Bird of the Week — Verdin

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A Verdin drinking nectar in our honeysuckle on the backyard patio.

Verdin – Auriparus flaviceps

I mistakenly identified this little bird as a Lesser Goldfinch the other day in a blog post. A fellow birdwatcher and blogger told me it’s a Verdin because it doesn’t have the yellowish body. I use the Merlin app to identify birds by their calls. I often have Verdin in my yard and hear them, but this is the first time I saw one and got a photo.

As you can see from the one photo I captured, this little bird is barely larger than a hummingbird. It has a bright yellow head, chestnut shoulder patch and a white body. Originally, I saw hummingbirds in the honeysuckle. I thought I got a good photo of one hanging upside down, but it turned out to be this guy!

Habitat

Verdins reside in arid deserts of the Southwest United States and Mexico. They avoid open spaces and live in washes and areas of desert with prickly thorny plants and trees such as cholla, creosote, mesquite and ironwood.

Food

They eat insects and seeds and fruit from desert plants as well as drink nectar. Aphids, caterpillars, beetles and spiders are a few of the insects they eat. They are also attracted to hummingbird feeders and drink that nectar.

Nesting

The male and female both build their nests, which are six-inch in diameter and a spherical shape. The outside is made of thorns and sticks, while the inside is filled with an inch of soft material like feathers, grasses and plant fibers. The female works mainly on the inside of the nest, while the male builds the exterior. They are not monogamous except through single breeding seasons, but do not stay together all year long.

Location

Calls

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Verdin/sounds

They’re Growing Arms!

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This was the only saguaro in our backyard that was growing an arm. We estimate this cactus is 50 to 75 years old. All our other cactus were arm free. Until this week. Now several are sprouting arms. My guess is that it has something to do with our weather. We are in our fifth or sixth consecutive week of rainy days. It’s been raining three to four days a week. FYI, the black holes on the saguaro are created by woodpeckers hollowing out nests. When they abandon their nests, other species of birds move in.

Here are a few more photos from our backyard of cactus arms and buds:

Here’s a barrel cactus growing arms on the side. They are also known as pups.

This saguaro is partially hidden by branches from a mesquite tree. There’s a small arm popping out the front, too.

This is called a Peruvian Apple Cactus (the skinny one that look like it’s growing an arm.) I learned that’s actually the fruit growing. There are several of them in our yards.

Here’s another one. The black string that hangs from the fruit is the dried up blossom.

Photos from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve:

This is a saguaro out in the wilds of the preserve across the street. It’s saguaro like this that my husband says he has cactus arm envy!

My husband and I on the trails at the nature’s preserve across the street. It takes a saguaro 50 to 75 years to grow their first arm. I wonder how old these are?

Do you have any feedback on my cactus arm info?

Are you having tons of rain, too?

Roadrunner, Squirrel and Finch

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A fuzzy, fluffy Roadrunner. I found out this is a juvenile because of his dark eyes, small crest and yes, fluffy feathers.

With my stressful, busy week that included worrying about my dad in ICU, an Xray, an eye appointment, dinner out with the ladies and two PT appointments, I can’t think straight. That’s why my posts this week consist of photos.

I found photography to be especially soothing and grounding this week. I took more pictures I’m proud of and happy to share. One of my favorite bits of photography is connecting the SD card to my laptop and looking at my captures. I never know what I’ve gotten, because I don’t look at the photos on my camera. I did get one new lifetime bird, so I’ll be working on a “Bird of the Week” challenge next week.

Another photo of the Roadrunner.

The squirrel is a talented climber and somehow avoids the cactus spikes on his tummy.

Mr. Squirrel likes to eat his birdseed on a bench where he leaves quite a mess!

A male House Finch is a pretty red and settled at the birdbath for me to get a few photos.

Which photos are your favorites?

What are your weekend plans?

Birds and Bees

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A juvenile Harris’s Hawk stopped by for a visit. Mostly he was behind leaves in our Mesquite tree so I only got one photo that worked.

I’ve had a stressful week and I’ve found the way I’m keeping sane is being out in nature and photographing my birds and plants. I got a call two days ago that my dad was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The staff at his assisted living found him unconscious in bed in the middle of the day covered in vomit that was black. In case you didn’t know, that’s not a good sign. The second day in the hospital, the doctor gave me a more promising update on his health. He’s coherent and conscious.

Here are a few of my photos from this week:

Harris’s Antelope Squirrel in the morning light.

A Lesser Goldfinch enjoying Honeysuckle nectar.

A Gila Woodpecker likes to eat Cactus Barrel blossoms.

A couple of bee photos.

Which photos do you like and why?

Backyard Critters

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There were three of these Harris’s Antelope Squirrels running around our backyard yesterday. They were chasing each other around. It didn’t look like it was friendly either. More of a “this is my territory so get lost” kind of look.

I skipped a day of putting out birdseed, so the birds (and squirrels) went wild when I put out a birdseed block yesterday.

Here are a few photos from the backyard yesterday:

A House Sparrow at the birdbath.

A female Gambel’s Quail on a bench.

A male Gambel’s Quail walking to the birdseed block.

A bunch of quail attacking the birdseed block.

A Mourning Dove jumped into the birdbath and made a splash.

One more look at the House Sparrow.

Which is your favorite photo and why?

Rain, Rain Go Away?

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I’ve lost track of how many weeks of rain we’ve had in the desert. If I were to guess, I’d say we’re on week four. It doesn’t rain every single day. But three to four days per week. This post has a few photos and videos of clouds and rain from my iphone.

I took photos last week of how green the desert is because of the rain HERE.

A rainy day earlier this week.

This week, not only did we get two inches of rain, Flagstaff had tornadoes and Prescott had two-inch balls of hail!

Once we were driving up to Flagstaff to celebrate our anniversary and we got caught in a hail storm. It was terrifying because we couldn’t see anything and golf-ball sized hail pounded on our car. I’ll be honest, I was terrified and completely lost it. My husband drove slowly behind a semi truck, following his lights. We were on a highway that off the right shoulder was a cliff. We stuck to the left lane against the mountain. When we got to Flagstaff we got out of the car to discover it was dented from chrome front bumper to rear bumper and every bit of surface in between

I saw these clouds on a morning walk. I got back safely inside the house before a large crack of thunder and a downpour!

At least the crocs are enjoying the rain! I have to say, I am too. It’s exciting weather with thunder lightning and downpours.

Another thing I like about rain in the desert is the aroma afterward of creosote. The word for the smell after a rain is called petrichor.

What kind of weather are you having now?

What are your weekend plans?

What a Difference a Day Makes

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Red has been missing in action for a few weeks, but finally showed up again this week. I also spotted Mrs. but she flew away before I could get a photo. My only disappointment in seeing Red was that my Bird Buddy bird feeder didn’t capture his picture or video. I think Red is standing outside the camera’s range. He’s sneaky that way!

I’m not sure if it’s all the rain that has kept the birds, including Red, at bay. I have heard Red chirping several times, but I wasn’t able to spot him. Also, his adopted fledgling, a Brown Headed Cowbird, is no longer hanging out with Red or Mrs.

I say “what a difference a day makes” because Red’s feathers are grown in. He’s back to his beautiful self.

This photo is from early September when Red was molting. Poor thing. Maybe he was embarrassed to being seen and photographed until his feathers grew back!

But in typical fashion of Red, when I fill the bird feeder, he’s once again the first bird in. He likes to stop by early in the morning and in the evenings. Mrs. is never too far away.

What are your plans for the rest of the week?