Archive for January, 2008

Sunnin’

January 31st, 2008

The sun was just disappearing over the Tucson Mountains, the Catalinas deep purple, when I turned home tonight from the post office and grocery store. As I lowered the sun visor in the car, it occurred to me that the same last rays of sunlight that were making me blink were probably warming a Western […]

Provence 2008

January 28th, 2008

Arles, St-Trophime, photo by Tina Hay.
Getting excited as the planning becomes more and more concrete! And there’s still one space open, April 17-26.
Here is a map showing some of the sites we’ll be visiting in our quest for Chirps and Churches. Wouldn’t you like to join us?

MEGA: Ross’s Gull in New York

January 28th, 2008

An adult Ross’s Gull was seen yesterday and today below Niagara Falls. For birders of my generation, this species will always be mega no matter where it shows up!

Hummingbirds in the Rain

January 27th, 2008

The damp drizzlies haven’t affected the action at the hummingbirds feeders at all. A glorious male Costa’s Hummingbird has set up house at one of them, and he has divided his time all day between sucking down the sugarwater and singing his little zippy song from the nearby oleanders. Don’t know about the females, but […]

Mock Spring, and an AZ BTB

January 26th, 2008

The weather, the light, and the birds this time of year in southeast Arizona often remind me of a midwestern spring: the temperatures warm, the skies often dull, and the birds full of song.
I stepped outside this morning to the wonderful sounds of Mourning Doves and Cactus Wrens, the one sympathetically lamenting the failure of […]