October 4, 2004

Backyard activity at the bird pond has reached a sort of steady state. Nothing unusual, but plenty to look at as I gaze at my riparian paradise. For example, today I saw a male phainopepla, a male pyrrhuloxia, a female cardinal (at the feeder), a handful of (probably) Anna’s hummingbirds, and lots of quail, finches, sparrows, and doves. They like it. The plants that didn’t fry over the summer have been repotted in much larger containers and I hope will provide better shade next year. The papyrus I planted in the pond is already spreading, and I’ll have to keep an eye on it to prevent it choking the pond.

The weather has become beautiful with an unending series of what my father used to call “patented Tucson days”—sunny and warm during the day, then cool at night, with blue, blue skies and clear purple mountains. If it was like this all year long the valley would have 10 million inhabitants and more clamoring to get in.

Likewise nothing unusual along the river, though the other day there was a traffic jam as two women walkers stopped dead on the path, blocking both lanes as they stared in terror at a small gopher snake that they thought was a rattler. The guy who manicures the path removed the snake with a snake hook, and we all continued on our way.