An oasis sort of day

Whenever I'm headed to the oasis after being away for a few days I catch myself singing as the first sight of the oasis comes into view. The road is rough so I force myself to go slow. Today I even forced myself to stop and snap a picture, so I could share the sight that makes me sing. (I only do it when I'm alone, of course. I can't carry a tune, at all.) This shot was taken at 8:00 AM and the light makes things look less green than they actually are, I think. I find it exhilarating to behold my little piece of paradise as the sun comes up over the mountain. As you can see on this photo, I'm driving inside the shadow of the mountain, but will enter the sunlight momentarily.

The early morning promise that met my eyes didn't deliver much. There was the lovely peace and quiet that recharges my batteries, of course, but very few migrants, and it soon got pretty hot. I didn't rush around working all day, like I usually do. I just sort of worked in spurts now and then. Mostly just soaking the place up as best I could. The most interesting sighting was observing the pair of Crissal Thrashers as they foraged most of the day, too hidden by a brush pile for photographing.

There were about 20 hummingbirds vying for the feeders. And I got a short glimpse of a Lazuil Bunting. Saw 3 common warbler species. Here's a juvenile male Allen's Hummingbird that's still hanging around after being banded the other day.

And here's a recently banded juvenile male Lucifer.