More photos from yesterday

I ran out of time yesterday, but here are a few more photos.

A year ago I took some Cholla Cactus cuttings and potted them, planning to plant them in the ground after they grew roots. Then I waited for rain so the ground would be easier to dig. Rain never came until that little bit I got the last few days. The Cholla really needed to be planted, so I did that yesterday, all 14 of them. I originally intended to plant them on a slope just outside my oasis, but ended up putting them just inside in the area I dub my pine forest so it'll be easier to water them.

If you're wondering why I want Cholla in my oasis, it's because Lucifer Hummingbirds prefer to nest in Cholla. I'd like to get that species to nest closer to me so I can monitor and photograph the process. A long shot, but you never know unless you try. They really prefer to nest on higher slopes, but since my Cholla will be near feeders and trees, I might get lucky.

Basically, the oasis has 3 areas. The pine area, the hummingbird arena (where most of the feeders and viewing area are), and the main area where most of the bigger trees are.

Here is a view of the pine forest. My whole oasis is smaller than a city block, so none of these areas are really large.

If you look closely on the above photo (enlarged) you can see the Cholla patch in the background (center of left side). Below are a few miscellaneous photos taken yesterday.

Here the bees are shoveling the bird seed onto the ground where the opportunistic javelina are scarfing it up.

It didn't take the snakes and frogs long to move into the puddle in the tank.

I saw the Baltimore Oriole again yesterday and it flew just as I was snapping its photo. Did get a blurry image of it in the frame though.