boolie

Sermon on the Mount

This Harris’s antelope squirrel had the high ground early on a June morning, perched atop granite rocks atop a small hill, so it saw me from a distance as I approached up the Vaquero Trail. The rising sun soon joined us and we spent that wonderful moment together when the light first sweeps across the desert landscape. It was moments like these that made me fall in love with the area, the trail is close to our new house so perhaps the squirrel and I will be reunited before long. I haven’t been hiking since we moved, Ellie’s had a tough week adjusting to the new house so I’ve spent my evenings with her when she struggles the most and have been too tired to go out in the mornings. We’ll see about tomorrow, the wildflowers are in full bloom so it would be a shame to miss them, but she’s a higher priority.

Fragile

It’s a Good Thing Saguaros Aren’t Carnivorous

Last spring I was amazed at how many birds fed at saguaros as they bloomed and fruited, such as this white-winged dove sticking its face into fruit at the end of an arm along the Latigo Trail. It’s a good thing saguaros aren’t carnivorous or a lot of birds would lose their heads!

Cactus wrens are smaller than the doves but still large for wrens, this one stuck its head deep into a blossom on the saguaro where it was building its nest and raising its young. When it emerges its head will be covered in pollen, some of which will be deposited at the next blossom it visits.

The tiny verdin had to stick most of its body into the fruit to feed at the back, in this picture it is feeding closer to the front and only its head is hidden. When the fruit ripens it is the white-winged doves that eat the most, but other birds enjoy the short-lived bounty as well.

Fog Hunt

The coyotes were active on this winter day in 2006, using the heavy fog as cover to hunt a variety of prey. This one made a half-hearted, almost playful, attempt at a great blue heron I had been photographing, later I saw one running across the meadow with a goose in its mouth.

A Little Test

Our aging and somewhat senile pup misses both the grass and familiarity of the rental house so we’re toying with laying some artificial turf over a small patch of the granite pebbles to give her a comfortable place to go the bathroom and to be outside. We weren’t sure if she would like it but Home Depot kindly gave us a sample to try and she seemed to like it. We’re not going to install anything permanently, and it won’t come with rabbits like the real grass at the rental house, just want to give her a comfortable place to call her own to help her adapt to her new home.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

I keep a spreadsheet of what animals I see each month not only in the parks I visit but in places I’ve lived. During our 16 years in the urban neighborhood of our Portland house I recorded 10 bird species for the month of March. In a few days at our new house in Scottsdale I’ve seen 13! Including this lovely male cardinal who sang to me on the day the mover’s arrived with our belongings. He serenaded Ellie and I this morning as we relaxed on the back porch. Verdin were building a nest in the buckhorn cholla in the common area below the house. Lesser goldfinches flitted about, curve-billed thrashers called out. A pair of Gambel’s quail fed near the house as Sam and Trixie watched eagerly from the windows. Phainopepla, mourning doves, house finches, house sparrows, gila woodpeckers, a pair of Harris’s hawks soaring overhead. I stood dumbfounded watching a robin, a bird I’ve known from everywhere I’ve lived but had no idea lived in Arizona. Yesterday on my first commute home from a work a roadrunner darted across the road (with no coyote in hot pursuit).

With all these birds so close at hand I may not go hiking anymore! (Just kidding)

I Would Have Lost My Money

I knew the cats would explore the top of the kitchen cabinets but my money was on Boo being the first to reach those heights. Not only was Trixie first, she’s made a repeat visit.

I Don’t Remember Seeing This in the Inspection Report

I know they checked for termites, did they check for cats?

Moving Day

After meeting the movers at the rental house in the morning, I drove to the new house when they were finished and sat with Ellie on the back porch to keep her from “helping” them. My wife had picked up this old school Dr. Pepper, nectar of the gods. It was a beautiful morning, best St. Patrick’s Day ever. I’m worn out from not getting lots of sleep the past couple of days, between looking after Ellie and Boo mewing during the night, but I’m glad we’re home.

Occupied

I brought one of Ellie’s dog beds over from the rental house to help her get adjusted to the new house. She had to wait a bit to use it. I’ve been rather surprised by how well Sam has adapted to the move, at the moment he and Trixie are snuggled side-by-side on my legs. Ellie just moved to her bed and has joined them in sweet slumber.