What a start to the New Year! New Orleans. Las Vegas. Queens. All on day one.
I’ve heard that our country is most vulnerable during a transition of power. I’m not sure if that’s why all this happened or not, but I’m hoping and praying for quieter and peaceful days ahead.
The last couple days, I’ve taken photos of birds and plants in my backyard. What a good time to share my bird buddies, and to reflect and enjoy nature.
Hawk number one was joined by a friend.
I’ve had visits from a bright red Northern Cardinal daily. I haven’t seen his wife lately. I hope she’s okay.
Mourning Doves roosting on the fence catching the morning sun.
There are always a handful of House Finches flitting around.
It’s not very often a quail flies up into the bird feeder. They prefer the ground.
I also enjoy my two pink flamingos with their little red friend.
I had a visit from a Harris Hawk Wednesday. Then a friend joined him. I practiced my photography as he moved around our backyard, looking for his favorite spot.
Photo two:
He decided to try a tree rather than the fence.
Photo three:
I caught him in flight as he flew from one end of the yard to another.
Photo four:
I handed my camera to my husband after seeing a bunch of my blurry photos. He hadn’t used the camera before, but I think he did well!
Photo five:
I took this pic and it turned out! While I’m writing the post, that’s where the Harris Hawk sits. He’s looking down on house finches who are on the ground.
Photo six: Hanging out on the neighbor’s chimney with a buddy.
The Harris Hawks are feeling right at home in our yard. This was the second day of them hanging out. I wrote about hawks on Wednesday, HERE. This guy is looking mighty plump.
Next week is Thanksgiving. I have mixed emotions about the holiday. I do like getting together with family or friends. I enjoy cooking the meal and having a bounty of leftovers. I enjoy the compliments my Thanksgiving meal gets. It’s satisfying.
But the dark side of Thanksgiving awaits.
Thanksgiving 2021 our dear friend passed away.
Decades earlier: When I was unmarried, living in Seattle, a recent college graduate, this friend (who also lived in Seattle) introduced me to my husband. My husband was visiting for Seafair, which is a summer festival highlighted by hydro races and a Blue Angels show.
As they say, the rest is history.
Eventually our friend left Seattle, sold all his property (real estate was his business) and moved to Arizona. He turned his Seattle real estate into an even greater empire in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area. Prices were way more affordable. Taxes were much better and the business environment was exciting to him.
We would visit our friend in Scottsdale a mile or two from where we now live. We would drive for the weekend from Palm Springs and stay in his casita. My husband was convinced that when he retired, Arizona was the place to be. We’d say good-bye to the high cost of living and taxes of California and embrace Arizona life.
COVID hit and my husband worked remotely. Home prices were skyrocketing in Palm Springs because people wanted out of apartments in San Francisco and LA. They wanted space, a yard, pool and our prices were much lower. We had a new next door neighbor who moved in from SF with his mom sight unseen and called the home his “COVID” home. He was worried about his elderly mom’s health.
My husband decided that it was time to make our move. Especially since he was working from home. I wasn’t sold on it, but told our kids that I was going to ask for a ridiculous price for our home that nobody would consider. That was my secret plan to stay in my dream home. Our house of almost 30 years sold in four hours with offers above asking. So much for that.
So we moved to Arizona close to our friend. He was our first and only friend in the state. We had been friends for close to 40 years. He loved to grill steaks for us. We had him over to our house for dinner. We watched football together and went out to great sushi restaurants. My husband would help him with his properties on weekends, schlepping refrigerators into apartments, or other DIY stuff. Like I said, that was his business. He appreciated my husband’s help.
He introduced us to his entourage, his brother and wife who also moved from Seattle to Arizona. Then another couple who will be retiring from Seattle to Scottsdale in a few years.
A few weeks before Thanksgiving 2021, he was hospitalized. He had a cough and was having trouble breathing. He was put on a ventilator after a week. He’d call my husband to bring him things from his home, like his razor and a pillow. The hospital tested him eight times for COVID — all negative.
Thanksgiving night, 2021 we had our friends who moved from Palm Springs over for dinner. My husband told them that he was worried about our friend, who was finally diagnosed with Valley Fever. Thinking it was COVID, the hospital had treated him the entire time with antibiotics, which is the wrong thing to do to a fungus like Valley Fever. Antibiotics allowed the fungus to grow unchecked.
The harsh words from our dinner guest, who retired from running the ER in Palm Springs said, “He’s not going to make it.”
He died a few hours later.
What holiday that is supposed to be joyous has dark undertones for you?
I caught this Gilded Flicker hanging out in a tree.
Leaving for my morning walk these blue flowers caught my eye.
A view of the pool bar and waterfall. The swim up stools are on the other side of the countertop.
Walking past our house I noticed these flowers for the first time ever on the side of our house. It looks like bougainvillea and I’d like to plant more. I wonder where this one came from? Maybe it hasn’t bloomed before.
My husband said he’s noticed them. So I guess I’m in a fog while I start my walk.
I knew once my walk was over, I’d have to get out my camera and tripod to take pictures of the bougainvillea. But then I thought, why not try shooting things in the yard without the tripod. If the shots turned out fuzzy, I’d do the extra work with the tripod. I’m satisfied with my “freehand” photos.
Glass flowers by the fireplace. They glisten in the sun.
This tortoise is hiding in a corner of the yard.
The prior owners were into yard creatures. At first I thought they were tacky, but they’ve grown on me. Friends gave me a birthday present of pink flamingos from Costco. At first I thought those were tacky, too. But I put them in the yard with all the other crazy things. They fit right in.
The birthday present pink flamingos grace our yard.
A friend of mine from college went hiking with us when we first moved to Arizona. She stared out our windows and said, “You sure have a lot going on in this yard.”
Isn’t that the truth?
While I was writing this, a huge Harris Hawk soared into the yard. I yelled because he was after my quail. He flew powerfully overtaking a quail in flight. But I scared him before he caught one. He decided to hang out on our fence and survey the area. The quail all scattered into the brush.
I’ve tried multiple times to catch a hawk in flight with my camera. They take off so quickly and get hidden behind trees and brush. I have failed so far!
The yard was all a flutter when this Harris Hawk landed in a tree yesterday. The quail and morning doves took off flying. One flew right into the window. At least it wasn’t the hawk. Last time that happened, it broke the window! I wrote about that HERE. FYI, there are better hawk photos in that post.
This is the downside to my Bird Buddy and putting seed on the ground for the quail.
This is also of the reasons why Olive the cat is never allowed outside. And I only let Waffles out on a short leash with me attached to the other end.
I’ve been hearing beautiful song birds and I thought it was the Cardinal. But I got a new visitor to the Bird Buddy:
It’s a Song Sparrow. Here’s what the App has to say about this bird:
Another thing I enjoy about the Bird Buddy App is you can listen to the birds’ songs and calls. I’m now able to identify birds by sound!
I’m looking forward to baby birds, especially quail. I’ve discovered one Mourning Dove nest in our backyard and I think I might have spotted a quail nest, too!
After writing about my neighbor’s dog, I didn’t know that this would happen next…
I was taking a break, sitting in a zero-gravity lounge in the sun, reading a book about creativity called “Vein of Gold.” I placed two bird feeders in our back yard a few weeks ago. I enjoyed watching the quail and pigeons who came into the yard, ignoring me as I sat still with my book.
Harris hawk on a neighbor’s wall.
Then I heard a crash. Another crash. I saw the giant brown wings of a Harris hawk. It looked like it was smashing into the screen door of our casita. Crash! It hit it again. I jumped up, yelled and waved my arms, hoping to scare away the hawk away who had a quail in his claws.
I quickly walked down to the casita door and quietly peeked inside. I wasn’t sure if the hawk had broken through the screen door. I was shocked when I discovered this:
The window after the hawk repeatedly flew into it.
It wasn’t the screen door but a window he smashed into. I think the hawk thought our casita was the perfect place to hide out in to devour the quail. I’ve decided not to refill the bird feeders. I don’t want my yard as a hunting ground for hawks, bobcats and coyotes to stalk our fattened quails.
Not only do I worry about the neighbor’s dog, but also large birds of prey shattering windows.
