Tag Archives: birdwatching

Is it nesting time?

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One of my blogging friends, from Brilliant Viewpoint, suggested that I put water out for my backyard birds. I told her that the doves like to get on the pool float and drink water. I said I’d post a photo, so here it is! FYI, I also ordered a bird bath from Amazon, but so far no birds have used it.

I was distressed the other day because it was a rare day that I didn’t see Red at all. He made an appearance the next day. Talk about relief! However, he didn’t stick around like he usually does and I didn’t see Mrs.

I read about cardinals and their mating and nesting times. I believe they have a nest in a Teddy Bear cactus (cholla) in the wash behind our house. I’ve seen them fly in and out. It’s a very protected space with the prickly plant offering a barrier to predators.

It’s the right time of year for Red and Mrs. to have babies. They start building their nest as early as January and start nesting and laying eggs as early as April and as late as August. June seems ideal. The female builds the nest, lays the eggs and incubates them. The male forages for food. Part of the mating ritual is the male feeds the female. I’ve seen a lot of that lately. Red looks like he’s kissing Mrs. but he’s giving her a nice sunflower seed — one of their favorites.

Red feeding the Mrs.

Here’s a cholla in the neighborhood that has a nest tucked away inside it. You can see how protected the nest would be. You can’t see the nest, unless you’re in person, looking closeup.

Other interesting things I learned about Cardinals: They mate for life. The female lays from one to five eggs, usually three. She may lay eggs three times a year. Also, the male feeds her and the babies up until two weeks after they leave the nest. The males sing or chirp loudly to define their territory and to ward off other cardinals.

Yes, I think I’m not seeing much of Red and Mrs. because they are starting a family.

Here’s a video of Red and Mrs. You can see Red feeding Mrs. a sunflower!

Here’s to week two post surgery with a post op appointment on Friday!

What are you looking forward to this week?

Broken toes

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I spotted these blooms in the backyard which is amazing for July. They only lasted a day or two.

A few days before our trip to New York, our AC went out in the master bedroom. Now that it’s more than 100 degrees outside, that was not a good thing. We slept in the casita for a few nights until a repairman fixed the AC. One night, I got up to use the bathroom and smacked my toes on the bed post.

It was loud! It really hurt! I woke my husband up obviously.

So, off to New York City and Connecticut, where I could barely walk. Once home from the trip, I realized I still couldn’t make my morning walks. I’m still in pain. It’s frustrating as I sit looking out the window.

I’m not one who gets bored easily. I’m usually content reading or writing. But the lack of exercise isn’t helping. I have jumped in the pool to kick. It’s better than nothing. Plus, I’m lifting weights.

My biggest thrill right now is birdwatching.

Here’s a video of my baby quail:

How do you entertain yourself, if you’re injured? Any suggestions?

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” AA. Milne

Early birds

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Bird Buddy updated their app with a new feature. On live streaming on my phone, I can now snap photos. That’s how I got the photo above. Before, the app took photos on its own and for some reason, the Cardinal wasn’t getting many photos. I mostly got Mourning Doves and a Curved Bill Thrasher. My Cardinal couple probably flit away too quickly to get their pics taken. Now, when I spot them at the feeder, I can take their pictures. FYI, that’s a sunflower seed stuck to the bird’s beak or he’s in the process of chomping it down.

Enough with birds. This post was meant to be about changing my schedule back to being an early bird. It hit 90 degrees last week, which meant after I woke up between 6 and 7 a.m., wrote my morning pages, Bible readings, shower, etc. it was too warm outside. Although I still walked, I needed to make a change. The answer was to flip the script, get out of bed earlier and straight to walking. The rest of my morning routine could wait until after our walk.

The temperatures dropped to a low of 50, high of 70 degrees, but I decided to stick with the new schedule. I found it hard enough to get out of bed an hour earlier for a few days until I got used to it. Now that I’m used to it, I’ll stick with it throughout the summer.

My husband decided to make our morning walk more challenging by rucking. What is rucking you ask?

Rucking is the action of walking with weight on your back. Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack) is a low impact exercise based on military training workouts.

Hiking is rucking in the mountains and urban hiking is simply called rucking. You’ve probably even spent time rucking – traveling, bringing books to school, or on your commute to work. Carrying weight is a necessary part of life, and as it turns out, humans are naturally good at it, too.

ACTIVE RESISTANCE TRAINING™

Rucking builds muscle and strength while improving cardio and endurance. Bringing both types of exercises together provides a fuller range of benefits to improve your health. You can burn up to 3x more calories than walking.

https://www.goruck.com/pages/what-is-rucking

I don’t know why, but he’s embarrassed about his new rucking hobby. I think it’s too cute. Rucking is a popular thing now, not quite like pickleball, but more and more people are doing it. But hubby is motivated to get out the door early to avoid any neighbors seeing him with a rucksack on his back. Today, we saw ran into someone when we were less than a block from home.

“Five minutes earlier and we would have made it,” he said.

How does your schedule change with the seasons?

Have you heard of rucking before and do you think you’ll try it?

Our wild neighborhood

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We saw two mule deer on our morning walk.

Unfortunately our nest of quail eggs did not hatch. It makes me sad, because I was looking forward to our own hatchlings. We do have a couple families of quail visit our backyard. I also was thrilled to see deer yesterday morning.

I’m not sure what to do with the nest of eggs. I’m leaving it alone for the time being, but think I should throw them away?

I never get tired of the wildlife in our neighborhood. Across the street we have the McDowell Nature Preserve with more than 130 miles of hiking trails. That’s probably why we get deer, coyotes, javelina and bobcats waltzing through our backyards and streets. There’s so much building going on in Arizona, it’s reassuring to know the 30,580 acres of Sonoran Desert across the street will not be developed.

Here is one of the quail families that visit our yard. The babies look like teenagers.

Another deer in a neighbor’s yard.

Here’s a video of a mule deer walking across a neighbor’s driveway.

What is your favorite thing about your neighborhood?

Waiting to hatch

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Here’s a quail selfie from my Bird Buddy AI bird feeder.

Twice this week I spotted baby quail. Once was on our morning walk and a mom and dad were followed by the teeniest quail babies I’ve ever seen. They must have hatched that day.

Yesterday afternoon, a family of quail marched into our backyard from the wash. They were a little older and didn’t stay long enough for me to get a video or picture.

I immediately ran to the front of our house to see if our quail eggs had hatched.

quail eggs in a nest

Our nest of eggs in a planter of Elephant Feed.

No, the eggs are still there and it’s been a month since I’ve seen a momma or papa quail in the nest.

Unfortunately, the quail chose a planter next to our garage. At first, I’d see quail fly away when I’d pull into the garage or back the car out. Raising the garage door was enough noise to make the parents take flight.

I’m afraid the quail were scared away and they abandoned their nest. Or something could have happened to them. It’s a wild world out there. I’ve read what to do with eggs to get them to hatch. The most sensible advice is to wait and see. I also realize that I’m not opening the garage door very often. Maybe the quail parents are there, but not when I’m there.

Does anyone have advice while I wait for our eggs to hatch? Do you think the nest has been abandoned?

Views from my week

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Yellow blossoms on a beavertail cactus
Yellow blossoms on a beavertail cactus.

A common theme this week is the color yellow. There are yellow blossoms on trees, cacti and bushes.

A juvenile Cardinal

My week included enjoying my Bird Buddy. This is a juvenile Cardinal. His coat is getting hints of red. Males are brilliant red while females are brown.

Blooming yuccas at our neighborhood park.

staghorn cactus in bloom

This staghorn cactus is bursting in blooms.

Morning dove
Mourning doves have been dominating my Bird Buddy.
view of blooms in the desert
A view of yellow blossoms in the neighborhood.

Palos Verde trees are common in our neighborhood. They are in their full glory of yellow blossoms.

I can’t help but remember my daughter who loved the color yellow but called it “lallow” as a toddler.

Our house guests are gone, we have friends visiting from Seattle who arrive today. We swam and walked, I cooked, I was productive in my new space. We made it to breakfast last weekend at our favorite cafe and I had a delicious latte and bagel with lox and cream cheese. It was a good week!

latte at Carefree Coffee Roastery
My latte at Carefree Coffee Roastery.

Happy Friday!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Thanksgiving birds

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Here are some bird photos from my Bird Buddy Gallery. The Bird Buddy is an AI bird feeder that my son was involved with bringing to market.

The first three photos are Gila Woodpeckers.

Gila woodpecker
Gila woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker

The Bird Buddy arrived last week and I’ve been having a blast with it. I am learning about the species of birds who hang out in our backyard. The app on my phone IDs the birds, gives me information about them and has recordings of the their songs and calls.

I decided not to cook this Thanksgiving, but we will go out for a simple meal. We’ve hosted Thanksgiving for most of the past 30 years and I don’t feel like doing the shopping, the prep, the cooking, inviting guests and cleaning up.

So instead of turkey, I’m sharing my Thanksgiving birds in my yard with my fellow bloggers and friends.

Gambel's quail
Mourning dove

Mourning Dove

Albert's Towhee

Albert’s Towhee

Cactus Wren
Eurasian Collared Dove

Happy Thanksgiving! What are your plans for Thanksgiving?