Settled in

Other than helping out with a big group of fourth graders yesterday for a few hours, I’ve had two days to settle into my new site.  I’ve needed that time to clean things up and just enjoy my new ambiance.

Surprisingly, I found this beaver tail cactus blooming near the VC.  I don’t know if that was caused by the slight rains we had earlier this week or not.  I thought most blooms occurred starting in February, but I’m pretty new to the desert.

Yesterday afternoon as I was sitting out with Emma, I got out my scope and set it up.  I wanted to see what was really around on the pond down below.  Although hard to see with the naked eye, I found a great blue heron and a black-crowned night heron perched on little hummocks on the other side of the pond.

I decided to try shooting a photo with my little Canon PowerShot through the scope.  It didn’t work too well, but at least I can tell it’s a black-crowned night heron. 

I also enjoyed the effect of the sun’s rays on my saguaro cactus.  It looks like a shadow behind it, but turns out that there are really two saguaros right next to each other.  It’s so dry here in this part of the Sonoran desert that saguaros are not very common.  I’m guessing these two are just about the same age that I am since it takes 50-70 years to get that first arm.

As Emma and I sat out this afternoon, a whole covey of Gambel’s quails came ‘gamboling’ through muttering amongst themselves.

There’s a pretty steep drop off about four feet past my patio, but that posed no problem for these sociable birds.  They just ran right down it.  I think these quail along with the saguaro cactus will pretty much define my mind’s picture of the Sonoran desert.

I’m also thinking you’re going to be subjected to a lot of photos of the view from my patio over the next four months.  Each view changes for me with the moving of the sun through the day.  Dawn and dusk are my favorites because of the shadows that bring out the nooks and crannies of the painted desert and the mountains.  Right now I’m enjoying both, but as the days start lengthening next month, I’ll probably see less of the dawns. 

I’ll be working the next three days in the VC, but happily I’m doing a bird tour first thing in the morning.  The best part of that is Betty and Joe Graffis will be on the tour.  As many of you know, it’s always nice to meet fellow bloggers in person. 

                                                                             THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy