February 2022

I started this blog on February 13, 2009…so 13 years of blogging…but it has gotten sparser and sparser as the years have gone by. Initially, I posted almost daily, then down to 3 times a week, then weekly, then a couple times a month and now I try to do it at least monthly. I know people don’t read blogs as often anymore and there is other social media that is more immediate but I do it sort of for myself, too, so I can look back and remember what was going on at a certain time in my life. But I do thank anyone who still reads this. So here is a jumble of photos I’ve taken since my last post. More birds~House Sparrow female, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Curve-billed Thrasher, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Gila Woodpecker male, House Finch male, Anna’s Hummingbird male.

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And cats…these are the indoor cats…Ferguson, the most cooperative, Torti, the least cooperative, and Bouche, who still can’t totally let go of the outdoor life. He’s a dasher. There are several outdoor kitties, too.

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Hope to see you in March!!!!!

Birdsong

Sometimes there are 50 or more birds in our yard at one time, eating, hanging out…and the cacophony of bird sounds is pretty intense. Other times there are gentle chirps and buzzes…

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Abert’s Towhees

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Curve-billed Thrashers

House Sparrow

Gila Woodpecker

Rosy-faced Lovebird

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House Finches (click to enlarge)

The Anna’s Hummingbirds are sipping from the plants I recently bought.

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And perching and fighting and showing their colors…(click to enlarge)

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Northern Mockingbird

And my little Orange-crowned Warbler happily winters here…

But they all need to watch out for this guy:

American Kestrel

Holiday Cheer

“I’m glad I’m wintering in Phoenix!”

Are you in the mood for the holidays? Hmmm, I’m not really (yet, anyway) but here are a few photos of my yard birds beginning to celebrate.

“For me? I hope it’s peanuts.”

“I pecked that myself.”

That was an Orange-crowned Warbler (“Tink”), a House Finch, a Curve-billed Thrasher,  an Anna’s Hummingbird, and a Gila Woodpecker.

“Mom, I wish we had a fireplace and I wish I had a Christmas sweater.”

And here are a few from holidays past…beginning with Google in 2009. He still likes the Christmas tree but mostly lays under it instead of in it now.

House Sparrows, an American Robin, European Starlings, a Verdin, Northern Mockingbirds, a Say’s Phoebe, and a Desert Cottontail were all hoping for some holiday cheer.

Svengali, Kit, Stripey

Jessi, Ivory, Ferguson

Ebony, Google, Edie, Torti

Happy Holidays, Happy Solstice…if you celebrate…

 

Citizen Science…

I love observing and learning about the critters right in our own back yard. There is always something going on if you take the time to look…

The last few days, I moved my portable perch over to the only thing in our yard that has autumn colors…the pomegranate bush…which didn’t produce any pomegranates this year. That’s too bad because birds love pomegranates. Adding a few peanuts to the perch draws them in, though.

Curve-billed Thrashers

House Sparrows, female and male

This very strange looking little creature dropped by. Someone on Facebook was able to ID it for me. “Tylospilus acutissimus is a species of predatory stink bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is found in the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and South America.” (Wikipedia)

This moth was found floating in a tub of water in the backyard. I thought it was a goner but it flew away after a couple hours of rest…look at its cute face!

Geometer Moth

A Honeybee was upside down in a container of grape jelly filled with rain. I put her in a dry spot and gave her some jelly which you can see she is sucking up here and she flew away after awhile, too. Both took off to pollinate the world!

My favorite winter visitor also loves grape jelly…

Orange-crowned Warbler

Lesser Goldfinches, male and female (they love baths and thistle)

Northern Mockingbird

Verdin

Anna’s Hummingbird

Here’s a few citizen scientist things you can do in your yard (click to go to articles):

1. Don’t rake your leaves as much.
2. Join eBird and record your sightings.
3. Feed the birds, especially in the winter.

 

Yard Moments

Ash-throated Flycatcher, Yard Bird #39

Abert’s Towhee

Curve-billed Thrasher

Inca Dove

White-winged Dove

Verdin

These Black-chinned Hummingbirds are smaller than our resident Anna’s Hummingbirds. They’re also more skittish. It’s really hard to get a photo of their purple collar as well as getting them in flight. I wasn’t able to get a photo yet of one flying while showing the purple.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, male

Black-chinned Hummingbird, female

White-crowned Sparrow

Green-tailed Towhee, Yard Bird #40

I was totally shocked to see this guy, above, but it is spring migration so you never know who may pop by. We have a mulberry bush with berries right now but I don’t know if he got any and I haven’t seen him since. They are beautiful birds. He appeared at almost sunset with the sun right behind him and only posed on a wire so these aren’t the greatest shots.

Mom House Sparrow feeding baby

House Finch, immature 

House Finches, male

The orange guy is a little different from all the red ones we have. It’s partly due to diet and genetics. This is an interesting article about why redder is not always better for finches.

Anna’s Hummingbird, flying by fake hummer

Stripey and the Solar Cat

See Stripey’s tongue sticking out? I don’t think she was too impressed with the solar cat.