“Once upon a time, when women were birds,
there was the simple understanding that
to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk
was to heal the world through joy.
The birds still remember
what we have forgotten,
that the world is meant to be
celebrated.”
~Terry Tempest Williams
Three hosers: Abert’s Towhee, Northern Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow.
I was surprised to see 8 quail in our yard the other day! That is only the second time I’ve seen them in our yard, which is not the typical place to find them. They hung around off and on that day, nibbling on various things, and I haven’t seen them since.
Here are a few more from my pandemic-driven “Anthropomorphizing Birds” series. They feature one of the 2 Curve-billed Thrashers, one of the 2 Abert’s Towhees, or one of the 2 Northern Mockingbirds that hang out in our yard and will work for peanuts. The whole album, to date, can be seen here on Flickr.
And here’s a little Inca Dove. The’ve been very plentiful lately, which is good, as they had been scarce in the Phoenix area for awhile but they’re back!
I was listening to NPR today and they were talking about a book called Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You). Remember when almost everybody had a blog? I guess that’s sort of “out,” now but, since I don’t want to have a podcast, I guess I’ll stick with blogging now and then. How about you?
We have several cats and they’re all really cute but Ferguson is the most cooperative for picture-taking. He does look a bit annoyed but he handled the boa better than any of the others would have.
So…everything is pretty blah in my life right now. I won’t go into details–how boring–but I’m sure we all have issues right now. We made a seed wreath to attract the Rosy-faced Lovebirds to the yard. They were very gung-ho the first few days but now they don’t seem to come around as much.
Here’s a link to the recipe we used. Pretty easy.
They sure are cute and loud.
Inca Dove
We did go to Reach 11, a recreational trail, in Phoenix, a few weeks ago. Not many birds that day…but this poor old Saguaro keeps standing. A lot of birds use it for nesting in the spring so hope it holds up.
And a couple months ago I was at a park along the Rio Salado and saw these 2 duck friends…a Domestic and a colorful Muscovy.
And that pretty much concludes this post. Hope life picks up for us all soon. Stay safe!
Anna’s Hummingbird, male
Some people think the desert is brown and boring and our birds are brown and colorless. It’s just not true! Here are pics from our yard in the last few days…
Above are a Pine Siskin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Verdin, Lesser Goldfinch female, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lesser Goldfinch male, and Orange-crowned Warbler. They are all only 4-4.5 inches long.
Rosy-faced Lovebirds (the young ones have black on their bills and less vivid coloring on their faces)
Honeybee on Sage and Lavender
My sweet little Orange-crowned Warbler, “Tink”
Inca Doves (there were over 22 in the yard that day)
And guess what? We had snow in Phoenix on January 25! We’ve seen it in the mountains around town and a light dusting now and then but nothing like this storm!
So the desert is not all brown…and we haven’t even started spring yet when everything here bursts into color!
Anna’s Hummingbirds, male
Well, 2021 has been both bad and good. Let’s hope Good prevails. If everyone was as happy as these Rosy-faced Lovebirds, I guess we would be in good shape. They are feral in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. Cheery and loud little critters.
I guess the quarantine has gotten to me. I can’t seem to stop putting my backyard birds into little tableaus. The ones I have done so far are all in an album on Flickr. But here are a few more since my last post. The Curve-billed Thrashers are the ones that are the most common stars of the show but the Abert’s Towhees and Northern Mockingbirds get brave sometimes, too.
I feel certain there will be more anthropomorphizing to come…but here are a few other of the yard birds who do not participate in this birdplay.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, wintering
“My” wintering Orange-crowned Warbler, “Tink”
Lesser Goldfinches, male and females
Pine Siskins recently became the 54th species of yardbirds I have. There is an irruption of them all over the country right now, which means there are a bunch of them in places you don’t normally see them. They love thistle (nyjer) and share the sock with my goldfinches. So you might see some, too, if you’re looking.
