Two Crissal Thrashers

As I listened to two Crissal Thrashers calling this afternoon, I realized that in the early years of my oasis, when I wasn't as good at bird identification, I had heard the same call quite often. And here I could never figure out why I didn't have that species at the oasis. My bad!

Here is a photo I took of one of them this afternoon. They're very secretive and hard to get a shot at. I'm challenging myself to do better tomorrow.

I read in a bird behavior book that Pyrrhuloxia nests are usually built entirely by the female. After watching a male's pitiful efforts today, I can see why. He came to the nest carrying a stick, whether the right kind or not, I don't know. But he spent a long time trying to affix it, would quit and look around, and then go back to it. Every time he popped back up, he still had the twig in his beak. Unfortunately, he was so far away from me that I didn't see the final outcome. I should have snapped more shots of it. Here're a few that I took. Any more will just show the same scenerio over again.

Up-down, down-up, you get the idea. Should've had a video camera.

I love how pondweed is growing in the tanks. Hope the roots don't mess up my pumps, but the odonates sure love it.