Here and there

 In Alpine I have a lovely little habitat with plenty of water security.

It would be great if it wasn't surrounded by barking dogs, and other city noise, including trains.

In the Christmas Mountains I have a lovely habitat with scant water security, but it's special, nevertheless. Today my son and I did a short watering, in keeping with my resolve to make the oasis less dependent on water. We'll see how it goes. My plan is to cut water usage in half while retaining the important vegetation. Some plants require more water than the value they add. Gonna be tricky, but I feel it's necessary. There seems to be no question but what the area will become hotter and drier in the future, and for sure I'm getting too old to be a slave to it. So a new chapter begins...

Last time I was there watering, a quail kept going into and out of a clump of grass beneath a tree. I knew there had to be a nest under there. Today I didn't see the quail anywhere near the clump, but did see the nest. I hope that doesn't mean it's been abandoned. It could mean that the weather was lovely and the eggs don't require sitting on. Or she's not through laying and hasn't started incubating. I don't know.

Again today, visiting birders got their lifer Lucifer Hummingbird. That always makes it so worth while, and I'll always be able to at least maintain feeders. No major health issues. All is good!