Description

I own no land, instead I have wheelestate. I’ve been a full time RVer since 1997. Working summers as a Park Ranger takes me to many beautiful places and playing during the winter takes me to many more. This blog is simply the story of my life's adventures.

Moved

Thank you for stopping by. Just to let you know, I'm still blogging but have moved to Geogypsytraveler. Hope you'll follow my adventures. Just click here.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Watching the birds


Yesterday on the way to town Berta and I saw a Roadrunner and it actually quit running long enough for several photos (taken by Berta).

There’s a dry wash behind all the scrub
I felt bad this morning as their water was frozen, and so was mine. Once my hose thawed out I poured warm water on top of their iced bowls.

Sparrows, juncos and a quail
White-crowned and Chipping sparrows come in flocks with a few Dark-eyed Juncos mixed in, eat for a bit then usually scurry away when a Scrub Jay arrives.

Scrub jay
I may have seen a Western Bluebird, would be my first here although I have seen Mountain Bluebirds, and hoping it comes back for a photo. Or maybe because I didn’t have my glasses on it was a jay.

Female cardinal
The red and orange of the Northern Cardinal occasionally slips in.

Towhee in the bush and unknown
A few Rufous-sided Towhees hang around the edges. I don’t know the bird on the water bowl and couldn’t figure it out. Open for suggestions.

Quail and sparrows
Gambel quail bobble in and out.

Morning Doves
These two lonesome doves warily wandered through.

How many sparrows do you see?
It’s so nice to be back in my little RV watching the birds right outside my window from where all these pictures were taken. These cold days make for a rush of activity around the feeders. But they also keep me inside hovering over the heater. It’s not easy to keep an RV warm when it gets down into the 30s F. And there’s snow in the forecast by Monday. This snowbird really needs to fly further south. Costa Rica anybody? ;-)
5 sparrows on the feeders and 3 in the trees above.

21 comments:

Janie said...

Great job capturing a roadrunner!
You have a lot of variety at your feeder. We've never seen a cardinal here, but we do get lots of sparrows, quail and doves.
7 sparrows in the last photo?
We're supposed to get snow off and on for the next week. We really need the moisture.

Nina said...

Great Bird shots! How fun to have such friends around to grace your morning and days. Love and Light, Nina P

eileeninmd said...

Cool shot of the roadrunner, it is on my list of birds I really want to see. I love all the birds in yoru photos, I am thinking your unknown bird could be a different sparrow but I can not make a positive id. Great photos.

Dawn Fine said...

HOWdee Gaelyn..
Back in the RV now, nice..
Well looks like you have some sort of Thrush on the water dish..not sure what kind
We are in Northern California now..a bit chilly here too.

Anonymous said...

Nice photos! I like the spirit of your blog!

Anonymous said...

Hmm, Costa Rica doesn't sound too bad! :) Its great to see your little feeding area. And that roadrunner is amazing!! I love them. I'm glad your getting all settled in again.

Unknown said...

Aah, watching the birds... that's a nice thing to do! I've never seen a roadrunner... Nice pics. Have a nice weekend, Evelyn

Diane AZ said...

What a variety of birds you see. I've never seen any kind of juncos, bluebirds or jays. Our house is freezing too except for the computer room with the little space heater.

Pat said...

What a variety of birds! When I was a kid, a cardinal often nested outside our kitchen window, and in the winter the male would return to our feeder there.

Gaelyn,
I found my Death Valley photos from 1973 (!), among which is an abandoned car, actually two. I'd like to send them to you to see if you recognize where it is/was. Please write me at my email address under my profile; don't have your address.

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Wow, oh wow! As many times as I've visited Arizona I've never, ever spied a Roadrunner. To capture one so beautifully (digitally speaking) is amazing! I miss seeing the Gambel's Quail - they are so beautiful. Great shots! Gah, I need to buy a new bird feeder!

Small City Scenes said...

That's quite a bunof birds you have around your place. The Towhee is one of my favorites. I like quail too. bob bob bobbing along.
Brrr---if you are cold you better get going south. MB

Bill S. said...

Wonderful pictures of the birds. Ours is mostly hiding from the bitter cold right now.

Barb said...

Gosh - a lot of birds by the RV! It's cold here in CO, that's for sure. I'm in Denver for the weekend, and it's been single digits - below zero in the Mts. Keep warm and keep dreaming!

PS Mary (who you met) is in Australia now - hot there!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dale Forbes said...

I just saw some video of a roadrunner yesterday, they look very very cool indeed.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Gaelyn: What a wonderful group of birds you have call. The Roadrunner is really cool, I can't help thinking of the cartoon. I have seen and have photos from Ohio of the unknown bird but don't have a name.

Unknown said...

Roadrunners are speedy critters. Good capture. Living in an RV sounds very chilly to me. Will you be warm enough in January and February?

Kathie Brown said...

Gaelyn, I think your mystery bird is a Hermit Thrush. See the spotting instead of streaking on its breast? We ususally get them down here in the winter time. I frequently see them in Madera Canyon. You have way more White-crowned sparrows than I do but other wise it looks like we draw a similar-sized bird crowd with the ever present House sparrows!

Jo said...

Gaelyn;) I always thought a roadrunner was only a cartoon character. Now I know better. Good capture of such a fast bird. I loved all your visitors and of course, I don't know jays, towees and bluebirds either. If the unknown bird was in South Africa, I'd go immediately to either the scrub-robins or the thrushes in my bird book. More likely the latter. A wonderful post.

Rambling Woods said...

I see Kathie took a guess on the bird in the bowl as I had no idea. I love to see the birds in your area...

Quiet Paths said...

This is a very fun post. A road runner! Now, that would be a sight for me, anyway. You have such a variety of birds around you.

Google Analytics