2019 Begins…

We went for a late afternoon walk around Desert Botanical Garden the other day. We had some really cold days here and, with the holidays and all, we haven’t been on one of our day trips for about a month so we have to get back on the road again soon. Meanwhile…

I thought the birds would be a little more active. We did see a lot of quail, doves, starlings but I didn’t take photos of them. We also saw a cute little wren that I would have liked to get a photo of to identify it but it wasn’t cooperative.

Anna’s or Costa’s Hummingbird, female

There were very few butterflies. I imagine many froze during the cold snap. 😦

Queen Butterfly

Verdin

Cactus Wren

Being at the Garden reminded me that I didn’t meet any of my goals for 2018! I had similar goals for 2017 and met them all but 2018 was different. Spending 5 weeks in Indiana unexpectedly threw me off for the whole year. When I got back, I couldn’t get back into the swing for quite awhile, one of my cats got very sick, and then the summer was so hot that I just decided I would chuck my 2018 goals:

1. Volunteer 100 hours at Desert Botanical Garden. Not even close (compared to 102.75 in 2017).
2. Find 50 new Lifers (new birds). Found 36 (compared to 58 in 2017).
3. Go on many AZ day trips with Tony. Went on 16 (compared to 23 in 2017).

I also went to a few parks on my own and a few expeditions with my birding friend, Karen, plus I went to a couple places back in Indiana so I did see many pretty sights, gorgeous birds, and other wildlife so I can’t really complain. But I’ve decided not to be too specific in my 2019 goals:

1. Maybe volunteer at Desert Botanical Garden, maybe not. Maybe elsewhere, maybe not.
2. Find some new birds.
3. Go on as many day trips with Tony as we can.
4. Take as many photos as I can.

These were my first bird photos of 2019. It was cloudy, cold, and rainy so they were from my yard only. The hummers were all fluffed up.

Anna’s Hummingbird, male

Hope your year is off to a good start and that you have many exciting goals…or no goals…but fun times ahead.