You never know what a handful of sunflower seed will attract in the desert. This morning it was this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, perched high on a pole above our usually crowded feeders.

His arrival didn’t cause the panic that the local Cooper’s Hawks and Peregrines use to such great advantage,  but the smaller birds still treated even this relatively clunky buteo with respect, and it was some time before the feeding frenzy resumed–greatly to the relief of our seed budget.

What should have been winter’s last gasp turned into a mighty huff and puff these last few days, with heavy rain in Tucson proper and rain and snow up here, just a couple of hundred feet higher; the mountain slopes are still snow-covered, and the views are full of wonderful incongruities as I wander through the paloverdes and agaves here in the yard.

I’m sure there’s some avian suffering going on up in the land of crossbills and saw-whets, but down here in the high desert a slight increase in gluttony is the only indication that the abundant Mourning Doves, Gambel’s Quail, and Curve-billed Thrashers at our feeders have even noticed the week’s inclemency. The cold temperatures may have been a little rougher on the nectar feeders, as Anna’s and Costa’s Hummingbirds seem even more conspicuous at the feeders–at least when the Verdins, feisty in their defense of the sugary icicles, tolerate their approach.

It’s great fun to hear the rattle of a Belted Kingfisher over the city traffic–and just as disconcerting to look up to find the bird perched in a mesquite!