March 1
I love it when birds look exactly like their pictures in my bird book. I just had a beautiful male Scott's Oriole on the fence behind the bird pond. According to the map, he's up here for breeding season. I wish him great luck--preferably in my back yard, so I can watch his babies grow up. (I've never seen baby orioles, to my knowledge).

The spate of rain stopped and everything is lovely now--blue skies, high sixties to low seventies, a few puffy clouds, the air clear and the mountains every shade of lavender. Everything in my back yard is fixing to bloom, except the new citrus trees.Even the "dead" ocotillo out behind the pond is putting out leaves, and it practically never does. The others all have orange flowers already.

Out in front of the house, the brittle bush is starting to bloom. The desert zinnias have been flowering for a few days. A bunch of other stuff is coming up, but I don't know if it will turn out to be wildflowers or "weeds." Which is also what wildflowers are.

February 22, 2005
Birdsongs!
Yes, Spring is here! Everywhere I go I hear birds singing. I heard a beautiful concert from a goldfinch in the big palo verde tree yesterday. Alas, I don't hear mockers here in the yard (sniff, sniff), but they're in full voice everywhere else. Today the Riverwalk was thrumming with birds (and the river was rushing with water. What a treat!). There were a couple of trees full of starlings, whose yellow bills proclaim they are in mating plumage. They sound a little bit like bells, and it's fun to hear a bunch of them chirping at once.

There were plenty of mockers, too, including one especially beautiful singer who turned out to be a thrasher. I always forget that they can sing beautifully too, but don't generally do so except in early spring. I think what the thrasher and the mockers were singing was, "Look at my beautiful territory! It's a perfect place to raise a family, plus I'm the hottest dude on the river!"

And speaking of mating, the entrance to the Riverwalk was a raucus cactus wren singles bar, with half a dozen of the little guys displaying, squawking, hopping around, and making a general spectacle of themselves. I'm pretty sure that what they were saying to each other was, "Want to do it?"

February 17, 2005
More signs of spring: early blooming trees as we drive through Tucson. Yards full of bright splashes of African daisies. Weeds (or wildflowers) sprouting everywhere on our property, thanks to the rain. And still more rain to come, this weekend and the middle of next week. I had nearly 1 1/2 inch on the rain gauge after last week's downpours. The gray days get to me, but it's exciting to see how happy the desert plants seem to be.

The male cardinals and pyrrhuloxia at the seed feeder seem to be in full mating plumage. And yesterday afternoon I saw an oriole bathing in the pond. I didn't get a good look at it--just the back. Brilliant black and yellow. I have at least a gazillion woodpeckers draining my hummer feeders. I may have to go back to the drippy single-serving feeders, at least for a while.

February 8, 2005
Spring will be here any day, but isn't yet. There does seem to be a bit more bird activity, but except for a broken egg on the ground after the last windstorm, I haven't seen much evidence of breeding. The male cardinals are getting redder, so that's a good sign. Whenever I go over to the other house, I hear mockingbirds singing, but except for that one day, don't hear them over here. Sob, sniff. I want mockers in my yard!

The beautiful male Costa's is still around. Or they are still around--hard to know how many. I don't know how many hummers of any sort I have; the most I've seen at once is three, but I think there are more. As far as I know, they are all Costa's and Anna's.

Yesterday when we were walking by the river, we passed several trees that were loaded with squeaking starlings. There must have been hundreds of them. I suppose they were migrating, though have no idea from where to where. They were gone today.

No other interesting bird activity, but as I say, I am expecting some soon!

January 27, 2005
It has continued to rain--according to my rain gauge, we've had over 2 inches already since January 1, which is quite a lot for a town that averages 12 inches all year. This morning when i went out to get the paper it was SO BEAUTIFUL! There was fog rising from the mountains and giving everything a soft look, like a watercolor. The cactus and other desert plants in our front yard were also pastel--a whole palette--and the mountains looked close enough to touch. The air was cool and filled with that great desert-y post-rainfall scent. Accents of bright color: a male cardinal on the phone line and a goldfinch on the ocotillo outside the bedroom window.

Meanwhile, back at the pond, I have gazillions of cardinals and pyrrhuloxia using the feeder in its new position. This afternoon a pyrrhuloxia flew to the place where the feeder used to be, and you could see the thought balloons over his head: "Whoa! Where are the seeds?" He looked around, up and down: "I could swear they were right here the last time I visited." He hopped out from under the porch roof, looked around, and then suddenly spotted the feeder and immediately flew to it.

January 24, 2005
Lots of warmth and lots of rain. (Also chilliness and dankness, but not much and not for long.) It's not quite February and already feels like Spring is coming. Which it is.

Phaenopepla singles bar
A male phaenopepla has been hanging out pretty continuously on the ocotillo and scrub palo verdes out in back of my riparian area. He is gorgeous--glossy black with a little crest and reddish eyes. I haven't seen him use the pond (though assume he does), but he pretty clearly considers this good territory, because yesterday I saw him doing the mate-attracting moves, where he flaps up in the air to display his sexy white wingbars, then perches again.

Where's the feeder?
I am a victim of my own success: the cardinal feeder has proved so popular with a growing crowd of cardinals and pyrrhuloxia that the patio was getting fouled with bird dung and tons of empty sunflower seeds. So this morning I moved it out onto the fence in the riparian area, where I can still observe (though not so closely) and the patio will stay clean. I had thought it would take the birds a few days to learn the new location, but about a minute after I came back indoors, a pyrrhuloxia was feeding in the new location. I haven't seen any others since, but I also havent' seen them checking out the patio.

January 18, 2005
Not to brag, but it has been clear and in the low to mid seventies for several days and will stay that way for at least the next week. Just gorgeous, although I do worry about plants that may assume it's spring and then get zapped with frost.

The birds are enjoying it! Nobody new, but lots of pyrrhuloxias and cardinals, goldfinches at the pond, and the little male Costa is still around. (Or maybe there's more than one--I can't tell.) Since it's so warm I can keep the door open part of the day. This morning I heard a mockingbird singing (!!!!!) but don't know where he was.

January 5, 2005
Well, Happy New Year to one and all. We've been having rain for the last couple of days--a total of .90 inch, according to my rain gauge. Not much new out at the Riparian Area, though I haven't been watching it as much as usual. However, this morning I saw a male Costa's outside my office window (I couldn't see any colors, as it was cloudy and he was in shadow, but the "helmet" was unmistakable); and this afternoon while picking lemons I saw a mockingbird land in the top of the lemon tree. I've been putting out tangelo slices from the old house--maybe they are helping.

December 24
It has been very cold--freezing at night and only in the fifties during the day. Two days ago an oriole (I think a Scott's) tried to feed from the hum feeder outside my office window. Unfortunately, it was one of the feeders that doesn't allow anyone with a short beak in. The oriole flew at the window, then flew away, but I immediately put out the old oriole feeder, and I hope he will be back. Or maybe he has been, but I just haven't seen him. He was gorgeous, extremely yellow, and much bigger than the woodpeckers, so the kittens went nuts.

No other new birds to report. Still plenty of Anna's hummers--I'm not sure how many, but perhaps half a dozen. The silly sparrows and finches are bathing in the pond as we speak. You'd think it would be way too cold, but they seem to love it--then fly up into the Texas Ranger and fluff themselves in the sun. I am so privileged to get to observe this. I gave the birds more bugnuts as a Christmas present.

December 7, 2004

I've had a mob of cardinals and pyrrhuloxias lately, making a mess of the porch but really enjoying the sunflower seeds in the feeder. Yesterday I got a good look at a small one, and confirmed that it is a juvenile pyrrhyloxia--its beak is grayish rather than yellow. I guess they all learn to use the feeder by watching each other.

Then this morning my beautiful hawk returned! Since my last post, I have learned that it is an accipiter, probably a Cooper's, and almost certainly a female. The accipiters have reverse sexual dimorphism for size; the males are quite small and the females are huge. Anyway, whatever she is, she came back. She first landed in the pond, then almost immediately flew up to the fence, this time with her back to me. I was unable to see her legs, but assume it’s the same bird.

This time I could see that the tail was definitely rounded, which according to my bird book is indicative of a Cooper’s. She still doesn’t have a black cap. I got a better and longer look at her eyes. They’re not exactly red, more of a dark orangish-brown. She seems to be able to turn her head nearly 360 degrees, and the look in her eyes is so intelligent and fierce it’s scary. What a privilege to watch such a beautiful, wild creature so close-up!

November 22, 2004

Excitement! We got some weather! Yesterday it rained pretty much all day, and today my rain gauge finally had some real water in it: 3/4 inch! (Though the official rainfall was .10 inch.) This morning it was cold--low forties, and the mountains were shrouded in fog. As the fog began to lift, we saw the snow, much closer than we could see it from the other house. Really beautiful against the shifting clouds and blue sky and sahuaros.

Also, this morning I saw a/the mockingbird on the ocotillo outside the master bedroom. It flew down into the neighbors' yard, but at least it's putting in an appearance now and then.

November 20, 2004

Two oddities: First, the west side of my office has a window that is covered with reflective film, which works like a one-way mirror to those on the outside. The olive trees and a hummer feeder are right there, and the whole area is a bird magnet, especially to hummers, woodpeckers, and quail. A male verdin spends most of the day flying at the window, clinging to the screen, seemingly trying to get in, though probably he's trying to challenge the other "bird" that he sees in the reflecting glass. Needless to say, our cats view the verdin as the most fascinating cat toy in the world.

Second oddity: today we walked on the River Walk around 3 PM. It was 70 degrees, and as we walked I saw half a snake on the side of the path. It was the back half; the rest of the snake was inside a hole. As I watched, the snake slowly emerged from the hole, his head last. It was a small snake, tan and brown, covered with a nice diamond pattern. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a rattler--the head seemed too narrow and I didn't see any rattles. But why would a snake come out of a hole backwards? That seems to expose him to predators without any way of seeing them or otherwise sensing them. Also, what was he doing out in the middle of November? Shouldn't any sensible snakes be hibernating by now?

November 14, 2004

Just a quick note to report that I saw the mockingbird (or at any rate, a mockingbird) twice today: once this morning at the pond, and later on top of the Meyer-lemon tree in the front of the house. While I was feasting my eyes on it, the bird flew off to the olive trees. There was something about its demeanor that made me think it lives here. Hope so, anyway.

November 9, 2004

We are getting a respite from the cool weather--the last couple of days it has been beautiful, in the low eighties. Yesterday morning my riparian area was jammed: cardinals, a pyrrhuloxia, mourning doves, cactus wrens, a thrasher, hummers (all Anna's, I think, though maybe a Costa's also), quail, sparrows and finches, and a rabbit. All were drinking, feeding, bathing. (Except the rabbit, who just hopped in to sip, then hopped right out again.) Then later in the day at least two dozen quail and doves crowded together in the pond, creating quite a mob scene. It's so much fun to watch them. This pond has evidently become a part of the natural landscape to these guys.

Only downside is that I haven't seen the mockingbird for a couple of weeks now. Guess he/she decided to move on, or is just staying out of sight when I'm looking.

October 19, 2004

Yesterday afternoon a bird I had never seen stopped for a drink in the pond. At first I thought it was just a big sparrow, but on closer inspection it was way too big for that. It was about the size and body build of a thrasher, with strikingly rufous back, wings, and tail. The throat and chest were cream-colored and streaked very much like a Calliope hummingbird's gorget (only it was brownish streaking, not purple!). The beak was insectivore-looking, black and pointed, but way shorter than a curve-billed thrasher's.

The only thing that looked like it in my bird book was the brown thrasher, which according to the book does not appear west of the Rockies. So I'm stumped. If anyone reading this has a clue, please let me know.

October 13, 2004

This morning the mockingbird—or at any rate, some mockingbird—was singing from the top of the ocotillo behind the pond! So beautiful to hear and see. After a few minutes it flew off, but I suspect it is claiming its winter territory, which means it will be around all winter and maybe I’ll get to hear it in the spring!

October 12, 2004

We are moving into fall and winter, though it is still hot. Highs in the high eighties to low nineties. I love it, because it’s not really hot, since the air is so dry. That is, it’s hot when you stand out in the sun in the middle of the afternoon, but not at all hot in the shade. We have the doors open all day instead of running the cooler (though sometimes we run it for an hour or two).

The birds and animals don’t seem to be doing much different, though the birds are no longer panting when they come to the pond. Also, I have way fewer hummers, who are presumably pretty much through with their migration. Last night I heard a mockingbird singing in a yard down “in the valley.” He was probably setting up his winter territory. I said, “Everything would be perfect if only we had mockingbirds in our yard.”

This morning I saw a beautiful mockingbird drinking and bathing at the pond. I hope he/she will decide to move in and announce the fact with beautiful songs.

I intend to begin posting pictures here soon. I haven’t quite figured out how to take pictures that clearly show my birds, because there is no good place with the light right from which to photograph. But I can at least post some of the old pix: the species are the same.

Not much other news. The last two mornings I saw a male Anna’s, at dawn, bathing on the flat rock that my waterfall falls on. He stands on the rock, then gets down on his little chest, flutters to spread the water around, and repeats. Then he flies off to preen and dry. Also, I’ve seen a male pyrrhuloxia use the cardinal seed-feeder. Those little guys are so clever!

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.

September 13, 2004

There’s still a lot of hummingbird action, but I haven’t seen the Rufous or broadbills for many days. I think I have at least a couple of broad-tails, and Anna’s, and probably still some black-chins. The trouble is that the feeders are not as close as they were at the other house, and they are all in the shade, so it’s hard to get a good look at coloration.

Also among the missing seem to be white-wing doves. I haven’t seen one or heard one for a while. I wish I’d been paying close enough attention to determine exactly when they took off. Apparently they all do it around the same time.

I also hadn’t and haven’t seen many cardinals, but I did see a female using the feeder the other day, and briefly saw a male this morning, though not using the feeder. Pyrrhuloxias continue to visit the pond, but I don’t see them hanging out by the seed feeder. Maybe they aren’t as smart as cardinals?

Still no mockingbirds, not even a glimpse since the last one a few weeks ago.

I’ve given up and decided to make friends with the algae in the pond. Everything I have read says it is basically good for the pond. I put in a small pot of papyrus, which may help a little. The water itself is clear, it’s just that everything is covered with green muck. The birds don’t seem to mind a bit. This morning I saw around a dozen (they were moving too much to count accurately) little sparrows bathing. It’s still hot out, but the pond is cool, and they all seemed to be having a wonderful time, submerging then fluttering, submerging again, flying off to groom, then repeating the whole sequence.

September 3, 2004

Lots of hummer action. Migration is definitely happening!

Two days ago, Tuesday, I saw a new hummer, thin, very long bill, but somehow familiar. Just about the time I was identifying it as a female broadbill, a magnificent male broadbill showed up and drove her away. Hooray! I haven’t seen either of them today, but at least the broadbills know I’m here! Maybe one or more will decide to spend the winter with me!

Then, just as exciting, today I saw my first Selasphorous here! I hadn’t seen any at all at the old house for a couple of years. This guy is very aggressive (well, duh, it’s a Rufous after all), probably a young male but maybe a female. Lots of russet on its sides and lower back (and tail), a small bright-red gorget spot, and very white chest. I’m hoping there will be more—I’m pretty sure migration goes for another month or so.

It’s such a great pleasure to hear that raspy Rufous call: “GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALL THESE FEEDERS ARE MINE, DO YOU HEAR ME, MINE!”