Tag Archives: Red

Views from the Pool Bar

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I put a birdseed block across from the pool bar yesterday. I enjoyed sitting quietly in the second chair from the left to wait and see what happened. I like hanging out to shoot photos of critters because I’m at eye level with them. They don’t seem to notice me when their appetite gets the better of them.

Here are photos I took from the pool bar, bird blind:

A mourning dove was the first to bite.

Then came a solo quail.

Pretty soon, the quail had friends.

Another quail shared the block.

Squirrel!

Red came into the yard a few times, but he’s been so quick it’s hard to get photos. Here’s two I managed to get:

I liked how the morning light hit Red’s crest and legs.

Here’s a profile pic of my handsome guy.

I hope you enjoyed my pool bar shots of dove, quail, squirrels and sparrows. Red too!

Which photos did you like best?

Hawks, Red and the Moon

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This is a moon shot I took seven months ago with a Century Plant. I ran out of space on my current SD card, so I went through some in my camera case to look for one with space. I enjoyed looking back on photography from my “intro” class. I was surprised with some decent shots, which I will share here.

I found this photo of Red as a slim young guy.

Three hawks on the same Century Plant as in the moon photo.

A fluffed up Harris’s Hawk.

Another Harris’s Hawk. I heard a hawk yesterday. They have a distinctive call. I realized that it’s been a long time since one visited our yard. I do see them swooping overhead every time I drive.

Then wouldn’t you know it? Just as I thought I haven’t seen one for a while, one flew into a tree in our backyard. I tried to get a good photo, but he is behind some twigs and leaves.

Here’s the photo I took yesterday:

I have a better lens now then the one I used for most of the earlier photos. I don’t know if you can tell the difference or not.

Happy Friday! What exciting plans to you have for the weekend?

My backyard wilderness

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This is a view of our backyard with flamingos, doves on the fence and a bright red spot in the cholla cactus on the other side of the fence. That red spot is Red! It’s where I believe Red and Mrs. have built their nest.

Here are a few photos of my backyard wildlife:

A bevy of quail appear every time I put out some birdseed.

This sparrow was all fluffed up when we had seven days of rain! I put a rain gauge in the backyard and we got more than three inches. That’s a lot for the desert.

The Gila Woodpeckers are the bullies of birdseed. They also can hang upside down. Look at the grip this guy has on the Beavertail Cactus art.

Here’s looking at you, kid!

My backyard bunny and friends.

Harris’s antelope squirrel making his move toward the birdseed. I bet it’s not a coincidence that our hawks are Harris’s hawks. Any bets the squirrels must be named after the same guy?

A little out of focus but a better view of Red on the nest.

Happy Thanksgiving! Is anyone traveling for the holiday?

There’s no place like home!

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My first day back home and I was thrilled to have visits by Red and Mrs. They haven’t been fed in the week that we were away, so I was afraid they left. My husband reminded me that they live in the wild. All of our birds have to find their own food — unless I’m home.

Mrs. the cutie pie was first to arrive after I put out the seed block. The seed blocks usually last four days. This one was gone within 24 hours. The birds must have been hungry. The pouring rain didn’t stop them from feasting.

Red and friends munching away.

This wet momma quail was hanging out under a bench to get out of the rain.

Can you see the rain on the barrel cactus spines?

The last bits of the seed block enjoyed by quail, sparrows and Red.

No, the quail aren’t fat, but fluffed up their feathers to protect from the rain.

Red with his House Sparrow buddies braving the rain.

What’s happening with your winter weather?

If you have a favorite photo, which one is it?

Travel Day

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A photo I took of Red on his flamingo buddy the day before we left.

Travel day turned out to be uneventful, thankfully. There wasn’t a single delay or cancelled flight on the boards when we arrived. We got through TSA in a snap. Waffles was a trooper and besides finding the one stray M&M under a seat in the airport, he was well behaved.

After asking my husband repeatedly if he had packed his swimming trunks, when I unpacked at the hotel, I realized that I had forgotten my swim suit. The hotel has an amazing spa with a steam room, jacuzzi and pool. I was looking forward to daily lap swimming and enjoying the luxury of soaking in their various tubs and using the steam room and sauna.

Where I sat outside with Waffles waiting for a friend of my daughter’s to pick him up for a week. This was outside the hotel with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. My daughter needs one more week to heal from her shoulder surgery before she can take care of Waffles the pug.

Sunrise view from our bedroom at home before we left for the airport.

Ginger snaps and chocolate chunk cookies my son baked for us the day before his surgery.

I lost a lot of sleep over travel worries and worry about my son. Although he’s in a lot of pain post surgery, the doctor said it went well.

Seeing Red

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Now that I’ve been home for a few weeks, I’ve been enjoying photographing my backyard birds. I find it relaxing as well as rewarding. Red and Mrs. stop by several times every day. I think I have another male cardinal, too. At first I thought it was Red, but this guy is a little chunkier and has a dark gray spot on his beak.

How can I be sure if there’s another male, because Red and the other guy are never in the backyard at the same time. Last spring, I saw two red Cardinals chasing each other, flying at full speed over our house. That’s the only time I saw two males together.

This one is definitely Red. See there’s not a gray mark on his beak. The photo below is the imposter Red. Or, it might be Red with a bruised beak. My first few days home, I took photos of this guy, thinking it was my Red.

Here’s Mrs. on a planter at the edge of our fence.

I was pleasantly surprised with this finch photo because of the sharp detail on the barrel cactus.

The birds love their perch on a flamingo.

Here’s a view looking out the casita window with my telephoto lens set at 80mm instead of 400mm I use for closeups of critters.

I haven’t seen the cardinal with the gray spot on his beak lately. So that brings the questions of the day:

Do you think I had an imposter Red? Or, did Red bruise his beak and now it’s healed?

What’s your opinion and why?

JoyRoses13 from Nuggets of Gold wrote a fun story on her blog using my photos and another photographer’s. You can read it HERE.

A big storm and then the light

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We had a huge thunder and lightening storm with tons of rain. My phone called it “severe” and said to stay inside. It started Thursday in the middle of the night. The thunder was as loud as we’ve heard. I was sure our house had been hit. The house lit up with lightening every few seconds. We lost a lot of sleep as the storm stayed right overhead and didn’t go away. We continued with downpours the next day until the afternoon.

But with the sun peeking through the clouds, I saw the trees sparkling with raindrops that looked like diamonds (photo above.)

There was so much rain that our sunken pool bar flooded. There’s a grate over a drain under the table but the ground was so soaked it took more than a day to drain.

Below is a video of the rainstorm with thunder in the background. You can see how I flinched at the beginning when a loud crack of thunder hit.

Once the storm left us, the backyard got back to normal.

Mrs. in the tree a few branches away from Red.

I wonder where Red and Mrs. were hiding during the storm?

Is your weather changing for Fall? Or do you still have Summer weather?