Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Out My Window

Costa's Hummingbird (photo by Richard Halliburton)

I've been keeping a list of all the birds my cats and I have been watching from my office window, or sitting on our front bench just outside the window. The list now has more than two dozen species on it, and growing every day! Just this morning, I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk cruising over towards the wash.

Roadrunner (on the road!)

Boat-tailed Grackles, male (on top) and females (below)

Here are the rest (asterisks are birds I've seen in my yard or cul-de-sac in the past couple of weeks):
Mourning Dove*, Rock Dove*, Inca Dove, Great-tailed Grackle*, Mockingbird*, Costa's Hummingbird*, Anna's Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Bewick's Wren*, Canyon Wren*, Cactus Wren*, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler*, Townsend's Warbler*, Orange Crowned Warbler*, Bell's vireo*, Say's Phoebe*, Harris' Hawk*, Common Nighthawk, Great-horned Owl*, Gamble's Quail*, Gila Woodpecker*, Black-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch*, Song Sparrow, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Verdin*, Canyon Towhee*, Roadrunner*, Curve-billed Thrasher and believe it or not, a stray Great Blue Heron! That one was perched on a neighbor's rooftop, probably on its way between Lake Pleasant Reservoir and neighborhoods north of year where people glide around on pontoon boats from their back yards. Yes, right here in the suburbs of Phoenix!

Arrowhead Ranch (neighborhood south of Thunderbird Mountain 3 miles from where I live as the heron flies)

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