tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-202473742024-03-13T05:10:37.205-07:00Birders On The BorderIf you've seen one life bird, you've seen 'em all.Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-13052618890355937422012-08-15T12:53:00.000-07:002012-08-15T12:53:13.569-07:00Whoo cooks for youuuu?
Contrary to a certain song by Stevie Nicks, White-winged Doves
do not sing Ooh, ooh, baby ooh...
Maybe it's because today would have been her
100th birthday, but yesterday it occurred to me that singing White-winged
Doves sound like Julia Child.
Seriously. Listen to this recording made at Palm Desert, California by James Morgan.
Now watch this autotuned remix of Julia's greatest Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-80552684987140850742012-06-27T14:04:00.000-07:002013-11-08T12:12:15.440-07:00With apologies to PoeInspired by actual events.
Once upon a summer swelter, while I weltered in my shelter,
Reading backlogged emails, each more urgent than the one before,
As I toiled, resisting napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my kitchen door.
"'Tis the FedEx guy," I muttered, "tapping at my kitchen door -
Only this, and nothing more."
The timing was inopportune, Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-66675335118557478832011-08-21T14:06:00.000-07:002011-08-21T14:06:51.487-07:00Hummingbird rescue!In the yard this morning, as I watched the chickens scratching, pecking, and dirt bathing, I noticed a male Broad-billed Hummingbird that seemed in distress. He flitted from one feeder to the next, trying each of a half dozen in turn without staying long enough for a decent drink. When he finally sat a moment and turned his profile to me, I saw the problem: a crusty black bump at the tip of his Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-48861159219050003982011-06-14T19:55:00.001-07:002011-06-14T20:01:25.959-07:00RefugeesOn this hot, dry, and windy June afternoon, the chickens were restless. Despite my efforts to make them more comfortable—watering patches of dirt for bathing, setting out a bowl of iced apple juice—they wanted more relief and knew where to find it. One by one they hopped up onto the porch and stood by the door, looking longingly through the glass.
It was uncomfortable for me, too, so ISherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-63714925880459669382011-02-27T15:13:00.000-07:002011-02-27T15:13:46.047-07:00Anna's in the snow
A male Anna's visited our hummingbird feeder during this morning's mini-blizzard. He could barely hang on as the feeder swung in the wind and snow pelted his face. Not wanting to make his morning even more stressful, I waited until he left to put out fresh, warm sugar water.
It's been a grim winter for Arizona's hummingbirds. Many died in the Big Freeze of 2011, and many others had to be Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-6195808904631230122011-01-05T11:47:00.003-07:002011-01-07T10:20:45.146-07:00Eared Quetzal reported in Madera Canyon
A male Eared Quetzal with a
madrone berry
near Madera, Chihuahua, Mexico
Here's a little something to spice up winter birding in southeastern Arizona: An Eared Quetzal was reported yesterday afternoon from Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains.The description was given as "about 200 yards past the Kubo Cabins.....just beyond the stream."
These globally-rare relatives of the Elegant Trogon Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-88743104183071104382011-01-01T01:39:00.011-07:002011-01-01T02:41:06.926-07:00Panic at the playaIt was early afternoon in the southern Sulphur Springs Valley, and the last few hundred of Arizona's largest flock of Sandhill Cranes were returning to their roost at the playa lake at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area after breakfasting on waste grain in nearby farm fields.
Suddenly, chaos erupts as thousands of cranes take to the air in seconds!
Normal crane chatter rises to a deafening clatter asSherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-23724942640491306112010-12-01T16:06:00.007-07:002011-01-01T18:57:57.896-07:00A close call
Pearl safely back in the run.
Sibella and the dogs up the street had been barking off and on all morning. I figured one of the neighbors' dogs was running loose, but with Sibella on guard I decided to risk letting the chickens out for some free-range time.
They'd been out an hour or so when Sibella sounded the alarm again. When it escalated from a few concerned woofs to hysterical barking, I Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-56090866562881406182010-11-02T13:39:00.002-07:002010-11-02T15:21:34.902-07:00Arizona voters: Keep politicians' hands off our wildlife!There's so much at stake this election day, including the future of wildlife management and open space in Arizona. Prop. 109, touted as necessary to protect hunting and fishing from animal rights activists, is a thinly disguised power grab by politicians. It would allow the state legislature to take complete control of state-level wildlife policy and invite lawsuits to overturn laws that regulateBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-69727912543448716852010-10-26T20:55:00.011-07:002010-10-27T13:00:12.577-07:00Coati TuesdiWhat a surprise to arrive at one of our bird monitoring sites overlooking Old Bisbee this morning and be greeted by a chirping troop of White-nosed Coatis! These diurnal, social members of the raccoon family recently recovered from a local population crash, so it's particularly nice to see five healthy-looking "teenagers" with five adult females.
Alternate names include coatimundi (Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14147455132070508811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-2493366110917703912010-09-30T20:57:00.005-07:002010-09-30T21:49:43.379-07:00Portrait of a worried dadThis male Lesser Goldfinch has every reason to look worried. He and his mate have a very late nest in the plum tree by our patio, so when I heard an unusual amount of mewing and chipping out there I went outside to see what was going on. The goldfinches were eyeing a Curve-billed Thrasher making its way through the thick foliage toward the nest. Our thrashers don't miss many meals, so I didn't Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-72635622709814295212010-09-29T13:25:00.003-07:002010-09-30T21:41:46.509-07:00September surprise
So, yesterday morning I was out on the patio supervising the chickens' free-ranging activities and watching the show at the feeders when I notice this hummer sitting on the far feeder across from a Rufous/Allen's...
Something about it set sirens off in my head. As the Rufous/Allen's backed away, the other bird raised its head in response...
...revealing the long, curved bill of a LuciferBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-89031609486661183432010-08-23T09:59:00.004-07:002010-09-30T21:52:43.230-07:00A lovely creature however you pronounce itThe lush monsoon grasses are setting seed, and waves of Lazuli Buntings from the north are feasting. This gorgeous male was among many at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area yesterday morning.
When you see one of these, what do you say?
"Look! There's a La-ZOO-lee Bunting!"?
"Why, I believe that's a LAZ-oo-lie Bunting!"?
Or maybe "Check out the the little blue dude!"?
Leave a comment with your Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-49920967167310163332010-05-30T22:35:00.004-07:002010-05-30T22:57:41.230-07:00The burning seasonIt's fire season in southeastern Arizona, and our beloved Chiricahua Mountains are burning.These are photos from the Horseshoe Fire, which was set---that's right, deliberately set---on Wednesday, May 26. By Thursday afternoon it had expanded into the South Fork watershed of Cave Creek Canyon; by this afternoon, it had grown to 1,400 acres.Forest Service crews are working to contain it, but Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-43019320808436718892010-02-25T10:01:00.006-07:002010-02-25T10:09:52.320-07:00I've got my eye on you...I'm pretty sure we're on their life lists:White-winged DoveMale House Finch Juvenile Cooper's HawkBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-41219443381094908962009-12-23T12:07:00.013-07:002010-09-30T22:04:44.500-07:00Desert snowWe woke up this morning to this:
After one of the worst "monsoons" on record and a virtually rainless fall, we'll take our precipitation any way we can get it. Melting, it registered .35" - not too bad.
It's the chickens' first snow, so I let them out to scratch around in it.
While supervising their explorations, I noticed that the hummingbird feeder was caked with snow. The feeder went dry Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-13741687458753044352009-06-03T15:07:00.001-07:002010-09-30T22:03:19.540-07:00Sleepy girlsThe chicks are bringing out my dormant maternal instincts. While slaving over a hot computer, I felt a pang of guilt about leaving them in their tub so long. I scooped them out and carried them into the home office hoping they'd just fall asleep in my lap while I worked. They tried but had trouble getting comfortable (I'm just not fluffy enough). Spying an old knit cap stuffed into the bookshelfBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-54283519134701741962009-06-03T01:23:00.006-07:002009-06-03T02:07:19.664-07:00FiresIt's the dry season here in southeastern Arizona, which means it's also fire season. Last week alone lightning from some out-of-season thunderstorms sparked blazes Wednesday in lower Carr Canyon, Thursday at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains, and Friday just across the border in New Mexico. The photo shows the plume of smoke from the second fire, officially known as the Melendrez Pass Fire, asBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-55215729724026719302009-06-01T14:19:00.006-07:002013-08-27T15:05:31.894-07:00Bucket o' chickensSo we've got chicks. Now comes the hard part: Getting a coop and run built before they outgrow the house. In the meantime, they're living in a cat-proof tub in the living room:
The chopsticks through the corners of the hardware cloth top lock it down so that our indoor-only kitteh Bart (whose middle name is Evil) doesn't decide to see if dey haz a flavur. So far, he hasn't shown as much Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-86568795496475534732009-05-30T15:06:00.002-07:002009-05-30T15:06:00.762-07:0026: The poultry anniversaryTom and I just celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. Our gift to each other was chickens, specifically four "Americana" or "Easter Egger" chicks less than 48 hours old. They're not a pure breed, but they should lay the famous blue-shelled eggs of their Araucana ancestors.I picked them out at a local feed store with an eye toward eye candy. Clockwise from the left are Bonnie (red), Grace (blackBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-88767301143018306772009-05-30T11:33:00.005-07:002010-09-30T22:08:03.417-07:00Ooh! Ooh! Blue purple! Blue purple!That was Tom's brother's response on seeing a male Varied Bunting for the first time. As a law professor, Bob was seldom at a loss for words, but a sunlit view of this spectacular songster against the San Pedro River's brilliant green cottonwoods totally tied his tongue.
Unlike their more cold-tolerant Lazuli cousins, Varied Buntings arrive right around the end of the spring birding season. We Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-7758585782911426782009-05-25T16:51:00.003-07:002009-05-25T20:26:33.213-07:00Blue wave!I just stepped out the door to check on a couple of recent transplants in the garden when a male Blue Grosbeak whizzed by about a foot from my face. I watched him land in a mesquite at the edge of the road and realized that there was another male sitting on the opposite side of the same bush...and another in the mostly-dead ailanthus. Then a female popped up out of the bottom of the same bush andBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-77071236856180306842009-05-25T13:28:00.001-07:002009-05-25T13:28:00.319-07:00Point-offFive male Great-tailed Grackles sky-pointingPatagonia Lake State ParkMay 13, 2009Another memorable moment from last week's Fiesta de las Aves activities. —SWBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-15244830717777679142009-05-24T13:45:00.001-07:002009-05-24T13:45:00.806-07:00The pause that refreshesMale Blue GrosbeakLas Cienegas National Conservation AreaMay 11, 2009Photographed on the Cienega and Grassland field trip during Fiesta de las Aves. —SWBisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20247374.post-6717446110935033512009-05-23T14:13:00.002-07:002009-05-23T20:38:44.938-07:00Moon of the Giant AsparagusPalmer Agave, Agave palmeriHuachuca Mountains April 29, 2009 Every year I'm caught off guard by the first agave bloom stalks. The first ones appeared at the end of April, and it seems like they're all over now. This signals the beginning of the end of the plant's life, as it puts everything it's got into its massive flower stalk, but the nectar and pollen are a boon to nectar bats, hummingbirds, Bisbee Border Birder Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08827604705650467041noreply@blogger.com0