Snow day

Having my "viewing room" in Alpine now really did make cold weather more bearable, as I had hoped it would. Tallied about 14 species, none at the birdbath, but still nice to sit by a warm fire and watch birds on a day like today. I do realize by January, especially if there are no birds, it might not be interesting, but still better than sitting by the fire with no viewing window or birdbath, as has been the case for nearly 20 years. And by January, spring will be just around the corner.

The yellow flowers on the shelf in the above photo are pansies that I bought at the local store for $1. My husband really wants me to put pansies in the new planter box. These look like the trailing variety, so I thought I'd stick them in there for now and see how they do. They didn't come with any label, so just guessing at what they are. I'd like at least one plant in there to cascade over the sides of the pot. Not a big commitment, and if it doesn't do well, I'll try something else. 

For 40 plus years I fussed over plants in planter boxes at the courtyard of my house near the oasis. It's a little sad that I've now let that go, but I'm too old to spread myself that thin anymore. The courtyard is now in my son's hands to deal with. I just don't have the energy anymore. Since I'm not going to live there, there's really no reason for me to focus my dwindling energy on it. This new planter is more in line with my current situation.  And now I have more time to go birding, which I didn't used to because of the load I carried.

The brightest bird of today was definitely this Vermillion Flycatcher.

Here's photo my sister took today of our mountain overlooking the oasis.

UPDATE: The Washington State birders that discovered the Swainson's Thrush at the oasis on Nov 20th did get photos of the bird. They're very familiar with that species. So even though it's not a new oasis species, I'm glad to have documentation for it that I think the reviewers will validate. (Photo by Andrew Thomas) He also recognized its unique vocalization.