A mourning dove perches in a palm tree in the backyard of our rental house. We have a couple of dwarf palms in the backyard of the new house but they don’t allow full-size palms (there are native trees in front and back).
Tag: Scottsdale
Joy & Mourning
One of the joys of our rental house has been the abundance of doves, from the larger white-winged doves to the little Inca doves. After the white-wings migrated out it was the mourning doves who were the dominant bird we saw all winter, providing endless entertainment for the cats who watched them from the windows.
Early to Rise
In December I arrived when the Tom’s Thumb trailhead opened so I could hoof it out as quickly as possible to photograph this bank of chain fruit cholla before sunrise, with my beloved Guardian looking out over the desert in the background. At that time of year I can hike as fast as I can without worrying about surprising a rattlesnake as they are still hibernating. My favorite shot turned out to be the first one of the desert bathed in the soft blue light before the sun rose above the mountains behind me, but I also like the one below of the same scene bathed in the red light of sunrise.
I’m Flying!
Almost, little one, almost.
Peek-a-boo
I see you, you see me, mockingbird atop the tree.
In My Broken Arms I Will Carry You
A male gilded flicker looks out over McDowell Sonoran Preserve from the broken arms of a dead saguaro.
A Warm Welcome
Last night we had a lovely time with my aunt and uncle who were in town. Before dinner we took them up to show them the new house and as I stepped out of the car a curve-billed thrasher serenaded me from across the street. This lovely thrasher is from December on the Marcus Landslide Trail, I’ve been itching to get back to this trail but it’s really close to the new house so I’ve been focusing on other trails when I have both time and energy to go out.
Cherry on Top
A male house finch greets the rising sun with a song from his perch atop an arm of a saguaro.
Close
I met this male gilded flicker on a saguaro skeleton early on a winter’s morning on the Kovach Family Nature Trail, within walking distance of what turned out to be our second favorite house. While there is a lot of wildlife on the southern trails I don’t often see them this close, unlike some of the northern trails that are near our favorite house, the house which as of Thursday we now own. We move in a couple of weeks, we’re close to being home. We met the previous owners on Wednesday for a walkthrough of the house, they were lovely and I’m glad we had a chance to meet, they said there are several woodpeckers in the area, can’t wait to be introduced! They are likely either gilded flickers or Gila woodpeckers, I’m hoping for both!
Home Soon
We close on our house in a couple of days. We have a walkthrough around lunchtime with the owners then take possession on Thursday and move in a couple of weeks. The white-winged doves will be home soon too, at least their summer home, although I’m not exactly sure when they’ll arrive. This one was feeding on saguaro fruit in July, I felt so much sympathy for them as their faces were matted with juice as they stuck their heads into the fruit to feed. As much as they like to be clean, they were going to be migrating soon and had to strike while the iron was hot.
Boolie 