I keep a Perpetual Journal; here are my entries from my yard 1, 2 & 3 years ago this week: Gambel’s Quail chicks, Checkered White Butterfly & rain clouds! In 2026 I’ve seen GQ chicks very briefly; no CW b’flies, & no measurable rain for 4 weeks.

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Some weeks I have 2 (not 1!) 😀exciting nature sightings to record in my Perpetual Journal. Here’s my Vermilion Flycatcher & Agave Snout Weevil art. Read more on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/brightly-colored-birds-and-bugs

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I keep a Perpetual Journal; here are my entries from my yard 1, 2 & 3 years ago this week: Ironwood & Pencil Cholla in bloom & a Lucy’s Warbler in a nest box. In 2026 our Ironwood haven’t bloomed; we have very few Cholla flowers & no Lucy’s Warblers in our nest boxes.😞

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Woolly Star is a small (7mm) but lovely lavender flower that grows in groups in our Tucson, AZ yard in Spring. Here’s one I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal, drawn about 6x life size. 😃 Read more on my latest blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/twice-as-nice-two-types-of-spring

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Our Penstemon (illustrated here for my Perpetual Journal) have gone to seed & I just harvested & spread 100s of the seeds around our Tucson, AZ yard. 🌸😍 Read more on my recent blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/pretty-pink-penstemon-petals

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Earlier this year we had over 30 Queen Butterflies eclose in our yard! 😍 Here’s my Perpetual Journal art chronicling this excitement! I also posted 3 Butterfly success stories with photos on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/lots-and-lots-of-queen-butterflies

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2/2: Many of our Spring wildflowers started blooming in January & February this year, including this Lupine I illustrated in my Perpetual Journal. Read more on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/mid-winter-flowers

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1/2: Many of our Spring wildflowers started blooming in January & February this year, including this Mexican Poppy I illustrated in my Perpetual Journal. Read more on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/mid-winter-flowers

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1 of the joys of keeping a Perpetual Journal is seeing what happened this week in previous years. Here’s my PJ art of Tucson nature observations 1, 2 & 3 years ago this week. In ‘23 we got snow. In ‘26 the temp’s been over 90°!

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Sometimes we see mammal/bird/reptile/arthropod visitors in our yard & other times we only see evidence of their visits like tracks or hearing bird song or using our sense of smell! Here’s a Javelina track I illustrated in my Perpetual Journal. Read more on my latest blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/a-red-tailed-hawk-and-a-javelina

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