And It Became 2024

Happy 2024. We’ve had some cold-for-Arizona days and nights with rain. Then it cleared up for a few days but tomorrow we are heading back into a few more days of rain and cooler temps. So I’ve really not been anywhere much but the yard…and finally a few migratory birds showed up but they haven’t really stuck around long. I don’t know why they haven’t stayed longer, there is plenty of food for one and all.

White-crowned Sparrow, immature — *White-crowned Sparrow (this is an immature one but there were adults, too)*

The young Cooper’s Hawk is often closeby:

You don’t want him looking at you that way!

My old standbys are around, of course:

Just a House Sparrow... — *House Sparrow, male*

Mockingbird and Star — *Northern Mockingbird*

Thrasher in the Pines (Explored 3.27.2024, thanks!) — *Curve-billed Thrasher*

But it’s a good thing that I have kitties around to amuse me and take photos of. Ferguson is the most cooperative of the bunch so here he is amusing me in various ways:

Prepping for Valentine's Day — *Prepping for Valentine’s Day*

Goin' Birdwatching — *Getting ready to go birdwatching with me*

Yo soy El Gato Supremo. — *Proving that he really is El Gato Supremo, trying to be their spokescat*

That Darn Santa... — *Playing with his educational Christmas toy*

And these 2:

*Torti and Bouche whiling away a rainy day*

Representing the outdoor cats in this post is Sadly, a sweet semi-feral boy with dreamy seafoam green eyes:

So I hope your 2024 is going well for all of you and that we all have a fun, glorious year ahead!

A Colorful Yard

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

*Mr. White, an unusually marked House Finch*

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!

How’s 2021 Going?

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.

*“How can we start a Rock ‘n Roll band if everyone plays guitar?”*

*The Curve-billed Thrasher is looking for an agent; peanuts are not enough pay anymore*

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.

A New Year

Who isn’t ready for a brand new year, much better than the last? This Curve-billed Thrasher is ready for another year of peanuts.

One more of an Abert’s Towhee ending the holidays:

I read this in an Audubon email I got today: “A tradition among bird-lovers is taking note of the first bird we see on New Year’s Day. Whether it’s a charming Red-breasted Nuthatch or the ubiquitous American Robin, the first bird you see can symbolize the start of great things in the year to come.”

The first bird I see most days is a pigeon (or 20) so I’m going with the first bird I photographed on New Year’s Day, a female Anna’s Hummingbird doing a pole dance.

So this is what I’m taking as the symbolism of the hummingbird into 2021: “The hummingbird represents an ancient symbol of joy and happiness. Its colorful appearance brings good luck and positive energy to our lives.” I’ll take that…

The other day I went for a walk at a little pond close to where I live and was surprised to find several Pintail Ducks, so elegant-looking (click to enlarge):

I finished out the old year with one more new yard bird species, #54, a Pine Siskin. Now there are more and they are sharing the thistle sock with the Lesser Goldfinches.

The doves in my yard now: Inca Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, and Mourning Dove:

Here is a male Anna’s Hummingbird on the last day of 2020, a dreary day in Phoenix. I almost never see one on their little swing so, of course, he did it on a cloudy day when I was far away.

I have a Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon’s and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet also wintering in my yard. They are both so fast that good photos are hard to come by.

And, of course, my little Orange-crowned Warbler, Tink:

Would you like to see one of my cats, Ferguson? He’s become quite the Chess prodigy. Here he is, choosing white, strategizing, licking a rook, and making his first move of the Tuna Gambit.

Wishing a better year for us all.

Twenty Twenty!

Female and Male Anna’s Hummingbirds

Here are a few yardbirds that have shown up in 2020. I think this little guy was here last winter. You often don’t see the red crowns on the males unless they are excited…I guess he got excited.