Card Update

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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?

Bird of the Week — Ladder-backed Woodpecker

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Bird of the Week: CLXXVI

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.

CALLS:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ladder-backed_Woodpecker/sounds

It’s All About Quail

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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.

Happy Monday! What are your plans this week?

Red Alert

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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?

Bird of the Week — Abert’s Towhee

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Bird of the Week: CLXXV

We had a newcomer to our yard last week. This is Abert’s Towhee, a sandy brown large sparrow with a black patch around its beak. My Merlin App that identifies birds by their calls had ID’d Abert’s Towhee months ago, but I had never seen him. I was excited to finally get a glimpse and have a new bird to photograph.

Abert’s Towhees mate for life and can be found in dense brush in the Sonoran Desert along lakes, streams and in urban neighborhoods. They build their nests in mesquite, cottonwood, willow and mistletoe.

Abert’s Towhee was named in 1852 for Lt. Col. James William Abert (1820–1897), a U.S. Army officer in the Topographical Engineers who obtained the first specimen during a survey of New Mexico at the end of the Mexican War.

From Audubon:

Description

Both sexes — Length: 8.3–9.5 in (21–24 cm); wingspan: 10.4–11.6 in (26–29 cm); weight: 1.5–1.9 oz (43–54 g). Slim and long-tailed. The Abert’s Towhee is warm buffy brown with a black face and a pale gray bill. Usually in denser habitats than the Canyon Towhee, and has a different voice.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/aberts-towhee

RANGE:

Abert’s Towhee is a very local bird to the Sonoran Desert where I live. They are territorial and do not migrate. Here’s a map of their range:

FOOD:

Their diet consists of insects and seeds. They like beetles, ants, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and cicadas and seeds from grasses and weeds.

CALLS:

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

What a way to go!

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This is a yellow Century Plant in full bloom in our yard.

From Planet Desert:

The yellow century plant (often known as the Variegated Century Plant or Agave americana ‘Marginata’ / ‘Variegata’) is a massive, drought-tolerant succulent . It features striking, blue-green foliage lined with bright yellow or cream margins and sharp marginal teeth. It thrives in arid environments like Scottsdale and needs minimal watering once established .

It was called a Century Plant because it was believed to bloom once every hundred years. What I learned is it blooms once in its lifetime once it’s a mature plant which happens around 15 to 30 years. Then it dies.

These two photos give you a perspective of what the plant and stalk look like. A neighbor pointed out my beautiful yellow blossoms next to our driveway. I hadn’t noticed the blooms because it’s tucked away behind a saguaro and other plants.

More from Planet Desert:

A century plant (Agave genus) typically dies within a few months after it finishes blooming. Because it is a “monocarpic” plant, it puts all of its remaining energy into creating a massive central flower stalk.

Once the seeds have developed and ripened, the entire plant withers and dries up. 

While the mother plant dies, the lifecycle continues through offshoots, commonly known as “pups” or “hijos,” which grow at the base of the plant.

It is bittersweet that such a beautiful plant will be dying soon. I felt sad taking photos of it. My neighbor has one ready to bloom in her yard. As an artist, she said she’ll be take photos that she’ll use for a painting. Through our photographs and paintings, the Century Plant will live on.

What are your thoughts about Century Plants? Have you heard of monocarpic plants?

Favorite bird photos of the week

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I got quite a few good photos of Red and Mrs. I saw them every single day, but not a glimpse of their fledglings. I wonder if they flew the nest and are living life without mom and dad?

We had an amazing evening with Red. I spotted him on the fence to our courtyard outside our front door. I talked to him, calling “Hey Red.” I went inside and told my husband. He suggested we sit in the courtyard and hang out with Red. We enjoyed the sun with Red flitting above us. Red flew into the tree we were sitting under. He flew to the wall, the fence and back up into the tree, singing to us. He called for Mrs. and she joined our group. We hung out with them for half an hour and finally went inside.

I took this with my iphone, so the quality isn’t that great. But you can see how we got to hang out with our friendliest bird Red.

Here’s one of the photos I took of Mrs. this week. I’m liking this week’s photos because of the clarity of my subject birds (not the ones in the background.) This is thanks to my photographer friend Gary Gruber. He suggested a few weeks ago that I change my settings to a faster shutter speed.

A gilded flicker stopped at the birdbath in the morning light.

A White-winged dove was hanging out for a day.

The resident bully bird, a Curve-billed Thrasher, loves to throw his beak around and intimidate the other birds.

Papa quail with his babies having a word with Red.

I had a first time visitor to the birdseed block. This is Albert’s Towhee. I used his call on my Merlin app to identify him and then went to All About Birds to ID him according to his looks.

I got this closeup of a quail dad’s face and fluffy feathers.

Which photo or photos are your favorites?

What are your weekend plans?

Do you have anything special planned to celebrate July 4th plans?