The Good-bye Chronicles Chapter 3: Waiting

Desert Spiny Lizard 7-6-10 My Backyard

July 6, 2010

This day has started with golden sunshine streaming through my bedroom window as Gus heads off to work. Perhaps today we will know more. Perhaps today the waiting will end.

Pyrrhuloxia 7-5-10 My Yard

I get up and start my morning routine of feeding pets and counting birds. I smile as I see a fat collared lizard doing its warming push-ups on the block wall in the bright morning sun. I have plenty of things to do today while I wait. As usual, there are bird feeders to fill and plants to water. I watch a small rabbit nibble on the seed block. I count the birds out my windows. I look at each species differently now and realize that these will not be my backyard birds anymore if we move away. There are no Canyon Towhees in New England. I will not see Pyrrhuloxias or Cactus Wrens there. I do not take these birds for granted here, but I have relaxed with them and count on seeing them everyday. If one species does not show up I notice. I have become accustom to the rhythms of their life here in Sycamore Canyon. It has become my rhythm. Will I carry this song with me if we leave?

In the afternoon I visit my friend, Sherri. Her yard looks out over a larger green space than mine. The mesquite trees and Palo Verdes create a dense light green canopy over the desert. I can see a few birds here and there as they fly over the wash and across this ribbon of green. A male cardinal pops up to sing from a branch, its color a bright red spot in all that feathery green. The desert is full of doves, both mourning and white-winged. In the heat of the day they seek refuge in shade and do not move about so much. They, too, are waiting, but they wait for rain.

House finches 7-14-10 My yard

This day passes slowly. The heat drives me inside. There is no word today. All I can do is wait.

Chapter 3 of The Good-bye Chronicles

Around the Yard in Sycamore Canyon

Male Cardinal 6-22-10

The quail block attracts more than just quail…

Mourning dove and White-winged dove 6-18-10

  Antelope Ground Squirrel 6-22-10

Cardinal and House sparrow 6-22-10

 Hungry Pyrrhuloxia 6-23-10

 

Here is one solution to my ant problem.  I put a saucer of water beneath the feeder so that when the Gila Woodpeckers land on it and it drips, not only is the nectar diluted but the water is also so deep that the ants drown in it.  So far it seems to be working. That’s a Costa’s hummingbird coming in for a drink in the photo.

My Pomegranate tree has grown like a big weed!  It was full of blossoms and now it is bursting with the ripening fruit. The birds seem to love it as well. Soon all the desert will be bursting with ripening prickly pears.  I think I may have to make jelly again this year!

A few wispy clouds float by over the top of Mount Fagan to tempt and tease us, but the dew temperature needs to rise and the wind needs to change directions before the Monsoon will bring us sweet relief.

The Desert Waits

It is the hot time of the year now. Every morning I wake up and fill bird baths and water flowers. The brittle bush has dried. The grasses are drying. The afternoon sun blazes like a flaming sword. Ocotillo have dropped their leaves. The ground lies parched and the desert is waiting.

The mornings are the best time of the day while the air is still cool and the birds are still active. I find my feeders full most mornings and I delight in the antics of the birds. Parents are bringing chicks to the feeders. I have seen Gilded Flickers feeding chicks in my yard as well as curve-billed thrashers and Gambel’s Quail. There are the usual House Finches and House Sparrow chicks as well as Lesser Goldfinches. Recently the young Verdin have been arriving with their plain gray heads and wide mouths with a bit of the yellow gape of a juvenile still showing at the corners. Costa’s Hummingbirds are returning after being absent for almost 2 months during their breeding season. I had taken down all but 3 of my feeders but now I fight with the ants to keep them full for the hummingbirds. I can barely stand to see the hummingbirds come and hover near where a feeder used to be and have them finding nothing. I have taken pains to plant vegetation that would be attractive to hummingbirds and so have seen them feeding from the Whirling butterflies (guara), salvia and honeysuckle.

But in the afternoon, the birds pant from the heat. They seek refuge in the shade of my covered patio and eat the swollen green leaves of my potted succulents. I have one with the common name of “Bear paws” that I do not think will survive their hunger and thirst. House Finches can be ravenous eaters of greenery as I previously learned. The birds are waiting.

The toad I mentioned in a previous post was here again the next day and I was able to get its photograph. It is a young Sonoran Desert Toad but apparently it is camera shy for I had not seen it since I took this picture until tonight when I heard and then saw it hopping about in the flowerbed beneath the mesquite tree. As long as it eats crickets, it is welcome here! But the Sonoran Desert Toads have not started to sing their desert song yet. They need the Monsoon rain to bring on their frantic mating cries. This young toad in my yard is here because I water my plants and it is deceived into thinking the Monsoon has come, but the wise adults have not emerged in the rest of the desert. The Sonoran Desert Toads are waiting.

Though the afternoon grew hotter and hotter I barely noticed as I stayed inside and worked with the air conditioning running but as evening came on I went outside to watch for nighthawks skimming insects from the air, and though I watched for 20 minutes after sunset I only saw one bird. Now the night has fallen, a crescent moon hangs in a velvet sky, and a cool breeze wafts over the yard and plays around the corners of my house. Soon the Milky Way will rise and brighten this dark and cloudless night. The Monsoon officially started yesterday but there is no rain in sight. Until the dew point rises to 54 degrees for 3 days in a row and the wind changes directions and flows from the east we are in Monsoon Season in name only and like the rest of the desert, all I can do is wait.

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

My World is Sunny Once Again

After a gray and rainy weekend the sun is shining in Sycamore Canyon today. The storm caused the birds to flock to my feeders, but with the return of the sun they have returned to the desert for the most part. I find my feeders full in the mornings and evenings but during the middle of the day the ripening desert is offering her bounty to the birds once again.

Blue skies and frequent rain are causing the desert to bloom, as well as my own yard.  I see penstemmon in blossom along the roadside…

…and Mexican hat blossoming in my own garden. But the storms have taken their toll on my faithful ballerina sculpture.

In the three years that I have lived here my cast iron ballerina has held up my hummingbird feeders for birds and bats alike but,

on Friday night her wooden base rotted through and she toppled over with a thud!  The hummingbird feeders fell with her splashing sweet nectar all over the bricks. We hosed off the nectar and moved the ballerina under the covered patio to protect her from further harm. However, this left me with no dry place to hang my hummingbird feeders. I have discovered the hummingbirds love to get out of the sun or the rain to feed, so on Saturday Gus and I took a trip to the hardware store where we bought an inexpensive shepherd’s hook which I jammed into a large flower pot under the covered patio until repairs can be made to the ballerina.

As for Dawn and I, we are not done birding yet.  I hope to join her in Patagonia for more bird watching later on this week (that is, if she can get unstuck!).  Then, it’s off to Kentucky to visit my new granddaughter and her parents.  We will be in a hurry driving on our way out, but we will take our time returning and bird our way back.  Part of our trip will involve driving down to Alabama to see friends and possibly bird with a new birder I have met named Matt. I have never birded in either of these state or the ones we will travel through on our way.  I am so excited about the birding adventures ahead for Gus and I, but I am especially excited about seeing my newest grandchild and my son.

While we are gone my oldest son has graciously offered to stay at our house and take care of our pets.  Hopefully I can coax him into feeding the birds for me while I am gone!

Taking this trip will radically alter my eBird lists, so here are my current standings for the month of February 2010:

Life list: 370 species	Year List: 127 species	Month: 92
AZ Life List: 236	AZ Year List: 127	Feb: 92
Pima Co. Species seen: 221	Year Species: 113	Feb: 78
Santa Cruz Co. 150 species	Year: 60 species	Feb: 51
Pinal Co. 88 species	Year: 4 species	Feb: 0 species
Checklists submitted Life: 1714	Year: 191 checklists	Feb: 107

And that’s…

My World Tuesday!

A Rainy Birthday in Sycamore Canyon

Gila Woodpecker eating bark butter 2-22-10

A rainy day always brings the birds out to feed. Before the storm rolls in the hungry birds gather at my feeders. They particularly like this new bark butter feeder I purchased with a gift card from the Wild Birds Unlimited store on East Tangue Verde. I did not even know this store existed here in Tucson until I was given a gift card and looked it up online. Since then I have been back three times. The birds really seem to like this bark butter, which is a combination of suet, ground peanuts and cornmeal. You can spread it directly on the bark of a tree, but I happen to like this little feeder. I have seen woodpeckers, wrens, and finches all feasting form the feeder and my only complaint is that they eat it up so fast! However, on a cold day like today, I know they need this extra fuel to stay warm.

Gray skies over Mt. Fagan 2-22-10

When I lived in the northeast I would get tired of the gray skies in the winter, but here they are a welcome relief and I am enjoying this stormy winter birthday. It is a perfect time to stay inside and drink a cup of tea from the mug my sister sent to me for my birthday. It was a total surprise when I received it in the mail this weekend, but it is especially significant because of the bird on the mug. My grandmother loved cardinals and my mother has carried on the tradition of using them as a theme in Nana’s house where my mother now lives. I knew my sister liked cardinals also and so I sent both her and my mom kitchen towels and potholders with cardinals on them for Christmas. I kept a set for myself so we could all feel connected so far away. To have her send me this cardinal mug is just one more thread in our family fabric and I am enjoying steamy hot cups of Earl Grey Tea on this cold and blustery day!

To add to the fun of my birthday, my sweet husband bought me this wonderful birdbath/fountain that I have been coveting ever since I first saw it at the Wild Birds Unlimited Store. Right now it is sitting on my kitchen counter while we decide where it will go, but I am hoping it will be a great attraction for the birds as well as a soothing sound for us when we are outside. Yeah, it’s a fake stump, but I like it!

Lesser Goldfinches in mesquite tree 2-22-10

The lesser goldfinches huddle in the naked branches of my velvet mesquite tree trying to decide if it is safe to drop to the feeders. They appear as bright yellow blossoms against steel colored skies here on this rainy birthday in Sycamore Canyon.

A Note from Kathiesbirds: Come back tomorrow for a My World Tuesday Post about Cienega Creek Preserve. I spent the day with Jeff and Dawn Fine there on Friday and what fun we had. Many thanks to Dawn who taught me how to use Windows Live Writer which should make blogging so much easier for me than before. This is my first attempt at using it. I hope it works!

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!

The Arrival of the Pigs

Pig portrait 7-7-09

When I first returned from Connecticut I discovered that the pigs have come. Yes, that’s right pigs. Winged pigs. Greedy feathered beast that drop from the air on my feeders and chase away all the other birds in their greed to gobble up as much seed as possible in the shortest amount of time.

P-I-G-eons.

As a result, I have modified my bird feeding and it seems to have helped. Whereas before I was feeding black oil sunflower seed along with quail blocks, thistle seed, and a peanut feeder I now only feed thistle seed, peanuts and nectar.

While I am not getting as many birds at my feeders, I am getting more of the kind that I want to see. Though a few house sparrows, house finches and mourning doves still hang around, there are not the hoards that I saw before and I don’t miss them. The sweet lesser goldfinches and numerous migrating hummingbirds more than make up for it and I do still get a canyon towhee or a black-throated sparrow once in awhile.

Rufous Hummingbird 8-24-09

Male Black-chinned hummingbird 8-24-09


Winged PIGS! 7-7-09

As for the pigs, I can still see a huge flock downhill from me in another neighborhood. I have heard that someone down there actually LIKES them and encourages them to come and feed at her house. All I know is that I can see a flock of 30 to 40 birds soaring over the rooftops to the northeast of me and I don’t want them here! Perhaps someone should tell her about the gas station awning that collapsed in Yuma, Arizona last year just from the weight of the accumulated pigeon droppings!

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