My World: My Own Peaceable Kingdom

Male Gambel’s Quail 7-13-10

On any given day I see so many creatures in and around my yard.

  Female Gambel’s Quail 7-13-10

 

 Desert cottontail 7-8-10

One day earlier this month I looked out the front window to see this bunny rabbit resting beneath my gold star (yellow bells) bush. I smiled even wider when I noticed a covey of juvenile Gambel’s quail lying beneath the same bush snuggled into the stones and the shade like little gray buns in an oven. Perched on the branches of this same bush and just over the bunny’s head was a juvenile pyrrhuloxia. In the upper branches of that same bush Lesser-goldfinches and Costa’s Hummingbirds were feeding or perching. That is when I realized I have my own little peaceable kingdom right here in my own yard. Throughout the rest of this month other birds and creatures have appeared. Often they are most comfortable in the company of other species.

Juvenile Brown-headed cowbird 7-5-10

Juvenile Pyrrhuloxia 7-5-10

 Desert spiny Lizard 7-17-10

Male Costa’s hummingbird 7-19-10 hiding in honeysuckle vine

Female Costa’s Hummingbird 7-19-10 feeding

 

 Male Brown-headed cowbird 7-13-10

Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird drinking from fountain with female House Finch 7-13-10

Black-headed Grosbeak 7-20-10

Black-headed Grosbeak 7-20-10

MY World Tuesday

So…Who Ate The Rabbit?

Desert cottontail carcass 7-9-10 (Read the beginning of this story here)

All day long the rabbit lay in the wash. On Saturday morning I went outside and it was still there. Saturday afternoon a kettle of turkey vultures circled overhead, but none came down to earth, and there the rabbit lay. Saturday night is was still there as I sat on the terrace and kept vigil while talking to my daughter. Sunday morning and there the carcass lay under a thick gray blanket of storm clouds. Gus and I went out for breakfast. We returned home under the same gray skies but no rain. The air hung thick and humid with no sweet relief from rain. Sunday night a red watermelon sun slipped from behind the shelf of gray clouds and slid below the western horizon. I walked out to the front yard once again and peered into the wash. The rabbit’s body lay where it fell and looked as if it were melting into the earth. Darkness fell with cloud banks warring and distant lightening illuminating the edges of the clouds, but still no rain.

In the shade of the mesquite tree 7-12-10

Now it is Monday morning. Sometime during the night the gray wool clouds slipped away leaving a hazy blue sky that looks like faded denim. It is 81 degrees as I step outside at 8:30 a.m. to eat my breakfast on the terrace in the dappled shade of the mesquite tree. A light wind is tossing the branches and teasing my hair. I sit here with my bins and scan the wash trying to see if the rabbit’s body is still there. I know exactly where to look. It is by two clumps of brittle bush with a stick that flipped up and fell across its body when it dropped, but from this angle I discover that a creosote bush is in my way and I cannot see.

Finches 7-12-10

I finish my breakfast with Costa’s hummingbirds zipping by my head, lesser goldfinches picking thistle seed from the feeder behind me and purple martins twittering and chirping as they fly overhead. Down in the wash I see at least four live desert cottontails running around and nibbling on the grasses. Gambel’s’ quail scurry about in various family groups, the parents calling and cooing to the young ones in constant communication. I see a lizard flip its tail up over its back and race up the riprap towards the top of the wash. I realize how lucky I am to live in such a place where wildlife is so prevalent. I do not need a zoo; I live in the midst of a wildlife park!

Down in the Wash 7-12-10

With breakfast over I start my chores in the backyard first filling feeders and birds baths and watering the plants. With that task done I finally head to the front yard to clean my bird fountain, fill those feeders, and water those plants. Now it is time to find out. Will the rabbit still be there?

Where the rabbit lay 7-12-10

I set the hose on the purslane and walk the few steps down the sidewalk to the best vantage point for seeing the rabbit. I locate the two brittle bushes and gaze at the fold of the earth. I look for the stick that lay across the rabbit’s body, but the rabbit is gone and the stick is about 4 to 5 feet away farther down the wash. Okay…so who ate the rabbit?

The stick 7-12-10

I take my bins and scan the nearby bushes and trees. I see no sign of hair or bones anywhere. This particular wash is really a manmade retention basin for storm runoff and as such it is fenced all around to keep people and pets out of it. Three years ago it was little more than dirt and stone with a few trees the developer put in as landscaping.

The corner of the wash where I threw the dead rabbit 7-12-10 

Since then creosote bush has moved in, along with brittle bush, desert grasses, a few weeds and some wildflowers, but as yet there are no cacti growing. Still, it has filled in quite a bit.

The Closed Gate 7-12-10

I see the fence everywhere with the gate that is halfway across the wash closed and I conclude that it probably wasn’t a coyote who got the rabbit, so it must have been something with wings. If it was, it either came during the night or early this morning, and whatever it was must have carried it off, for there is no body or evidence of a body anywhere around. Nature has taken care of its own. Perhaps that dead rabbit is feeding a parent or some chicks. One creature dies so another can live. This is the reality of life in the desert.

My Backyard Flowerbed 7-12-10

I pull my hose back into the backyard and water my final flowerbed. The hose is running at almost full and I am flood irrigating this one bed which I have yet to run drip lines to. Suddenly I see a tiny wet mouse climbing the block wall desperately. It makes it to the top, its gray-brown coat soaked and dripping, its long tail dragging a wet stream behind it. I think that it is going to sit there in the sun and dry. It is so upset that it doesn’t seem to mind me being so close to it. I have my bins but not my camera with me. I step down off the low wall I am standing on and take the few steps inside to exchange bins for the camera but when I return in less than ten seconds the mouse if gone! I search for it everywhere but I cannot find it. This is also the way of the desert. Where creatures appear and disappear before you know it. Life is happening all around me all the time it seems. I get to see these little glimpses of nature and almost every day there is a new drama happening outside my window. I only have to open my eyes and observe it.

Curve-billed thrasher (Western) 7-12-10

For now, the curve-billed thrasher feed next to white-winged doves and cactus wrens.

White-winged dove 7-12-10

Mourning doves coo and chase and purple martins sail above. Pyrrhuloxias feed next to northern cardinals and house finches and above it all the turkey vultures glide on desert thermals waiting to do their job.

Juvenile Gambel’s Quail trying to get at seed 7-12-10

So, who is in and around the yard today?

1. Gambel’s Quail
2. Turkey vulture
3. Red-tailed hawk
4. Mourning dove
5. White-winged dove
6. Costa’s Hummingbirds
7. Gila woodpecker
8. Gilded flicker
9. Common raven
10. Chihuahuan raven
11. Purple martin
12. Verdin
13. Cactus Wren
14. Curve-billed thrasher
15. Canyon towhee
16. Northern Cardinal
17. Pyrrhuloxia
18. House finch
19. Lesser goldfinch
20. House sparrow
21. 4 cottontails in the wash
22. 1 lizard
23. 1 drenched mouse

Oh, and Poetry is happening once again on Kathie’s Poet Tree

Today in Sycamore Canyon

Today in Sycamore Canyon the Costa's hummingbirds are back.  I have been seeing males for the most part for the past couple of weeks, but today a female Costa's showed up.  I love feeding hummingbirds but the feeders do present a challenge. Not only do bees tend to hover around them at certain times, but now I am busy fighting ants drawn to the sugary syrup. I used to have a different feeder here on the window under the covered patio over my patio table because hummingbirds like to feed in the shade and this arrangement keeps them dry when it rains.  The other feeder I had was the inversion type where you flip it over to fill it and then invert the bottle for the birds to feed.  The problem is that with the high temperatures we have been having lately the nectar is forced out of the bottle do to the increased pressure when the liquid inside expands, thus dripping all over my table and attracting ants. So, for now I am trying this type of feeder in this location which is a saucer feeder and tends to discourage ants and bees.  However, the Gila woodpeckers may still hang from it to feed which will also cause it to drip and then I will have to think of something else!

Meanwhile, I still have the inversion type of feeders elsewhere in my yard. The ants have also found these and are climbing the shepherds hooks I have them on, as well as the glass window where my window feeder is held on by suction cups.  In my war against the ants I have tried several things.  First I broke down and sprayed a chemical spray after removing all feeders and plants from the area.  I immediately felt guilty for this and washed it all away.  While it killed the ants I could see, it didn’t stop them from coming back later in the day.  Then I tried ant traps. It was all well and good until fresh nectar dripped on the table.  The ants bypassed the bait and went straight for the sugar-water! What now? Well, I changed the feeder as stated above.  I tired spraying the ants with my white vinegar solution I use to clean the windows with.  It killed the ants but didn’t keep them from coming back. So, I am now trying this…

Vaseline and Vicks Vaporub on the pole…

and around the edges of the window.  So far they will not cross this and they seem to hate the odor of the vaporub but will it also chase away the birds? I am watching and waiting. I have taken great precautions to make sure that none of this will end up on the wings of the birds which could be disastrous! I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Meanwhile…

the finches are feeding…

… as well as this baby curve-billed thrasher being fed by its parent.

  The Baby Gambel’s Quail are starting to arrive…

 

…but the parent birds have been digging nests in the cool soil beneath my bougainvillea and other garden plants.  I don’t mind that they do this except it tears up the roots and kills the plants!  I have resorted to placing large rocks beneath the plants just to protect them from the birds!

My bougainvillea in bloom today.

  Female Gambel’s Quail digging herself a nest hole beneath the nearby grass and bougainvillea!

She’s just relaxing and cooling off and apparently eating in bed!

In the backyard the whirling butterflies (guara) are in bloom…

And while I was watering my garden I saw a toad disappear into this hole beneath the spigot! I planted Irish moss here to catch the drips of water from the hose.  It seemed a good idea and so far it is growing but apparently a toad has decided it makes a perfect home. I tired to flush it out for a look by filling the hole with water.  No luck…

…but when I came back later on in the afternoon I noticed the hole plugged up with debris.  Seems the toad shut the door on me!  One question: Since he lives in Irish Moss, does that make him an Irish toad?

Hot, sunny, and windy here in Sycamore Canyon today.  It was 77 degree F when I first got up at 7:30 a.m. but has now risen to 102 degrees F. A few clouds are wafting overhead and the wind has picked up quite a bit.  It is suppose to blow quite fiercely over the next few days and the temperature is suppose to drop into the high 80’s!  That is almost unheard of for June and will be a relief after the triple digit temperatures we have been having as of late.

Today in Sycamore Canyon I am also thinking of fellow blogger, birder, and artist Debby Kaspari. Debby and her husband Mike had their home and studio destroyed last month in an F4 tornado in Oklahoma. Julie Zickefoose has written a fantastic article about it on her blog with links to where you can donate if you are interested. Please take a look and see if you would like to help. Debby and Mike escaped with only their lives and their cat.  Click on the links below to read the amazing stories and see photos for yourself.  Debby, I wish you all the best.  May you start painting again soon for all of us and For the Birds!

The May 10 Tornado

Meet Debby Kaspari

Debby’s Blog: Drawing the Motmot

Drenched

Male Costa's Hummingbird in mesquite tree 1-22-10

Yesterday 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!

A Pumpkin A Day

Gambel’s Quail

(by Kathiesbirds 10-26-09)

Gambel’s quail are chicken-like birds that live in the desert southwest. They travel in flocks called coveys. You can often see them walking along the top of a fence or scratching beneath your bird feeders for fallen seed. In the spring when the chicks hatch the family of quail will often travel together with the tiny chicks following the parents in a straight line. While they all have the feathered top-knots, only the male’s curves into a question mark shape and only the male has the cinnamon cap and black face mask.

Sycamore Canyon Birds

I know there's seed in there somewhere! 10-14-09

As autumn descends on Sycamore Canyon the bird population continues to change. While nighthawks, white-winged doves and martins have left, the sparrows, warblers and raptors are returning. Though a few turkey vultures still linger, I know that one day soon will be THE LAST DAY I see them until next spring. The Gambel's quail chicks from this summer have almost all matured and show up at my feeder now as adults, except for a few from a late hatching, which still do not have their adult plumage or top knot!

Waiting for the seeds to fall. 10-14-09

I love their happy chatter as they come to clean up seed from beneath the lone sunflower seed feeder. I have severely limited my bird feeding lately due to the presence of rock pigeons. So far it seems to be working, and though I often see these winged pigs on my neighbor’s rooftop, they seldom land in my yard any more.

Gila Woodpecker clown 10-11-09

For awhile I was not seeing many woodpeckers, but they have come back in force again and the Gila woodpeckers crack me up with their laughter –like whinny and their clownish antics. I love to see them hang from the hummingbird feeder sipping nectar through their beaks like a straw. The flickers do not do this however; only the Gila woodpeckers.

On Sunday a juvenile cooper’s hawk hunted my bird feeder causing a dove to crash into the window. I heard the crash and when I came to investigate saw the marvelous raptor sitting on the fence. Later in the day I decided to water the garden and give it a good soaking with the hose. In the process I sprayed the orange tree with its oval basin-like leaves. As I turned away from shutting off the hose I looked up to see a hummingbird splashing with delight in one of the orange tree leaves! The huge leaves made a perfect tiny bird bath for this perfect tiny bird!

Black-throated gray warbler in my backyard 10-13-09

I had the surprise of the week last night when I was sitting out back talking on the phone to my youngest brother. As I he and I were in deep conversation a black-throated gray warbler flew into the yard and landed in the mesquite tree right in front of me! I could not help but gasp, and Chris, understanding my love for the birds, said he could wait if I needed to get a photograph. I did not think the bird would linger, but I casually got up and went inside to retrieve my bins and camera. Sure enough it was still out there and when I sat back down it came close enough for me to capture one quick photo before it flew away! With the Bewick’s wren I saw in the wash with TR last Tuesday and the warbling vireo I saw on September 25, this brings the Sycamore Canyon Bird List to a total of 83 species of birds! It blows my mind to think I live in a place where one can see 83 species of birds all within walking distance of my front door!

Black-throated gray warbler in Gardner Canyon 8-17-08

I took this photo of a black-throated gray warbler last year in Gardner Canyon which is just on the other side of the Santa Rita Mountains from where I live. I included it so you can get a better look at the beautiful coloring of this black and white warbler with its yellow lores. My camera has been acting up and will not focus when I want it to. I am trying to figure this out. Even though it has a fully charged battery, it will take one picture, then refuse to take anymore. It flashes F-- as if the battery is dead or missing. I have to shut it off and turn it back on again and then it will work for a few shots before it rebels on me. Any idea anyone? I have tried removing the lens and reattaching it as well as removing the battery and reinserting it. I have reformatted the card also. It goes through spells like this, then it stops. I don't know why but I hate it when it does. I could have gotten a much better photo of the warbler in my yard if it hadn't balked on me!