Back to the Backyard

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Imagine my surprise one recent morning when I went into the backyard and spotted yardbird species #51 at the birdbath! A Black Phoebe took a quick drink and then flew off. I’ve never seen it since, wish I would, but it seems an unlikely place since I usually see them by bodies of water. I was glad it waited til I ran inside and grabbed my camera.

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I was doubly surprised 2 days later to see a Say’s Phoebe diving for insects which was yardbird species #52! I see these birds often in parks but never in my yard. Once again, I have not seen it since. Phoebes are such pretty birds, I hope they visit again.

As if all that wasn’t exciting enough, a couple days later, I saw my favorite little bird, Tink (an Orange-crowned Warbler), return to our yard for the winter for the 5-6th season. At least I think and hope it was her. She seemed like the same bird, going back and forth between the 2 jelly feeders. I saw her for a few days and now have not seen her again for a few so I hope it was her and she plans to stay the winter. I don’t sit in my yard all day everyday so I could easily be missing her…I hope…I really wasn’t expecting her this year as I know they don’t live forever but, right on schedule, she returned…or so I think.

So those were exciting days! Here are a few of the Verdins who inhabit our yard all year…cute, tiny, and busy…

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Verdins have roosting nests all year long. I think it’s where they sleep at night and hang out. The opening of the nests are on the side or bottom. Here is one leaving its nest in our pine tree:

They love jelly and oranges. Here they are in the little jelly house (click each to see larger):

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An infrequent visitor to the yard is the Great-tailed Grackle. This female entertained me for awhile a few days ago and has been back since with another of her female friends:

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They are loud, raucous, curious birds that are fun to watch. And those are some of the exciting goings-on in the backyard lately.

Abundant Sunshine

I have no clue what this insect is but I’m trying to find out. He has some loooong antennae, though. He was soaking up the sunshine nibbling the lantana.

Today’s weather sounded more like a fortune than a forecast. I intended to go birding somewhere but made the often repeated mistake of sitting in the backyard watching the birds “for just a couple minutes,” and then it was too late to head out. Tomorrow…

Curve-billed Thrasher

Great-tailed Grackle, female

Inca Dove

Anna’s Hummingbirds, males, molting

Verdin and Anna’s Hummingbird

You can see that Verdins are only a tiny bit larger than hummingbirds.

Cloudless Sulphur

Honey Bee (with full pollen baskets)

American Kestrel, male

The female Kestrel flew in a few seconds later and all the rest of the birds took off. They soon left, empty-taloned.

Flesh Fly

Eufala Skipper

Notice how the skippers, above and below, seem to have tiny little horns coming out of their heads? I never noticed that until today, after years of photographing them.

Fiery Skipper

The lantana is the popular place to be if you’re a little flying critter. I’ve seen some other butterflies there in the last few days but haven’t been able to get any shots.

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The Long Hot Summer

That’s my backyard..okay, not really. It’s a little greenbelt area not too far from where I live; I think it really belongs to some office complexes but it’s like a little park…that no one goes to.

It’s got some mature mesquite trees and I like their twisty limbs.

I’ve written about this place before, years ago (1 and 2). A lot of the trees have been cut way back since then but they’re still hanging in there.

Meanwhile, back at the old ranch (home) a couple miles away, the birds are still loving our mesquite tree, not nearly as big as the ones above.

Anna’s Hummingbird, males

See the 2 little tail feathers on this one? I don’t know if they’re growing in or if he lost part of his tail feathers somehow.

And here is a Dove of Peace, what we need right now:

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Great-tailed Grackle, female

Great-tailed Grackle, male

Abert’s Towhee, juvenile

Curve-billed Thrasher, juvenile

The poor birds walk around with their bills open all the time because of the unrelenting heat.

Northern Mockingbird

But that’s not the only reason it’s a long hot summer…

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Where Birds Go By…

Northern Mockingbird

Great-Tailed Grackle, female

House Sparrow, male

Verdin

Great-Tailed Grackle, male

European Starling

House Finch, male

Rosy-Faced Lovebird

Curve-Billed Thrasher

1
Sometimes in the open you look up
where birds go by, or just nothing,
and wait. A dim feeling comes
you were like this once, there was air,
and quiet; it was by a lake, or
maybe a river you were alert
as an otter and were suddenly born
like the evening star into wide
still worlds like this one you have found
again, for a moment, in the open.

2
Something is being told in the woods: aisles of
shadow lead away; a branch waves;
a pencil of sunlight slowly travels its
path. A withheld presence almost
speaks, but then retreats, rustles
a patch of brush. You can feel
the centuries ripple generations
of wandering, discovering, being lost
and found, eating, dying, being born.
A walk through the forest strokes your fur,
the fur you no longer have. And your gaze
down a forest aisle is a strange, long
plunge, dark eyes looking for home.
For delicious minutes you can feel your whiskers
wider than your mind, away out over everything.

Atavism, William Stafford

My current favorite poem.

Xeriscaping

Painted Lady Butterfly

The Scottsdale Xeriscape Garden at Chaparral Park is part of a 12-mile greenbelt through Scottsdale and in the floodplain of Indian Bend Wash. “Its purpose is to provide an educational resource where growing regionally appropriate plants also grows public awareness to reduce outdoor water use, fosters development of sustainable landscaping, and enlists community participation to conserve water resources for our future.” And it attracts a lot of indigenous wildlife!

Monarch Butterfly

In my attempt to make our desert~full of birds, flowers, and butterflies~look traditionally festive during the holiday season, at least one photo of every December post I make will feature some seasonal decoration (to go with the WordPress snow). This Rosy-Faced Lovebird was the most Christmas-y looking of the bunch (credit for the lights is Obsidian Dawn, they’re free!).

Female Grackle

Female Finch

Female Costa’s Hummingbird