Rainy Saturday and Hummers never get me down

Being born and raised in the desert, this little Costa's Hummingbird and I just have to get out and play when it rains. His feathers are all puffed up, but he is lovin the rain just like me!
We got 3/4" rain so far today and it is supposed to continue. My rain barrel fills up so fast! We even have a flood warning. That basically means, don't try to cross a normally dry wash because you and your car might float away. It's amazing how many people think they can make it across and end up having to be rescued. They think 4 wheel drive will get them through the deepest water or snow or they just think the water is not that deep or swift or they have an illusion that their car has a higher clearance than it really does. I actually don't know what they think, "here's your sign!" One time we were driving home from Flagstaff and it was snowing really hard. We were going really slow right behind a snow plow (that is pretty slow). A SUV comes up behind us and passes us and the snow plow going pretty fast. Next thing we know the car has flipped 360 degrees, actually landing on the wheels, but pointing the opposite direction. Both driver and passenger got out safely. Talk about a wild ride, but I don't think I would want to try it.
The Costa's Hummingbird sitting on a sunflower stalk, stretching it's wings.
Ready for take off
Hummingbirds always have dry twigs that they like to sit on to rest between nectar or bug runs.
This is a favorite perch in the orange tree
Same perch, same hummer from different direction.
Another perch in the sunflowers. I think he is peeing!
Enjoying free nectar. If the feeder runs out, they will come up to the window and scold me till I put more food out.
I looked at this hummingbird and thought, "I think that is a Rufus. I wasn't sure, so I'm glad I got pictures. We see Rufus hummingbirds in Flagstaff every summer. They come like clockwork on July 1st. However, I've never seen Rufus in Phoenix till now. This is definitely a female Rufus! I was so excited. I'm not sure if she just stopped by while migrating, or if she will stay for awhile.

Colors Meet Sky

Each day I go outside and see the peach faced love birds and goldfinches on the sunflowers in my garden. I am surprised by joy anew when they suddenly fly all at once, their bright colors meeting the blue sky. The sky above the sunflower patch is filled with bright yellows, reds, greens, and blues for a couple seconds of awe and delight. I've tried to take pictures, but am not fast enough. You'll just have to imagine it in your minds eye.
These are some of the tiny Goldfinches. They love the tiny little seeds they get from the dried sunflowers. This picture even shows one of the seeds that they like so well. They are much smaller than the sunflower seeds we eat.
This little guy is really getting into it!
The Goldfinches almost are invisible among the bright yellow sunflowers.
The parrots are bigger. They bend and make the sunflowers dance as they hop from one part of the sunflowers to another.




I have been enjoying summer and time off work. May was very busy. We enjoyed Kirs, Rob and the kids visit and had a great time with Max and Maxine from Oz. I will get back to both of those visits in future blogs. Then came the end of school which was very stressful this year because our AZ schools have had major cuts in funding. I decided to come back another year even though I will have 2 schools. We nurses fought the good fight, but too much had to be cut. It was a very sad and depressing time. We had our grandsons Niko and Maceo (Faye and Javier's 2 youngest) for 3 days in early June so they could have a get-away in San Diego. We rode bikes, played in the ditch, went to see the movie "UP" with the boys. The last week or so I've got to spend quality time with Ryan. That is a whole long story in and of itself. First of all he was in a car accident. The wheel from another car came off and hit the wheel of his car. Of course the driver, had no license and prob no insurance. The driver fled the scene on foot and the police are allowed to take up to a month to make the report. However, as bad as that was, he wasn't hurt and it got him to finally realize that he was in financial crisis and could no longer support his girlfriend who chooses not to work (or is always going to but never does). He told his girlfriend to move out and she broke all his vinyl record collection before the police arrived. He decided to move from his apartment due to bad karma, a gas leak, no hot water because the hot water heater was venting in the kitchen (the gas company shut it down) and a landlord who never follows through with promises to fix stuff. So we started looking for a new apartment. He wants to live downtown to be in walking distance to his 2nd job at the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix. He found a studio he likes and can afford. It has wood floors, a tiny kitchen, but is actually large for a studio. He will save about $100 per month. It looks south into downtown and is a couple blocks from the Dodge Theater. Next week we will help him move into his new place. Things are looking up!

Costa'a Hummingbird

I was putting up the outside Christmas lights the other afternoon. I had just moved the ladder close to the hummingbird feeder when all of a sudden this hummingbird zipped all around me and started feeding a foot away from my head at the feeder. I had never seen a Costa's Hummingbird and was blown away by it's beauty. It has a dark purple crown and throat with a long purple gorget reaching almost to it's wing. I went in, got my camera and tried to take a picture. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is much more gorgeous in real life. Jules came home. I called him over and we just stood there with these little hummers zipping and dive bombing all around us.

This is a female Anna's hummingbird. The Anna's males have a bright red head and throat. Sometimes you don't see the red until it is sparkling in the sun.

The Cooper's Hawk

I was walking in the alley behind our house going to visit Erica who lives one house down across the alley from me. I spied this amazing creature, hunting. I think he is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Does anybody know for sure? How about that face, looks very serious about his quest. I have seen hawks overhead and further away in trees before, but this was very exciting seeing him or her so close up.

We also have quail who use our alleys for their territory. sometimes I see a whole family of quail with their feather hats running down the alley, diving through our wooden fence or crossing the street. We also have coyotes. Julian sees them all the time when he walks at 330 or 4am. Yesterday they were chasing a cat (CC's free look-alike) and the cat held it's own! We live in an old orange orchard, but we are close to the canal and desert areas so we see a lot of wildlife.

Kildeer

This is the Kildeer, a water bird, taken at my school. I just read my sister's comment and she had to look it up also when she saw one the first time. Thanks Sis, that really made my day. I guess we are both such desert rats, water birds are a rare breed to us!