Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
The first bird I saw from the backyard of the new house was a male phainopepla, sitting in a tree in a narrow wash beside our yard. That’s a new one for me, I’ve seen quite a few birds in the backyard of our rental house but until now the phainopepla I had only seen on the trails. I saw this male on the Marcus Landslide Trail where they were numerous this winter, I haven’t been back recently but will soon as the trailhead is only a 10 minute drive from the new house.
We’re taking the pets up to the new house this afternoon and will spend our first night there, with the movers packing up the rental house tomorrow and delivering on the next day. This is Ellie enjoying a sunny day in the backyard of the rental house, we’ve had a great year here and have loved the house and the neighborhood but are very much looking forward to being settled into our new home.
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).
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.
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.
Almost, little one, almost.
I see you, you see me, mockingbird atop the tree.
A male gilded flicker looks out over McDowell Sonoran Preserve from the broken arms of a dead saguaro.
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.
A male house finch greets the rising sun with a song from his perch atop an arm of a saguaro.
Boolie 