A Harris’s Hawk landed in a tree in our backyard. We haven’t had one stop by for months, although I see them soaring overhead. I could hear his call and I spent a bit of time trying to spot him behind branches. The link is to a Youtube video of Harris’s hawks in flight with their sounds. I wouldn’t want to mess with those claws or beak!
This is a compilation of my favorite photos that I took this week.
Papa quail shares the birdseed block with a few of his babies.
A White-winged Dove perches on a flamingo buddy.
Bully bird Curve-billed Thrasher lands on the cactus statue before scaring everyone away from the birdseed block.
An adult House Finch feeds it’s juvenile.
Red watches over the rain meter during a Monsoon week.
House Sparrows are one of the most common birds we have. Their success in the wild is a result of their close relationship to humans. They are found in backyards, cities and throughout North America and most parts of the world. The House Sparrow was introduced in Brooklyn, New York in 1851. By 1900 they spread to the Rocky Mountains. They originated in Eurasia and North Africa.
Here’s a map of their range in North and South America:
This is a female House Sparrow on the birdseed block.
They are a small bird that has an average length of 16 cm and a mass of 24–39.5 g. Females and young sparrows are pale brown and grey, while males have brighter black, white, and brown markings.
They eat mostly seeds but will also eat insects as well as left over fast food from people or bread crumbs.
A House Sparrow visiting our birdbath.
They nest in manmade objects like eaves of houses, light boxes and planters. They also take over other birds nests in trees. A typical clutch size is three to four eggs and they may have several broods per year.
Three male sparrows splashing in the bird bath. House Sparrows are my most frequent visitors to the bird bath.
Plus, we had guests over that I was so excited to see. One of our kids’ friends from club swimming in Palm Springs who lives in Tempe with her husband and six-month old first born baby! We made lunch and they played in the pool.
I also managed to get a few captures of bird photos that I like.
A Roadrunner darted about chasing quail. This clever guy hid himself in a planter at the far end of the yard with only his head showing. He’d jump out “Beep beep!” and go for the chase. Fortunately, he didn’t have success.
Curve-billed Thrasher with fuzzy feathers make me believe he’s a youngster.
This Abert’s Towhee juvenile explored a planter.
More juvies looking for trouble!
A Gila Woodpecker up in the tree surveying the quail spectacle below.
This grown up Curve-billed Thrasher was keeping an eye out for the young one.
Mrs. and Red hung out in the morning before it got too hot!
This is my first card, second attempt. I’m using the app Canva. I was so excited to receive my first test order of “Red cards” yesterday. But there was something wrong. My excitement soon turned to disappointment.
I thought I had created a folded card with Red’s photo on the front, my logo on the back and blank inside so people can write a personal message. What came in the mail was this:
A flat two-sided card that was blank on the back. No logo. No fold. Not what I thought I had created.
I used Canva AI to help with the layout to make sure I had the pages set up correctly. According to AI, it was ready to go and AI even complimented me on my card!
After delivery, I immediately went to Canva’s website to complain that my cards weren’t printed correctly. Customer service was through a chatbot. What a world we live in! No human beings around. The bot told me that I had selected “Cards” when I should have selected “Folded Cards.” I asked where to find it and was told “Go to Home, click on Print Shop, click on Folded Cards.”
But of course. Silly me. Why didn’t I think of that. Instead, I clicked on Templates. Ugh.
Canva was kind enough to give me an instant refund. After finding “Folded Cards,” I was able to recreate the card properly (I hope) and ordered another small test run. (See first photo above.)
In the meantime, while I wait to inspect round two of test cards, I got my business license, I ordered business cards (with my license number) and I’m creating more cards.
One of my graphic designer friends who encouraged me in this project said, “Next comes your website!”
I’ve tried to stay away from AI, but it pops up everywhere.
Are you finding more and more AI in your daily life? Where and do you use it?
Do you have any suggestions for an easy website app that’s not WP?
I spotted a new bird in our yard last week. This is a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker. It’s much smaller than my other woodpeckers, the Gila Woodpecker and Gilded Flicker. It was high up in a tree and I could tell it was a new bird by it’s shape. This was the only photo I caputured.
Here’s the info I found from All About Birds and Audubon about this small woodpecker:
SIZE:
Both Sexes
Length: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
Weight: 0.7-1.7 oz (21-48 g)
Wingspan: 13.0 in (33 cm)
COLOR:
Ladder-backed Woodpeckers are black-and-white with ladder rung stripes on the back, and a more checkered pattern on the wings. The underparts are whitish or gray, flecked with black. The white face is broken by black lines that extend from the bill and eye. Males have red crowns; females have blackish crowns.
BEHAVIOR:
I learned from All About Birds that they forage in trees and bushes and are mostly hidden from view. That’s probably why I haven’t seen one until recently!
They live in hot arid areas such as deserts, pinyon forests, or dry scrub. They build nests in cavities in trees and cactus.
DIET: They mostly eat insects including caterpillars, ants and beetles. They also eat fruit and seeds, plus cactus fruit. They forage in tree bark, pecking with their beaks to find bugs.
The quail are always in our backyard. There are so many families with mom and dad and a batch of babies that I can’t keep track. One family has two babies. Another has 10 or 11 and there are families with every number in between.
The poppa quail usually finds a perch on a bench or rock to have a good view of his family while they scratch around for birdseed in the gravel, or visit the birdseed block.
A pretty momma quail mostly stays with her babies. I see the moms calling out to them to round them up and keep them close by.
Here’s a teenager quail. There are very few little itty bitties around anymore. They grow up so quickly!
Here’s a group of babies hanging out in the shade of a barrel cactus.
Three young ones making their move to the bird seed block.
This teenager has legs!
Another poppa quail on the lookout for his family.
I will miss these quail families when the babies are all grown up and they start their own family units. That will be next spring.
I had some amazing photo sessions with Red and Mrs. this week. Instead of taking photos from inside the casita through the window, I sat outside. Red landed within a few feet of me and posed. Mrs. did the same.
The result of sitting outside with my camera was clearer photos. Red and Mrs. didn’t seem afraid of me at all. In fact, every time I sat outside, they appeared and flitted around me.
I shared a few of my Red and Mrs. photos with my graphic designer friends I worked with back in my PR days in Palm Springs. They both moved a few miles away from our home but they moved here 15 years before us. They were so encouraging about my photos. They suggested I sell prints and make cards. One said that cardinals are very popular in Arizona and cards would do well.
I never thought of those things before. I followed their advice and made a card using Canva that is blank inside with a photo of Red on the cover. I ordered a few to see how they will turn out! I’ll let you know.
I even came up with a little logo to put on the back of the card.
Happy Friday! What are your plans for the 250th birthday of our nation?
