Tag Archives: Red and Mrs.

Friday Photos

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Red stayed away for another five days, but Mrs. was here every day. I wonder if Red got into a fight because he has a black spot on the side of his head he didn’t have before. But I did read that Cardinals molt once a year, so maybe that’s it. Or, I have a new bird altogether. Fortunately, he stopped by this week several times a day. My neighbor has promised to keep the birds fed while we’re out of town.

Good news. Red is looking more normal each day and keeps on visiting our backyard.

At least Mrs. is always around which makes me feel good!

A neighbor told me I should name this quail dad “Lucky.”

Lucky visits every day with his wife and three babies. Somehow he lost his tail, but he is still standing strong. That’s how he earned his name.

This is a Mourning Dove at our new bird bath. I left the old one empty when we visited our son and daughter-in-law because I didn’t want it to become a breeding ground for mosquitos. Normally I change the water every day. So the end of the story is that the old bird bath didn’t survive in the heat being dry. A resin coating splintered and peeled leaving an unhealthy mess for the birds.

A Gila Woodpecker hopped on for a ride.

Another look at Red and Mrs. before we leave for our beach vacation.

Last but not least, it was Waffles the pug’s 10th birthday this week. It seems like yesterday he celebrated birthday number one while we were on our beach vacation! These two photos were taken at our friends’ house in Santa Barbara for Waffles first birthday.

My daughter made flyers and held a party for Waffles in a park near her apartment. She gave flyers to friends, co-workers, her favorite coffee shop and hung them on telephone poles in her neighborhood. She invited everyone with dogs or not and promised dog treats for all dogs. She had a crowd that included her friends and families and even a group of eight-year-old boys she didn’t know who wrapped presents for Waffles. Everyone thought it was a perfect family-friendly evening at the park and want to meet every week.

The old man Waffles with gray hair at age 10.

What photos do you like? What do you think is up with Red’s head?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Friday Photos

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Red and Mrs. have reappeared in my yard after taking off for eight days after our vacation to Northern California. I was so distressed, but now relieved that they’ve returned.

Here are a few of my favorite photos that I took this week:

Mrs. at the birdseed block with doves and a sparrow.

A Roadrunner has been hanging out in our backyard. He prefers to hide in a pot or hang out in a tree.

He spends an inordinate amount of time grooming himself and gets all fluffy in the process.

Our state bird, the Cactus Wren took over the birdseed block.

A Gila Woodpecker hangs out upside down foraging for insects. Look at the tongue!

Squirrel!

Which photos do you like best?

What are your weekend plans?

Weekend Captures

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I had some fun bird photography this weekend.

Plus, we had guests over that I was so excited to see. One of our kids’ friends from club swimming in Palm Springs who lives in Tempe with her husband and six-month old first born baby! We made lunch and they played in the pool.

I also managed to get a few captures of bird photos that I like.

A Roadrunner darted about chasing quail. This clever guy hid himself in a planter at the far end of the yard with only his head showing. He’d jump out “Beep beep!” and go for the chase. Fortunately, he didn’t have success.

Curve-billed Thrasher with fuzzy feathers make me believe he’s a youngster.

This Abert’s Towhee juvenile explored a planter.

More juvies looking for trouble!

A Gila Woodpecker up in the tree surveying the quail spectacle below.

This grown up Curve-billed Thrasher was keeping an eye out for the young one.

Mrs. and Red hung out in the morning before it got too hot!

We even have a juvenile croc!

Which photos do you like best?

What fun did you have this weekend?

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?

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?

Friday Photos

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I captured the morning light in this bunny’s ears. We have bunnies everywhere, but I mostly see them on my morning walks as they dash across the road. They are frightened of big old me!

I was sitting in the waiting room of my husband’s PT yesterday, looking through the week’s photos I had captured. I am sharing the ones I like best — that didn’t make it into Monday or Wednesday’s posts. Enjoy a few of my week’s favorite photos.

It looked like Red was having a bad hair day or for some reason fluffed himself up.

A Mourning Dove looking grand in our backyard.

We don’t often see these guys. I looked up Arizona black bird with black beak and yellow eye. Grackle is what came up.

A rare appearance to see Red and Mrs. in the backyard at the same time — without any fledglings.

A quail baby growing up. They do grow up so quickly!

This was a baby pic I took a few weeks ago. We don’t have any quail this tiny anymore.

Here’s Red a few seconds after the fluffy look. Does anyone know what the fluffy feathers is about?

Which photo or photos do you like best?

What are your weekend plans?

Backyard Beauty

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Mrs. taking a break from fledgling rearing.

Actually Red is the one who I see most often — one on one with a fledgling. He’ll fly back and forth across the backyard and feed them himself from our bird feeder or a birdseed block on the ground. I think Mrs. must have been in the nest with the remaining little ones.

Red feeding a fledgling.

This week a cactus bloomed out my window. It only lasted a couple hours because it’s hot! High of 98 degrees today. Not as hot as it gets but a change from the cool weather we were having.

I was excited to see one male fledgling getting red splotches of feathers. They become fully red at one year. This photo is way out of focus because he was darting around and I was so excited my hands were shaking! I thought about not including it, but I wanted to share what Little Red looks like turning a blotchy color.

Here’s Mrs. on the planter. I was very happy to capture both photos of Mrs.

There’s always a few Gila Woodpeckers around. They look similar to Gilded Flickers that I wrote about Wednesday, but they don’t have a spotted breast and lack the cinnamon cap.

A Mule Deer was hanging out in the shade under a tree by our driveway.

Red likes to hang out in a tree over my head when I fill the feeder. When I call him — while holding onto a bag of birdseed — he comes immediately. He’s got little ones to feed and needs to be first in the feeder!

Happy Friday!

Which photos are your favorites? What are your weekend plans?