Tag Archives: Sonoran Desert

What a way to go!

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This is a yellow Century Plant in full bloom in our yard.

From Planet Desert:

The yellow century plant (often known as the Variegated Century Plant or Agave americana ‘Marginata’ / ‘Variegata’) is a massive, drought-tolerant succulent . It features striking, blue-green foliage lined with bright yellow or cream margins and sharp marginal teeth. It thrives in arid environments like Scottsdale and needs minimal watering once established .

It was called a Century Plant because it was believed to bloom once every hundred years. What I learned is it blooms once in its lifetime once it’s a mature plant which happens around 15 to 30 years. Then it dies.

These two photos give you a perspective of what the plant and stalk look like. A neighbor pointed out my beautiful yellow blossoms next to our driveway. I hadn’t noticed the blooms because it’s tucked away behind a saguaro and other plants.

More from Planet Desert:

A century plant (Agave genus) typically dies within a few months after it finishes blooming. Because it is a “monocarpic” plant, it puts all of its remaining energy into creating a massive central flower stalk.

Once the seeds have developed and ripened, the entire plant withers and dries up. 

While the mother plant dies, the lifecycle continues through offshoots, commonly known as “pups” or “hijos,” which grow at the base of the plant.

It is bittersweet that such a beautiful plant will be dying soon. I felt sad taking photos of it. My neighbor has one ready to bloom in her yard. As an artist, she said she’ll be take photos that she’ll use for a painting. Through our photographs and paintings, the Century Plant will live on.

What are your thoughts about Century Plants? Have you heard of monocarpic plants?

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?

Bird of the Week — Mourning Dove

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Mourning dove — Zenaida macroura

Bird of the week: CLXXIV

We have an abundance of Mourning doves in our yard. It’s a common bird in our Sonoran Desert and throughout the USA and Mexico.

RANGE:

DESCRIPTION (from All About Birds):


“A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America.”

Mourning doves are medium-sized birds of 9 to 13 inches (23 to 33 cm) in length and weighing between 3 and 6 ounces (85 to 170 grams).

A Mourning dove couple eating birdseed in our backyard. They are monogamous and mate for life, unless one of them dies. Then they will look for another mate. Mourning doves are known to be affectionate with each other and you can see them preening and hanging out.

It’s not unusual to see three flying in a tight formation during the breeding season. The bird in the lead is the mated male. A rival male will be in close second hoping to chase the first male from where he wants to mate and nest. The female, who is mated to the lead male, follows behind.

I cannot tell the difference between the male and females because they look very similar. According to the sources I read, the males are slightly bigger. They have a light blue patch on their head, and a peachy patch on their chest along with iridescent patches on the sides of their necks. The males are supposed to be more colorful, but I have never seen a difference with my naked eyes. I can spot a bit of blue and iridescent patches in my photos.

FOOD AND NESTING:

Ninety-nine percent of Mourning doves diet is seeds. They do eat a little fruit and snails.

In the West, Mourning doves may nest on the ground. In other parts of the country, they build nests in tree branches including evergreen, orchard tree, mesquite, or cottonwood. The male supplies the twigs, grasses or other material to the female who weaves it into a nest.

They have one to two eggs per clutch, but make up the small amount of eggs by having up to six broods per year.

CALLS:

One of my favorite sounds in our backyard is the coo-ing of Mourning doves. You can listen to their calls from All About Birds here:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/sounds

Bird of the Week — House Finch

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Male and female House Finches on a cactus in our backyard. The male is the colorful one.

Bird of the Week: CLXXIII House Finch — Haemorhous mexicanus

SIZE:
Sexes similar. 5-6 in (13-15 cm); wingspan: 8-10 in (20-25 cm); weight: 0.6-1 oz (17-28 g). 

House Finches are a very common backyard bird. They are part of my daily birdwatching. All photos were taken in my backyard.

COLORING:

The males are brightly colored with a red eyebrow and forehead. Their throat and chest are red, lower underparts whitish, with dark stripes on their sides. I remember the first time I saw a House Finch, I was amazed by the bright red color. I was living in Palm Springs, California and saw one during my daily walk to the park. I thought it was some exotic bird, but found out it was a common House Finch.

A male House Finch on our cactus statue made of horse shoes. This is a good example of male coloring.

The females and young House Finches have plain brown faces, blurry stripes all over pale underparts. They’re very easy to overlook in our backyard compared to the males.

A female House Finch on a cactus. Notice the dull coloring compared to her mate.

RANGE AND HABITAT:

Originating in the Southwest United States, the House Finches are now common from coast to coast. I read that in the 1940s, New York pet shops released finches from their cages because it became illegal to sell them. They wanted to avoid prosecution. All these years later, the birds from those pet shops have grown in numbers and thrived.

House Finches can be found on farms, urban areas like city parks, backyards, as well as forest edges across the continent. In the western U.S., you’ll find House Finches in their native habitats of deserts, grassland, chaparral, and open woods.

FOOD:

House Finches are primarily herbivores. They eat seeds, grains, fruits and berries and a smaller part of their diet are insects like aphids. House Finches are regulars at bird feeders and especially like sunflower sees.

NESTING:

House Finches use a variety of sites, such as conifers, palms, cactus, holes in manmade structures, and may search around homes on ledges, window boxes or other safe areas preferring nests about 12-15 ft above the ground. Sometimes they use hanging planters and old nests of other birds. Nests are built mostly by the female. Nests are shaped like an open cup made from grass, weeds, twigs, and other plant material and sometimes with feathers or other debris.

House finches are monogamous through breeding season and the following winter. They may stay together for several years, but also may instead find new mates.

CALLS:

House Finches have an extensive warble and song similar to House Sparrows.

Calls from All About Birds:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/sounds


A brightly colored male on the cactus statue.

Bird of the Week — Gilded Flicker

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Gilded Flicker at the Birdbath
Gilded Flicker female at the birdbath.


Bird of the Week: CLXXII

The Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, is a large-bodied woodpecker with a long bill that lives in the Sonoran Desert and can be found from central Arizona to southeastern California and south into Mexico. It looks similar to the Gila Woodpecker that I wrote about HERE.

SIZE:

  • Length: 11 inches (28 cm)
  • Weight: 3.3-4.5 oz (92-129 g)
  • Wingspan: 19.7-20.5 inches (50-52 cm)

COLORING

Gilded Flickers are pale brown and gray with a large black mark on their chest, bold spots on the breast, finely barred back, and a cinnamon crown. You can see their white behind while they are in flight along with yellow feathers under their wings. Males are distinguished from females with their red mustache. You can see the female in the above photos and male below.

Male Gilded Flicker in the backyard tree
The male Gilded Flicker has the red color under his beak and the tan head.

They forage on the ground for insects including ants and their larvae and beetles. They also eat seeds and fruits of cactus. They have a long tongue that helps them lap up insects.

Gilded Flickers are monogamous and mate for life, but if their mate dies they may pair with a new one.

In the desert, they make nests in the holes hallowed out in giant saguaro cactus as well as cottonwood trees along rivers.

CALLS:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gilded_Flicker/sounds

Gilded Flicker
A Gilded Flicker at the birdseed block with Gambel’s Quail. You can see the spots and black crest on the breast in this view of a female Gilded Flicker.

It’s All About Red

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I took quite a few photos of Red this week. He was a frequent visitor. I had two close encounters with him that were special moments. Both times I could hear him loudly chirping away. When he does that I believe he is calling me to fill the bird feeder.

I walked outside to the feeder with birdseed and called out, “Hey, Red,” as I always do when he’s chirping at me. I couldn’t see him but then he flew straight to me from the neighbor’s yard. He landed in a bush next to the bird feeder a couple feet away from me.

Red has landed in this planter a few days in a row. I’m wondering if there are some natural seeds or things to eat in it. In any case, it makes a pretty picture.

This is kind of a strange photo. Red swooped down to the birdseed block to take a bite of goodies while still flying!

The other close encounter with Red was I saw him blast off like a rocket flying over our fence to the wash behind us. I called, “Hey, Red!” He made a U-turn in the air and flew back to where I was standing. Once again he landed in the bush by the bird feeder.

It felt really special to have my friendly Red come to me when I called him. Or, maybe he just likes me for my birdseed.

Red on a barrel cactus.

Happy Friday!

Which Red photo do you like the best?

What are your weekend plans?

From Strength to Strength

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Red on a bench in the backyard.

I’ve been reading a book this past week called, “From Strength to Strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life,” by Arthur C. Brooks.

I read a chapter each day I take my husband to PT or to his doctor’s appointments. It’s better then scrolling on my phone mindlessly.

I have a chapter left, it’s only nine chapters. It’s written by Brooks who was a musician from Seattle, near where I grew up and exactly where I went to college. His dream in life was to be a professional musician playing in an orchestra on the French Horn. He had early success in his music career. At age 19, he left college to play professionally with a chamber-music orchestra ensemble touring the country.

But something happened. He began to decline in his musical abilities. No amount of practice or hard work could get him through it. In his mid 20s, he went back to school via distance learning and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics before age 30. Then he went on to earn his Master’s in economics.

Through the twists and turns in Brooks life, he learned about two types of brains we have in our lifetimes. In our early years we have a “Fluid Brain.” Approaching mid life, we transition to a “Crystal Brain.”

I found this handy dandy chart when I googled the difference between fluid and crystal minds. This is thanks to Gemini AI who organized this information from a website called Verywellmind.com

A double cactus bloom in our backyard.

As we enter middle age, we have more wisdom, we have gathered a wealth of knowledge and we often become more spiritual. I found the book to be enlightening and encouraging. The purpose of this book is to help us make the leap from a fluid mind to a crystallized brain and continue with a purposeful life.

Brooks uses examples from his own life in this book as well as from famous philosophers, Roman leaders, and composers including Beethoven and Bach. As a Catholic who became more religious later in life, he traveled to India to study with a Hindu guru. He learned about the four phases of life that is recognized in India — which you can learn about in his chapter about that adventure.

I managed to get a photo of the lovely couple together! Although the focus is not that great, I was happy to see Red and Mrs. together.

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend.

What plans do you have for this weekend in mid May?