Simple Pleasures

It seems that every day here brings something new.  I walked out into the front courtyard garden and was surprised to see the tufted evening primrose in bloom.  I grew this plant from seed!  Ah...simple pleasures for simple minds.  It's hard to describe the excitement I feel when I see a new bloom or bird or vista.  I guess I've learned to savor each of these small moments of pleasure that nature gives me.

Tufted evening primrose grown from seed.
The flower is about 3 inches across.

Curved-billed thrasher.  This might be one of the nestlings parents.

Keith, a kindred spirit and my partner in enjoying nature's gifts, loves photography.  I think this journal has become a project for both of us.  I have him to thank for any photos on this site that look good.  I'm afraid I need to stick to a paintbrush or pencil for my renderings of wild creatures.  Keith has patiently tried to teach me to use a camera, but it all sounds foreign and rather intimidating to me.  My camera work leaves much to be desired.  Keith, on the other hand, shows a talent for nature photography, and I figure that the more he does of it, the better he will become.

In previous posts, I talked about our nesting curve-billed thrasher.  Above is a picture of one courtesy of my favorite photographer.  

Chester, the broad-billed hummingbird

I've also included some other bird shots Keith took for me today.  The colorful hummingbird with the orange beak is a broad-billed hummer I've named Chester.  I think the name is appropriate because as he flies around, he makes a little "chet, chet, chet" sound.  It's a call unique to the broad-billed.  We have at least two Chesters right now; I've caught both males fighting over one of our feeders.  We also have at least one female broad-billed who tries to sneak in a sip now and then before either of the Chesters catch her.  Chester will be with us for a few weeks before he heads further north.  The broad-billed is a hummingbird species that winters in southern Mexico.  It is one of the first migrants I see return to its breeding grounds.

Two hummingbird species remain with us throughout the winter:  Costa's and Anna's.  We have several males and females.  I've named one of the male Costa's, "Little Boy."  Little Boy has been with us for about two years now and will feed even when I'm holding the feeder.  He's got a stunning purple gorget (the colorful feathers around the throat that often wrap around the bird's cheeks like a handlebar mustache).  "Singer" is our male Anna's.  Singer has an iridescent hot pink gorget and helmet.  He is so named because he loves to sing, although his song is rather rustic.  I like it because it is a complex series of notes, even if they don't flow together all that well.  Little Boy doesn't really sing; he utters a drawn-out, high pitched whistle of ascending and then descending notes.  The sound rather reminds me of a miniature, softer pitched, musical siren.  In any case, when I hear any of the hummer calls, I know which of the three species claims it.

The white crowned sparrows have been with us since mid-winter.  They and the black-throated sparrows are the two main species frequenting our backyard aside from the ubiquitous house sparrow.  The two have beautiful songs that are as sweet as water trickling over rocks.  

White crowned sparrow visiting our suet station.

And then, there is my next favorite Sonoran Desert bird aside from the thrasher.  I absolutely adore the Gambel's quail with their "yap, yap, yap," and "way" calls and the soft peeping sound they make when they feed.  Several coveys dine in our back courtyard where we've set up what Keith likes to call "the wildlife pits."  This is a non-landscaped, natural feeding area with ground-dwelling bird seed blocks, water bowls, and a hanging seed feeder.  It abounds in "grit," which the birds like to pick up for their crop to assist in chewing up their food.  While they like the native grit, we catch many of the birds picking up the expensive decomposed granite used in our landscaped pathways.  The birds definately have champagne tastes. 

 

We have three quail blocks in the back courtyard
for these iconic desert birds:
Gambel's quail.  They have found the
suet and now like that too.