So worth it!

Part of what I had to agree to, to get my new water feature, was that I had to dig the ditch for the electric cable. I did that yesterday, which was very challenging considering the shape my body is in, but I persevered.

Today, I no sooner got the cable buried than my son showed up to wire it up. And he cut that electric pole shorter too. I've put together the framework for the cover for it, but need some stuff from the oasis before I can finish it.

The cold front that froze part of our zucchini crop brought some new birds. I photographed what turned out to be three new hummers. Hadn't had one here for several days, so my radar perked up.  They were rather elusive, and since I had only one feeder up, they were fighting over it. I finally decided a real blurry photo was a Calliope, but then when I saw an obvious archilochus species, wondered how I could have been so wrong. I changed it on my ebird report to Black-chinned/Ruby-throated.

First ID'd as Calliope

Obvious archilochus species

After taking  many more photos, I added this one to my Black-chinned/Ruby-throated submission on ebird. Kelly Bryan said the archilochus was a Ruby-throated, which is rare here for this time of year.

I thought I had them all sorted out until hummingbird expert Sheri Williamson declared the above bird a Costa's Hummingbird. If a Costa's, I didn't feel quite as stupid calling it a Calliope (based only on that first blurry flight shot, mind you).

And the third hummer I was pretty sure was an immature Allen's, which the experts agreed. Whew! Never before had I had a total of 3 hummers, of 3 different species, and all 3 flagged by ebird as rare. Crazy!

Then, late this afternoon, I glanced out the window and saw a Myrtle's Warbler perched above the "bird bath." Knowing it was wanting to bathe, I grabbed my camera and waited excitedly. No more wondering what species would be my first customer!

Shooting through the window isn't ideal, but if not for the "bird bath," I wouldn't have known a Myrtle's Warbler was even here. So already all the hard work pales in comparison. So worth it!

I'm eager to see what the front brought to the oasis. I was going to go down tomorrow, but I feel I need more documentation on the probable Costa's, so will postpone a day.

I imagine many of you wonder why I'm so excited about the new water feature when I don't even know a birder who doesn't have one. And most of them can monitor theirs from indoors. It's not like I invented a new tool, or something. Can't explain it other than I so dread being confined indoors in cold weather. Now it'll hopefully be more bearable. Previously, like 20 years ago, I had discussed a water feature there, but had always wanted to remove the grape arbor to make a really beautiful one, which hubby vetoed. Also the sitting room windows were frosted over with minerals that wouldn't remove. Hugh vetoed new windows, but surprised me by removing the outer panes, as they were double-paned. The remaining pane is good enough. And as I get older the cold bothers me more. Thinking ahead to when I'm in my nineties, it might be my only birding option. So in a way, it may extend my birding life. That's worth getting excited about!