Alternative Santa

This handsome fellow was captured outside our dining room window by my wildlife camera, I thought he looked very festive wearing his warm red winter suit.

Christmas Beauty

I can't help but feel festive when I look outside the kitchen window and see this handsome fellow looking picture perfect.

Well fed.

The nights are chilly now and when you have a tiny body and a high metabolism it is vital to feed quickly upon waking from the night of torpor. I am kept busy making sure all the hummingbird feeders are kept full at this time of year.

Winter Visitor Part Two

The great thing about wildlife cameras is they work in total darkness without a flash, so again, a totally natural image. Just passing through.

Winter Visitor

I have some wildlife cameras around our property. A lot of the time they capture images of quail and doves but occasionally something else puts in an appearance. I like using these cameras because the images are totally natural, the animals demeanour is not influenced by a proximity to a photographer. Check out this handsome fellow.

Keep Off!

We have tried to keep our yard as natural as possible, allowing all the naturally occurring species to come and go as they please. This does lead to some trial and error when we want to plant new things though. Does it have enough weaponry to protect itself from hungry passers-by? Or will it have mysteriously disappeared the next time we look? Needless to say, nothing has tried to make a snack out of this fearsome little cactus!

Perfect Blue

Chilly mornings and clear blue skies, what could be better? This little House Finch was perched atop the big old saguaro in our backyard to welcome the new day. How do they manage to balance on all those spines I wonder!

Keeping Warm

It is getting to that time of year again when the nights get cold and all the creatures need to eat more to keep warm. Of course the Cottontails are back at the quail block gnawing away every morning when I wake up. I think this one should consider a new career as a sculptor though don't you?

Sorted!

Well I haven't blogged for a while and frankly it was because I was being a wimp. I am a self-confessed technotard and when I started having problems with blogger I just couldn't work it out. I tried for a couple of weeks with zero success. Eventually I had to admit defeat and rope in my hubbie - what he doesn't know about computers isn't worth knowing. And, of course, BINGO! I'm back. Thanks My Love <3

We had a lot of rain last week, don't worry I'm not looking for any sympathy I am only too well aware that a large proportion of the country has been hammered with snow, hail and ice but it does tie in with the picture for this post. A toadstool, growing in my yard! So bizarre to see this in the middle of a desert. Life is full of surprises.

An Old Favourite

It is just over three years since I started this blog and my first post was a Gambell's Quail so it seemed only fitting to acknowledge the continued presence of this comical character as a regular visitor on our land. They are so endearing I can totally understand why I chose them for my opening post.

FYI I am having huge problems with blogger, the supposed new layout is playing havoc with all my settings, as you can see, the paragraph breaks don't occur and I can't even see my images when I download them. Very frustrating.

Serenity

The cooler fall mornings lead to a wonderful clarity in the air. These are magical days.

The Wanderer Returns

The Mockingbirds disappear from my yard during the summer months, they are in the area, just not in my yard. Quite mysterious. Last weekend I heard a familiar squawk and sure enough, the wanderers had returned and they will now be a regular fixture around my feeders through the winter and spring.

A Fall Feast

The Barrel Cactii are a blaze of orange flowers in August, now they wear clusters of plump yellow fruit. If you have the technique to avoid the massive spines, they are a popular feast. The javalinas and the deer seem to have worked it out and these juicy snacks will be around for the next couple of months.

Part of the Scenery

All the herps on our land are very special to me because they don't appear too often so I consider myself very lucky to have seen two beautiful Horned Lizards in as many months. While this one was not quite as 'up close and personal' as the last one, it did give me a perfect demonstration of its amazing cryptic colouration.

Happy Halloween

Those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis know very well that the only species I find remotely scary is Homo sapien. So the concept of any creatures being horrifying to people makes me sad. I want everyone to see the amazing beauty in the diversity of species around us. That being said I am prepared to enter into the spirit of the Halloween holiday with some of my most beloved 'terrors' from the past year.
Have a wonderful Halloween everyone.
 

Playing With Other Peoples Toys

I have mentioned before that I was more than a little skeptical about the concept of a hummingbird swing but clearly I don't know what pleases hummingbirds and I should just keep my opinions to myself.

It seems that there maybe a potential niche in the market that has not yet been catered to though, a Thrasher swing!

Almost Perfection

A true sign of old age and failing eyesight I suppose but I didn't notice the damage on this Flame Skimmers wing until I downloaded the images onto my computer. Still beautiful in my (aging) eyes though.

The Hunter

My husband bought a new macro lens for his camera and has been experimenting with it on various obliging subjects. I might be slightly biased but I think he did a fantastic job.

Hear Me Roar!

Here is a very ferocious dinosaur that happened to be in the right place at the right time when I had my camera handy. Actually it's a rather over-heated Zebra-tailed Lizard but he certainly does look the part.

It's a Long Way Down.

They've all flown now and won't be back until next year but earlier this summer this fledgling Purple Martin was less than impressed with the prospect of taking her maiden flight. Despite repeated coaxing from both parents she was very hesitant about launching herself from on high. She kept looking at them and then looking at the distance to ground and she just didn't want to take flight.