The following are my entries for 12/31/06 through 5/2/07. After this each entry will be separate.
January 18, 2007 - Scott’s Oriole, male, sighted at suet feeder. This is the 5th year we have noted a Scott’s oriole overwintering with us. Signs of global warming?
January 19, 2007 - Tony’s Birthday, 55, but who’s counting? Back to birds, juvenile Audubon’s warbler foraging in oak tree.
February 18, 2007 - Coyote, female, found deceased from gunshot wounds behind the stucco wall of the outdoor kitchen. We tracked bloodstains through the front yard to outside our bedroom window. She had attempted to lie down there, but it was too small an area. We buried her on a small knoll marked with a lichen covered purple rock. Please see http://birdlandranch.org/coyote.3-07.htm for more information.
February 17, 2007 - Sharp-shinned Hawk sitting in oak tree by my medicine wheel garden.
March 11, 2007 - Broad-tailed, male and Rufous Hummingbirds, male and female, at nectar feeder. Spring Migration has begun!
March 12, 2007 - Painted Redstart, male, flying from branch to branch in the oak trees in his acrobatic style of fanning and flicking wings and tail to show off bright white patches.
March 13, 2007 - Vermillion Flycatcher, male, briefly sited in oak tree by the backyard “pond” caused by watering the fruit trees.
March 16, 2007 - Elf Owl, male, heard in the canyon announcing his arrival to the nocturnal audience with his raucous laughing chuckles. The chuckles are so loud its hard to believe the smallest owl in the world with the approximate weight and size of an Eastern Bluebird can make such a disturbance! 2 male Scott’s Orioles.
March 17, 2007 - Black-chinned Hummingbird, male, 3 Rufous Hummingbirds, 2 male, 1 female arrive at 6pm in time for supper! The last remaining Slate-colored Junco and White-crowned Sparrow noted before they migrated to cooler climates.
March 18, 2007 - Audubon’s Warbler, aka Yellow-rumped Warbler, female. Black-chinned Hummingbird, female, gathering my organic cotton batting (scrunched up cotton and put in circular fixture suspended in oak tree) for nesting material.
March 19, 2007 - Magnificent Hummingbird, male, aka Rivoli’s Hummingbird at 5.25” is the second largest hummingbird in North America. His arrival at the feeder makes you stand up and take note! Elf Owl seen pecking at wooden plug we banged into utility pole blocking the cavity. Please see “Nest-cam Project” for reasons why.
March 20, 2007 - 6 Scott’s Orioles, all males, whistling, calling, and singing to each other, while flying from orange halves to nectar feeders. Their songs would cause jazz musicians (especially tenor sax players) to grab pencil and music paper to notate the musical sequence. John Coltrane’s kind of bird.
March 23, 2007 - .85” of liquid sunshine! We Arizonans need to tell one and all about any moisture received.
March 29, 2007 - 6 Lucy’s Warblers fly over my head while at work in the medicine wheel garden.
April 3, 2007 - Cassin’s Kingbird’s “come-ear” heard up in Algerita Canyon. Ash-throated Flycatcher’s police whistle call in the pine-oak woodlands.
April 7, 2007 - Green-tailed Towhee mewing in the tangle of roses and forsythia.
April 8, 2007 - Lucifer’s Hummingbird, male, unmistakable with his deeply forked tail and decurved bill. Also of note is the sound his wings make similar to that of a well tuned Jag.
April 9, 2007 - Lark sparrow, male, singing or one might say tuning in as the song sounds like a short wave radio going in and out of its frequency.
April 8, 2007 - Myrtle’s Warbler, female, a new species!
April 10, 2007 - Lazuli Bunting, 2 females, Orange-crowned Warbler, male and female.
April 21, 2007 - Brown-headed Cowbirds, 2 females, 1 male.
April 29, 2007 - Plumbeous Vireo in pecan tree gleaning insect life.
April 30, 2007 - Western Tanager, male, flies through the bright orange head brilliant in the sun.
May 1, 2007 - Pair of Northern Mockingbirds foraging on the ground enjoying the newly mowed grassy area by the outdoor kitchen. With the full moon the Elf Owls (pair?) are heard calling back and forth to each other. Soft Western Screech Owl and Whiskered Screech Owl calls sift through the Elf Owl chuckling (barely).
May 2, 2007 - Lazuli Bunting, female, Wilson’s Warbler, male, Black-throated Gray Warbler, male, Townsend’s Warbler, male, 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds, female and a pair of White-winged Doves. Up to 6 Black-headed Grosbeaks.
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