Spring comes late to the mountain, with April often looking like a drabber version of winter without snow.  Finally in May, as the valley is approaching 100 degrees, oaks and maples are turning green, and ground cover of ferns and cow parsnip emerge.  After wet winters Sabino Creek is full as it runs through Summerhaven, gathering force as it descends into Marshall Gulch.  Water seems to appear everywhere, including coming up from cracks in the middle of paved roads. 

Water cascading down the rocky face to the west of Sabino Parkway as it winds down into Marshall Gulch, April 2010.

Wild turkey, showing his stuff, looking for a mate.  He was surrounded by a flock when these photos were taken.  ​April, 2015, not far from Sabino Creek in Summerhaven. Note: he was largely ignored by the flock!  

Possibly the same turkey, a year later, March 2016, at dusk, sitting on a high branch in a pine tree.

Sabino Creek, in Sabino Canyon, April 2013.  

New growth on a Douglas Fir, Summerhaven, May 2015.  The new growth is striking in the spring, maturing into a darker green by late summer. 

Female Western Tanager, Summerhaven, June 2013. Late spring and early summer finds many species in the Catalinas, some passing through the same week each year.