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?
This precious kitty was inches from our bedroom sliding glass door.
I was wondering what I was up to five years ago. I looked at my blog and this is what I found:
My husband called to me from the bedroom. “The bobcat is here!”
“Where?” I asked scanning my view past the fence in the backyard.
“Right here.”
Wow. The bobcat was lounging inches away from our sliding glass door. She looked hot with mouth open breathing. But instead of panting, she was scenting her next meal. My cat Olive used to do that when scouting for birds in our backyard — before we moved to the wilds of Arizona.
The bobcat nonchalantly grabbed a bird midair and took it behind a potted plant to munch. She climbed a tree and came down with another snack of a baby bird. Another baby bird was hopping on the patio oblivious to the danger. That life ended quickly.
The bobcat moved into the shade and fell asleep on our patio, sated with an afternoon meal.
Climbing into a tree to fetch a baby bird snack.Acting casual before catching a snack.
She looks like she owns the place!
I’m a little nervous to go outside after dark. You don’t know what’s out in those trees or under our patio furniture. It’s literally a jungle out there!
Thanks to my sister-in-law for the amazing videos.
Here’s Olive our wild cat who is hanging out on the bar.
This is a female Bullock’s Oriole who stopped by our yard for the first time last week. She was very flighty and this is the only photo I captured. She’s hiding in a firestick plant.
Bullock’s Orioles can be found in forests, along streams and also thrive in desert washes in Mesquite trees and other desert plants.
Diet:
They eat insects and ripe fruits. Bullock’s Orioles also will stop by hummingbird feeders to drink sugar water. They forage for insects in the leaves and bark of trees.
Nests:
The female chooses a nest site typically 10 to 25 feet up in a tree. She will weave the nest from grasses, twine or wool. The nests are gourd-shaped and range in size from four to 15 inches. They line their nests with soft material like feathers, or “cotton” from cottonwoods or willows. They will work on the nest together, with one working inside and the other on the outside. Pairs will stay together long enough to build their nests and raise their chicks, but will find new mates the following year.
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!
We have had a true Monsoon week with thunder and lightning storms every few nights and an abundance of rain. Thanks to the rain, we have cactus blooming again in beautiful pinkish red.
Here are a few photos of the buds and blossoms:
Then of course there’s my bird buddy Red:
Red with a mouthful of millet.
Red found a new perch, a little table next to a covered chaise lounge.
A Harris’s Hawk landed in a tree in our backyard. We haven’t had one stop by for months, although I see them soaring overhead. I could hear his call and I spent a bit of time trying to spot him behind branches. The link is to a Youtube video of Harris’s hawks in flight with their sounds. I wouldn’t want to mess with those claws or beak!
This is a compilation of my favorite photos that I took this week.
Papa quail shares the birdseed block with a few of his babies.
A White-winged Dove perches on a flamingo buddy.
Bully bird Curve-billed Thrasher lands on the cactus statue before scaring everyone away from the birdseed block.
An adult House Finch feeds it’s juvenile.
Red watches over the rain meter during a Monsoon week.
House Sparrows are one of the most common birds we have. Their success in the wild is a result of their close relationship to humans. They are found in backyards, cities and throughout North America and most parts of the world. The House Sparrow was introduced in Brooklyn, New York in 1851. By 1900 they spread to the Rocky Mountains. They originated in Eurasia and North Africa.
Here’s a map of their range in North and South America:
This is a female House Sparrow on the birdseed block.
They are a small bird that has an average length of 16 cm and a mass of 24–39.5 g. Females and young sparrows are pale brown and grey, while males have brighter black, white, and brown markings.
They eat mostly seeds but will also eat insects as well as left over fast food from people or bread crumbs.
A House Sparrow visiting our birdbath.
They nest in manmade objects like eaves of houses, light boxes and planters. They also take over other birds nests in trees. A typical clutch size is three to four eggs and they may have several broods per year.
Three male sparrows splashing in the bird bath. House Sparrows are my most frequent visitors to the bird bath.
