
Ajo, Arizona 85321-0234

The form may be downloaded and printed using the following link: AJO NATURAL HISTORY MEMBERSHIP.