Tag Archives: bird watching

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?

Squirrel!

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I watched this little Harris’s Antelope Squirrel, who looks like a chipmunk, romping around the yard. First he was on top of the waterfall in the pool. But by the time I grabbed my camera he moved to the outdoor fireplace.

We also have Harris’s Hawks, so I decided to find out more about this Harris guy. This is what AI told me:

Both animals are named in honor of Edward Harris (1799–1863), an American naturalist, philanthropist, and horse breeder from New Jersey.

He was a close friend and financial supporter of the famous ornithologist and artist John James Audubon. Harris accompanied Audubon on two major wildlife-gathering expeditions: one along the Gulf of Mexico in 1837 and another up the Missouri River in 1843.

To thank him for his friendship and financial help, Audubon named several newly cataloged species after him, including:

  • Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)
  • Harris’s Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus harrisii)
  • Harris’s Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula

FYI, this is a photo of a Harris’s Sparrow from the website All About Birds. They aren’t found in Arizona, so I’ll be out of luck taking a picture of one here. They are found in the middle of the country from Texas all the way to Northern Canada.

I have been able to get many photos of Harris’s Hawks.

Back to my Harris’s Antelope Squirrel:

Here is the Harris’s Antelope Squirrel posing in front of a little fireplace ceramic statue of a chiminea on the mantel of the real fireplace. I learned the word antelope is in its name because it often carries its tail curled up over its back revealing a white rump like an antelope. Who knew?

He spent the afternoon getting settled into his new home.

Happy Friday!

What plans do you have for the weekend?

This week went by so quickly for me. How about for you?

One Year Ago….Birds Plus More Surgeries

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I like looking back on what I was focused on in the past through old blog posts. Sometimes I feel I am doing the exact same things at the same time of year. I looked back on what I was doing last October. It’s eerily the same as this year.

Ever since my ankle and foot surgeries in the past year and a half, my kids and my husband have been urging me to get back to PT. They say they see a difference in my balance and strength. They are right. I’m weaker and I hesitate when climbing stairs or scrambling over a rocky trail at the beach.

So I did it. I went to PT last week for an evaluation. The physical therapist told me to see my orthopedic surgeon. That’s where we are starting in this quest for balance and strength. I’m having pain in my left foot that then makes my knee hurt. She said that’s why my balance is off. Hopefully, I need new orthotics, different shoes and not another surgery. The therapist said she wasn’t going to push me and make my foot hurt worse until I see my ortho. Appointment made for later this week and I’ll find out what’s up.

This is what I wrote last year from a post October 2025:

I was so excited to capture this photo of Red taking off the Ocotillo!

I’m going to the Bay Area to take care of my daughter post shoulder surgery. She has a repetitive use injury from swimming from kindergarten through college. Her practices in college added up to 12,000 yards of swimming per day.

I’ve been especially nervous and haven’t been sleeping well. There’s a back story to that, besides the anxiety and worry. (Ever since our last thunder and lightning storm our house alarm has been going off at 3 a.m. Now that I figured out how to get it to stop, my body is programmed to get up at 3 a.m.) Once awake, I worry about my upcoming trip and my daughter.

Mrs. giving a side-eye to another bird at the birdseed block.

I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to take a last look at my ankle. I discussed my other foot with the doctor. My first visit to her was about the left foot, but she discovered my “sprain” was a break in the right ankle — and I was scheduled for emergency surgery.

Now we’re back to the original issue and I’ll have surgery after taking care of my daughter!

Back to 2026:

Hopefully my kids won’t need my help in October 2026 because of new ailments or surgeries!

How was your weekend? What are your plans for the upcoming week?

It’s All About the Quail

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A young female Gambel’s Quail walking past the cactus statue.

We have two types of birds that visit every day. Quail and doves. I enjoy quail more than doves, because with their top knots they look like clowns and have tons of personality.

I caught this sharp photo of a male quail alone on the bird block.

This female quail strikes a pose on a backyard bench.

Papa quail is looking a bit round. I can tell the difference between the adults and juveniles who are entering adulthood by their size. The ones who hatched in the Spring look skinny in comparison to this guy (see the first photo for a young one.)

A female quail caught mid step on a bench (above) and a male below.

Wickham Works Cards Update:

It’s been a couple days since my website went live for my photographic greeting cards. I mailed out my first order to a fellow blogger. Thank you!

I went out to dinner with women I used to volunteer with to raise money for a residential facility to rehab sex-trafficked victims. Our group is defunct, but we still get together socially. One of those ladies looked at my cards and asked for custom stationery featuring her name and flowers.

Yes, I can take custom orders, too! I hadn’t thought about that before.

If you get a chance, visit my website: https://www.wickhamworkscards.com/

One of my cards with the star named Red.

Happy weekend! What are your plans?

In case you were wondering about Red…

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He’s still looking gnarly with his late summer molting, but his crest is coming back.

Red can be seen most days feeding his adopted Cowbird. If you missed the post about Cowbirds, I wrote about them HERE.

I haven’t seen Mrs. for a few weeks. Although there was a very young female Cardinal who stopped by. Maybe Red is in charge of all the children, legitimate or not?

Red’s current look makes me miss the days of old when Red was the most handsome bird in our desert.

Happy Friday! What are your plans for the weekend?

Birds and More Birds

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This is a juvenile Harris’s Hawk who stopped by last week. The spotted chest and leggings are why I know it’s a juvie. Adults are solid brown in those places.

On the smaller side of birds are these two House Sparrows.

A Mourning Dove enjoyed the bird bath too and got fluffed up.

A quail couple feasted on the birdseed block.

A Roadrunner took over a bench in the backyard.

Another look at the Harris’s Hawk.

Which birds are your favorites out of this batch of photos?

Bird of the Week — Cowbird

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This is a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird in our backyard. I first noticed him hanging out with our male Northern Cardinal, which I found odd. Then I learned that Cowbirds are famous for laying their eggs in the nests of other bird species instead of building their own. This is known as a brood parasite. Cowbirds do not raise their own chicks, but the unsuspecting birds who incubate the Cowbird’s eggs raise them instead.

Brown-headed Cowbird — Molothrus ater

SIZE:

  • Male
    • Length: 7.5-8.7 in (19-22 cm)
    • Weight: 1.5-1.8 oz (42-50 g)
    • Wingspan: 14.2 in (36 cm)
  • Female
    • Length: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
    • Weight: 1.3-1.6 oz (38-45 g)
    • Wingspan: 12.6-15.0 in (32-38 cm)

LOCATION:

FOOD:

Cowbirds eat seeds from weeds and grasses and some grains. They live near cattle and bison and feed on Insects such as grasshoppers and beetles, that the large mammals stir into into motion.

This is our male Northern Cardinal named “Red” who is feeding the juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird.

Eventually, the juvenile Cowbirds leave their adoptive families and find other Cowbirds. Scientists are studying this phenomenon to figure out how they recognize their own species. Some think it’s through their sounds that they recognize other Cowbirds.

SOUNDS:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/sounds