Male Broad-billed hummingbird
For just a moment in time there was a male, and perhaps a female, broad-billed hummingbird at the feeder by my bedroom window. Not sure about the female because I've always thought males and females travel at different times and these two were definitely moving thru. I'm lucky to have seen them at all, really. They're much more common in Mexico, tho I have seen a male at Mom's feeder. Anyway this tall, skinny, mostly gray-looking bird that was a female something-or-other caught my attention and the next thing you know this startlingly bright electric blue bird was at the feeder. He was drop dead gorgeous! I grabbed the binocs and took in all I could before he lept off to wherever he was headed. What a gift!
photo not credited but its amazing!
One of the best things about retirement is being able to lie in bed in the morning watching the sun slowly light the back yard and the birds come to life. The usual suspects are still around - cardinals, cactus wrens, curve-billed thrashers, house wrens, gila woodpeckers, mourning doves, and the sweet little lesser gold finches. It's ok by me that the white-winged doves have moved on but I sure would love to see the ring-necked turtle doves again.
White-crowned sparrow
New to the yard this year are the white-crowned sparrows. When we lived out in Avra Valley there were lots of them but it was a different habitat, so I was surprised and delighted to see them here. They have a happy song and tend to feed on the ground under the feeder for the lesser goldfinches so I'm guessing they like the finer seeds. Fortunately, they also love a hearty drink of water so even if I'm in bed I can see them. Thought about getting a bird bath but decided to make one with things I had around the place and it works just great.
Verdin by Juan Bahaman
There's also a lone little verdin hanging around who favors the hummingbird feeder, hopping from hole to hole until he works his way around the entire feeder.
Yesterday we said goodbye to the 90's for awhile, I hope. The wind picked up filling the air with who-knows-what from the mine dumps west of us, and our homes/vehicles with a layer of grit. Ok, the grit is my fault because I love wind and opened all the windows in the house and was too lazy to put the car in the garage when I got back from Yoda's house in the morning. Last night and today all the windows are open and the fans & AC are off. And I'm cleaning up the grit. So, for the moment anyway, the weather seems to be cooling but Mother Nature can be contrary in October.
I remember trying to organize a behind-the-scenes workshop at the museum for local tour guides before the winter tourism season got going but after it was cool enough that I wouldn't have them dropping halfway thru the day because of the heat.
Any tour at the museum is on foot and most of it is outside. Even lunch with the museum director was held outside on the director's patio. I hydrated those people like crazy all day long! The only time I got really worried came in the afternoon when we were behind the Mountain Habitat. The group was fully exposed to the sun, standing on concrete, listening to the Curator of Birds & Mammals talk about the care and feeding of the critters in that part of the exhibit. The growing number of flushed faces were a big red flag (no pun intended) so I handed out more water & juice before we moved on. Thankfully, I didn't lose a single participant even tho the temperature got to 89 degrees that day.
I was big on educating the people who led tours thru the museum but one of the participants that day caused quite a lot of trouble later. And I learned a HUGE lesson. People love to feel they're getting "inside" information and one of the museum's primary missions is education so I thought great! We'll give the tour operators some neat tidbits while we educate them and everybody wins. Most everybody did but there was one (there's always one isn't there) who overstepped the bounds.
It happened in the Hummingbird Enclosure. We were really, really proud of the Hummingbird Enclosure. Instead of including hummingbirds in the Aviary with all the other birds, ASDM built an enclosure just for the little guys. The natural history of the birds is lots easier to show there and it can be an enchanting spot to sit and observe the behavior of the birds.
Female on nest at ASMD
On the day of the workshop a keeper whose academic speciality was hummingbirds gave the tour operators an outstanding tour of the exhibit, front and back. In the process she pointed out spots where hummers had nested. The idea was to show how hard they are to find in nature, even if you're looking for them, and how delicate the nests are. But....
When our errant tour operator brought a group thru later in the season I got a call from the keeper telling me the guide had stepped over a low "barrier" and was off the path pointing out the nests to her group. She seemed totally unaware of the fact that she was doing anything wrong. Unfortunately for the birds it was nesting season and while the tourists were delighted, the birds and the keeper were less than pleased with the intrusion. And the keeper was mad at me.
What a place to work, huh!!
I was one lucky duck.
I was one lucky duck.
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