Cactus Kate

ArizoNO, and some birds

24th February 2010

ArizoNO, and some birds

posted in Birds, Me, Moab |

As most of you already know, my mom and I didn’t go to Arizona.  The weather at the beginning of the week (when we were supposed to leave) was very bad – too bad to drive through to get there.  Although Phoenix & Tucson are in the ‘nice weather’ part of Arizona, to get from Moab TO either of them takes you through the ‘mean weather’ parts.  Like Flagstaff.  and all of southeastern Utah.

While I am disappointed about this, Wait.  What am I saying?!  I am just disappointed.  There has been no up side.  Moab weather is STILL bad (it’s snowing now,as I type).  Winter has been never-ending this year.  I am pretty much done with snow, cold, wind, etc.

So – while I wasn’t in Arizona, I did see a few birds (no new ones), and got some decent photos.  This past Monday morning, I awoke to a LOT of noise and activity in my neighbor’s huge juniper tree.  I went out with the camera, and found the most cedar waxwings I have ever seen at once.  They were pillaging all the left-over juniper berries from the tree, and from the ground.  Here are some pictures from around the juniper:

Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_3.1 Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_1.1 Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_10.1

These three photos are pretty amazing, but I didn’t even realize how great they were until I got inside, and checked them out on my computer.  The first shows this waxwing (on the left) with a berry in his mouth.  The second shows him throwing it into the air, and the third shows him catching it in his beak again.  You can’t make these things up.

Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_7.1_the_throw Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_8.1_the_throw Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_9.1_the_catch

Here are more of the waxwings, all hanging out together in the front yard sycamore tree.  The first photo has 19 waxwings in it.

Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_12_19_in_this_pic Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_16.1 Cedar_waxwings_2-22-10_19.1

The same day, I went to my parents’ house, and took some more pictures of their local sharp-shinned hawk.

Sharp-shinned_hawk_2-22-10_1.1 Sharp-shinned_hawk_2-22-10_3.1 Sharp-shinned_hawk_2-22-10_4.1 Sharp-shinned_hawk_2-22-10_2.1

Also, there were several magpies tormenting a raven in their back yard.  This poor raven found himself something to eat, and the magpies were trying to ‘persuade’ him to give it up.  Poor raven.

magpies_2-22-10_3.1 Raven_2-22-10_1.1_BIG_beak magpies_2-22-10_1.1_tormenting_raven magpies_2-22-10_2.1_tormenting_raven

The following day, I heard a different bird singing in our sycamore tree, and looked out the window to see who it was.  There was a western bluebird in the tree.  They don’t often come into this neighborhood.  I was glad he was there, though, and I got 2 okay photos.

western_bluebird_2-23-10_1.1 western_bluebird_2-23-10_2.1

That’s all for now, folks.  I think I see light at the end of the tunnel, and I may get to escape Moab for at least a FEW days in the second week of March.  Julie has a seminar in Las Vegas, and I think Janet and I may go meet here there, and have some fun.

Hope all your winters are getting better.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Birds, Me, Moab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

There are currently 8 responses to “ArizoNO, and some birds”

Tell Katie what you think! C'mon...

  1. 1 On February 24th, 2010, Sonja said:

    That old sycamore certainly provides a lot of great bird photo opps. Did you notice that the juniper berry tossing waxwing was smiling? He’s at the top of his game. I hope your trip to Vegas is an enjoyable one.

    posted on February 24th, 2010 at 6:35 pm

  2. 2 On February 24th, 2010, Hillary said:

    I love the ones of the birds with the juniper berries! You got in on their big party/feast. Hawk is gorgeous too. My compliments :)

    posted on February 24th, 2010 at 10:58 pm

  3. 3 On February 25th, 2010, Catherine said:

    My favorite is the 19 waxwings (which I’d never heard of before) all in the tree together. Annecy is going to like that one, too. We have a bunch of birds nesting under our eaves in the front of the house and they are incredibly clattery and noisy in spring. I guess our cat knows better than to try to bother with them, she sleeps right through all the racket.

    posted on February 25th, 2010 at 9:28 am

  4. 4 On February 25th, 2010, Aunt Marcy said:

    Your pictures are fantastic. They are good enough for a wildlife magazine, really.

    posted on February 25th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

  5. 5 On February 25th, 2010, Cactus Kate said:

    Thanks, everyone!

    Sonja (AKA ‘mom’) – Yes, the sycamore certainly does attract some nice ones. I will DEFINITELY enjoy my trip to Las Vegas!

    Hillary – They are pretty amazing birds! I love that every last one of them has a berry in its mouth.

    Catherine – My bird book tells me that you guys should have Cedar Waxwings year ’round where you live. They like trees and bushes with berries – Pyracanthas in particular. Do you know what the little birds nesting under your eaves are?

    Aunt Marcy – I am blushing. Thank you! Some I think are great, others not so great…

    posted on February 25th, 2010 at 7:08 pm

  6. 6 On February 26th, 2010, Uncle Doug said:

    Your birding pictures are really good. (Some not so great, but they can’t all be the best.) Do you have any feathered friends in your house? If not, and if you did, what would you have?

    posted on February 26th, 2010 at 2:44 pm

  7. 7 On February 28th, 2010, Rachel said:

    So, now I remember what you were like during a Logan winter. The thing that is driving me nuts is we seem to have swapped places. Logan is the dirty “empty” pre-spring stuff that Moab usually is in January, and you guys seem to be what Logan usually is right now…not as cold, pretty fresh snow dustings, and blue skies. Boy, this winter is twisted!!! I hope that you enjoy yourselves in Vegas!

    posted on February 28th, 2010 at 12:00 am

  8. 8 On February 28th, 2010, Cactus Kate said:

    Again, thanks!

    Uncle Doug – No birdies in the house. I like pets you can hold, and have not had great experiences with birds, including grandma’s bird Katy. We have a nice warm furry dog, and a nice, handle-able slithery snake. They are enough for now. :)

    Rachel – Yes, Logan’s winters almost killed me. UGH. The weather has been crazy this year. I can’t remember an ickier winter here in Moab in my time here (which, incidentally, adds up to 24+ years). I am ready for spring. more than ever before.

    posted on February 28th, 2010 at 12:44 am

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