Male Costa's Hummingbird in mesquite tree 1-22-10Yesterday it rained buckets. The birds flooded my feeders and yard seeking shelter from the store and food for their bellies.
Soaked Quail 1-22-10
Drenched female Northern Cardinal 1-22-10
Lesser goldfinch seeking shelter from the storm 1-22-10
How many hungry Gila's can you count?(click to enlarge)
With my feeders full of birds...
...and Snow on Mt. Fagan this morning 1-23-10
...it didn't take long for this Cooper's Hawk to show up for dinner!
1-23-10
All of these birds would qualify to be counted for the Great Backyard Bird Count if it were happening today. Get your binoculars ready, because it is coming soon! Click on the link or the button to learn more. There are special links and activities for children. This is how I became an active birder. Until I participated in the GBBC I use to just watch the birds that came into my yard or to my feeders. If I went someplace new, I was aware of the birds around me, but I never actively went out in search of birds. The GBBC changed all that for me when I first participated about 10 years ago. It's a great family activity and a fun way to learn about birds and birding. You do not have to be an expert! You just need to be willing to learn. Every bird list counts and it all helps the birds!
9 comments:
Love the photos! I miss the Gambels Quail and Gila's that I used to get in my backyard in Mesa, AZ.
You're really close to the mountains! Great pictures. The Gambel's Quail are beautiful and the Hummingbird is so colorful he almost doesn't look real! Those birds look a bit overcome by the rain -- in our climate they tend to disappear into the leafy trees and ride out storms there as much as they can, so they don't look as vulnerable as these poor guys. I bet they appreciated those feeders, hawk or no!
Your birds are lovely. I hope you and they have dried out!
Could hardly keep the feeders full during this recent storm. The quail sure look skinny when wet. Saw my first lesser goldfinch here the other day. I'm thinking about joinging the Feb bird county.
That's a sad, bedraggled-looking bunch of birds, Kathy. I don't think they are as used to the rain as our eastern and mid-western avian fauna.
You've gotten rather an unusual lot of rain recently, haven't you? The whole western part of the US seems to be unusually damp this year.
I was watching the weather map and wondering when all that wet weather was going to get to you Kathie. Those are certainly some soggy looking birds! It won't be long before your desert starts to bloom now I suspect.
WOW, Kathy you have a lot of birds there. What do you feed them? Great shots, I loved your post.
My goodness, after you have fed the birds, is there anything left in your own larder?
Wonderful wonderful photos. What an inspiration!
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