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?

A Flicker, Sparrow and Goldfinch Flew Into Our Yard…

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There were a few bird photos I took this weekend that made me smile. I never know what I’m going to get until I connect my memory card to my laptop and open up Adobe Bridge. That’s the program I use to view my photos. If I like the image, it gets exported to my laptop. It dawned on me that I should backup my photos on a thumb drive! I have a bad track record with backups. Once I lost an entire novel’s manuscript because I didn’t back up my laptop and files started disappearing. I contacted Apple and they couldn’t recover my files and they suspected it was a hardware issue.

The photo above is a Gilded Flicker and it made the cut.

This House Sparrow at the birdbath was a saver, too.

Here he is getting a sip of water after a rainy day.

I had another visit by a Lesser Goldfinch. I wrote about them for Bird of the Week after my first encounter with this tiny little bird. Here are a few more photos:

This photo gives perspective of the size of Lesser Goldfinch next to a House Sparrow. Prior to seeing Lesser Goldfinches, the sparrow was one of the smaller species we had in our yard.

The Lesser Goldfinch is getting ready to make her move!

There she goes!

I hope you enjoyed my photos today. I welcome your feedback.

Which ones did you like and why?

A Bright Sunny Day

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With a break from rainy days, I took my camera across the street to the nature’s preserve to get some photos. I marveled at how green it is in the desert.

The Octotillo look very happy.

Then I slowly walked around our yard to observe the beauty. This bee was busy with a fairy duster plant in our front yard.

The Pyracantha white blossoms have disappeared and been replaced with fruit.

A cactus in bloom.

The Honeysuckle is blooming, too.

The Fire Stick plant is huge and topped with new growth.

Even the Aloe seems healthier with all our rainy days.

One last look at the greenery in the desert.

Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?