Tag: flower

A Little Yellow

A verdin feeds from a flowering treee in a backyard in the Buenavante neighborhood of Scottsdale, Arizona

Verdin were a new species for me when we moved to Arizona as in the US they only live near the southwestern border. I see these tiny yellow-headed birds both at home and on the trails, this one was feeding from a tree in our backyard in April.

Twists & Turns

The arms of a saguaro twist and turn with the ends of one covered in flowers along one of the off-map trails in McDowell Sonoran Preserve

The classic image of the saguaro is of arms lifted towards the sky, and many do grow that way, but the arms may twist and turn in all directions, even growing down, like this splendid old example along one of the off-map trails at Brown’s Ranch. I especially liked the unusual ones when we moved here as I could remember them and they helped orient me on a web of trails winding through an unfamiliar environment.

The Portland Farewell Tour

A dog runs up to greet our dog Ellie as the trees bloom in the background at Irving Park in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon on March 11, 2018. Original: _DSC3855.ARW

Before we left for Arizona I wanted one more picture of Ellie at the dog park at Irving Park, the first stop on all our walks, and this lovely spring morning gave me the perfect opportunity with the trees blooming behind her. Ellie had many dog admirers, a handful who absolutely adored her, fortunately I had a chance to talk with all of their owners before we left so they wouldn’t assume the worst when our elderly pup suddenly stopped showing up at the park.

📷: Sony A6500 | Sony-Zeiss 24mm f/1.8
🗓️: March 11, 2018

White-Winged Love

A white-winged dove perches atop a saguaro cactus, it's face covered in pollen

In case you were wondering what a white-winged dove looks like when it isn’t plunged headlong into a saguaro blossom, here you can see most of the bird apart from its feet. The golden color to the entire front of its head is from pollen, making readily apparent how the birds pollinate the saguaros as they stick their heads in the flowers from one cactus to the next. Much to my delight white-wings are one of the most common birds in our backyard so I get to see them every day of the week.

Face Full of Flowers

A white-winged dove sticks its entire face into a saguaro blossom as it feeds in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

A white-winged dove sticks its entire face into a saguaro blossom as it feeds. It’s face was covered in pollen, as were many of the birds in my pictures from this time, such as the Gambel’s quail below. The birds and bats and bees took full advantage of the suddenly plentiful blooms, dining quickly as they flew from one flower to the next, pollination in action. The blooms are mostly gone now, this morning I saw only two flowers during several hours of hiking, and one of those was pretty wilted.

The face of a male Gambel's quail is covered in pollen from saguaro blossoms in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Mother’s Day Bouquet

Sagurao blossoms near sunrise on an off-map trail at Brown's Ranch in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

This saguaro offered up a bouquet of flowers near sunrise on Mother’s Day. I had hopes of photographing it again with all the flowers open but by the time I could return the following Saturday, all of the blossoms were gone and I learned another fact about my new home. The flowers only last about a day, first opening at night to attract bats with their nectar and closing the following afternoon after the bees and birds have had their fill. If pollinated during that short window, the fruit below will develop during the summer.

Calling Me Home

A male Gambel's quail sits atop spent saguaro blossoms in the Brown's Ranch section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

One of the birds I most wanted to photograph when we arrived in Arizona was the Gambel’s quail. Not because they are rare – we saw them in the neighborhood when we were looking at our rental house – but because they called me home. It was our vacation in New Mexico a decade ago that got me excited about living in the Southwest, and my encounter with Gambel’s quail there was one of the highlights of the trip, their serenade at sunrise. So it was a special delight to photograph this male and female up on the saguaros as the sun rose, dining on the cactus blossoms, in our shared desert home. Home in a larger sense, though I see them every day in my backyard these quail were at Brown’s Ranch in McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

A female Gambel's quail eats from saguaro blossoms in the Brown's Ranch section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Not the Usual Suspects

A young male Bullock's oriole perches atop a blooming saguaro cactus in the Brown's Ranch section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

In my short time here there are a handful of birds I’ve gotten used to seeing on the saguaros: Gila woodpeckers, gilded flickers, house finches, cactus wrens, and curve-billed thrashers. But I sometimes see more than the usual suspects, such as this splash of color that momentarily swooped into view early Saturday morning. He’s a young Bullock’s oriole, he’ll be even more colorful and vibrant in a year. I’ve only see this species a couple of times before, both during my years in Portland, so here’s hoping we meet more often in Arizona.