Filed under: Home | Tags: Holidays, Home, Hummingbirds, Mockingbirds, Religion
I spent half an hour in my yard with camera in hand; these are 2 mockingbirds and 2 hummingbirds that were entertaining me. Both types of birds are very talkative and perform many antics.
I’ve loved this poem since I first read it decades ago in high school:
The Windhover
To Christ Our Lord
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing.
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
~Gerard Manley Hopkins, written in 1877
It’s about a kestrel, which is a symbol for Christ, but it applies to many birds…”My heart…stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing.”
Abandoned Nest
Almost seems like an appropriate Easter week post.
(Click for more detail.)
Deciding where to eat? Here’s some choices…
“No, I’m gonna eat right here!”
This little guy/girl is smaller than most of the other hummingbirds and his/her colors aren’t as vivid so I assume he/she is a juvenile hummer. He/she also was very close to me, about a foot away, which is unusual, especially since I kept clicking the shutter. This top photo is the sharpest, click for more detail.
And now for a few more (rapid) wing positions:
Slurp!
I just found this fun live webcam where a hummingbird in California, Phoebe, has a nest with 2 hatchlings in it, one hers and one adopted. Her “hosts” have been documenting her nesting for the last 6 years. Check it out, it’s fascinating.
Work sucked today. But I did come out to this view from the parking garage tonight.
If only I had found the pot of gold I wouldn’t have to go back…
And more iridescence on the home front…these definitely look better enlarged (clicked).
I think all my hummingbird shots look about the same. They’re always drinking from our aloe blooms but as soon as I get my camera, they leave.
Filed under: Blogging, Home, Phoenix | Tags: Blogging, Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Phoenix, Photoblogging
…Wildlife in My Yard! For my personal photoblogging year in review, that is what first comes to mind. I feel as though I took more photos in my neighborhood in 2012 than I normally do so this particular review will be photos taken in our very own, very urban yard over the past year.
Two Harris’ Hawks who spent a lot of time in our neighborhood this year were in our 2 front yard trees one morning (Halloween, actually).
Skippers hung around all year.
Flies!
A rare dragonfly dropped by and I got him away from the cats before damage was done.
The ever-present urban pigeons and doves…
The strangest sighting of the year in our yard…on our roof in this photo…a raccoon…very odd for central Phoenix. I spotted him on 3 different evenings but the last time I saw him was in October. None of the other neighbors seem to have seen him so I am hoping that no harm came to him but I don’t know that for a fact 
Many Painted Ladies dropped by…
and a Gulf Fritillary or two.
Bees, of course.
Constant hummingbird action at the feeder, year-round. Click on above to animate.
Mockingbirds aplenty.
New to me, a verdin.
I think this one above is an Anna’s Hummingbird. I really can’t tell the difference usually between our hummingbirds…if they are Allen’s, Rufous, or Ruby-Throated.
We also had coyotes in our yard last spring but we didn’t see them. Several of our neighbors did, however, but they left after a few days of sightings and none of our outdoor cats were harmed. I really hope they don’t come back!!!!!
So that was part of my year in review. Other 2012 topics would be our cats, roadtrips, murals (I’m way behind in my local mural documentation), flowers, and holidays celebrated. 2012 was also the year that I started to enjoy putting frames around some of my photos…hokey, maybe…but I find it very relaxing and entertaining, for some reason…and isn’t that part of why we do this?
So, here’s to a great year of photoblogging/blogging ahead for all of us. I enjoy reading all of your blogs and thank you for looking at mine.
