Busy day

My day was supposed to start at 6 AM, but for some reason, in my sleepy state, I got up at 5 AM, thinking it was time. Kelly Bryan banded hummingbirds today at the same time National Public Radio interviewed him, then, when that was all finished, they interviewed me.

We have a good number of juvenile Lucifer Hummingbirds this month, which means breeding success in the area. We love learning that.

Headed to Alpine after everyone left, I watched showers here and there along the way. Not unusual this time of year. Any day now I'll get my tanks topped off. Meanwhile, I'm lavishing water on things.

Kokernot Mesa, left center and Elephant Mountain, center                

Shorter days and longer nights

It's hard to believe that the days are getting shorter already. This week we start our weekly banding schedule, as migration has begun, ready or not. Kelly visited today after banding at other sites farther south, and we'll band here tomorrow.

A couple of pretty odonates we saw today were this Widow Skimmer, which is occasionally around, and the Band-winged Dragonlet, also an occasional visitor in the summer months.

I couldn't resist a quick peek inside the Bell's Vireo nest when the adults weren't around. No photos were taken since I wanted to keep any disturbance to a minimum. From what I could tell, there are four hatchlings inside. It'll be a miracle if none of the nestlings fall out of the near-horizontal nest opening, especially if the branches flop around frenetically during a high wind.

Signs of hope

Driving to Marathon today, all along the way the ditches were full of wildflowers. I made really slow progress, stopping frequently. Then, in Marathon, I saw this sign by someone's yard,

I had already talked to the Alpine man in charge of mowing, and he said he'd try to avoid mowing our square block, and when I asked, he said it was OK if I put up signs, so I did it. It can't hurt, and might help, who knows? It didn't cost anything except my labor. They may be more signs of wishful thinking than hope, but I put up 3 signs, and might do more. I don't think I dare put the signs as close to the street as was done in Marathon, though.

This is the street that flanks our block on the east side. This is the side that water runs off the street and makes the awesome wildflowers, though they're a bit past their prime right now. It won't be feasible to do this on the north or south side of our place, but if this works, I might try it on the west side.

As I explained to the city, we have 3 choices. Either water and waste city water growing lawn that needs mowing, or don't water and mow and have bare ugly ground all over town, or let wildflowers come up. Of course, we'll have to selectively pull out weeds, but there isn't much I consider a weed. I love thistles. And if a neighbor complains, it'll get mowed for sure, but I'm hoping the neighbors won't complain. The neighbors yards aren't well cared for, anyway. It's worth a try. If we get a citation, my husband will be out on his mower asap, I'm sure. But any hope is better than none. This is an experiment in progress. I'll keep you updated.

And if I can pull this off, my husband won't be so fearful of not mowing the area around the ponds.

Moo addition to Gage Gardens

I needed a butterfly and odonate fix today, and Marathon seemed the best option. Was surprised to be greeted by this creative bovine.

Too bad there was no one there to help me mount the critter. I would have loved to have a picture of me on it. Of course, I would have needed someone to take that picture, too. Ah, well, I would probably have gotten bucked off anyway. When I was a kid growing up in Iowa we had such docile cows, that I was sure I could ride one. Never got up the nerve to try though. Seemed too risky, even though I rode very questionable horses quite often. And got thrown off a lot. I guess I knew a horse would just buck me off and run, but a cow..... What might it do? Stomp on me, kick me, head butt me?

More views of Gage Gardens. (Remember, I told you once before that it's very manicured.)

Haven't got the butterfly and dragonfly photos ID'd yet, but I don't think I got any lifers. South of Marathon at the Post Park there was an abundance of Buttonbush growing wild. Butterflies gravitated to it.

It's all good

Got to the oasis at daylight to discover over .4" in the rain gauge from rain that fell over the last two days. There was a little accumulation in the upper dirt tank that I transferred to the stucco tank, bringing the level in it up to 27" below the full point. After that rain over three weeks ago it was 21" from being full, so that's great. I've been watering from that tank exclusively, too. And there's still plenty of room in the tank for the next big rain. When rainy season ends I should have all tanks full and holding.

Here's a photo of an Insecta Unknownii

I saw this Common Ground-Dove. I don't get them here very often, so was a bit surprised to see it.

Really not a lot going on at the oasis, if you don't count all the odonate mating and hummingbird courtship displays.

Shades of Mallow

It's so delightful to observe all the mallow shades. Between the house in Alpine and CMO* there are at least six different shades, and more if you get really technical about it. Here are the six shades:

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* All but the lavender one are in Alpine. At CMO I only have the lavender and orange color. This is the first year I've seen the red one in town.

Leapin' Lizards

Witnessed my first lizard mating today. I had never wondered what it would look like, so now I don't have to never wonder again.

Saw this huge moth hanging around the patio rafters the last couple of days. Not sure what species it is. Some kind of Black Witch moth, I guess.

The place is like a big sotol forest these days.

I've posted tarantula photos before but I think this is the first black one I've seen. I don't know if it's a different sex, or a different species.

I just love having plenty of water to lavish on my trees and flowers. The mosquitoes are totally gone now, but gnats are really, really annoying. They keep getting in my eyes. But that's better than being hot and dry. Not complaining. 

Beans. Bugs. Blooms.

W. Honey Mesquite beans covered with stink bugs

Velvetpod Mimosa

 A month ago I thought that mimosa bush was dead. Just hadn't gotten motivated to tackle the barbs in order to remove it. So I really did a double-take when I came across it this morning as I was wandering around looking at dragonflies.

Silver and gold

There were two species of butterfly that I saw at the oasis, but was unable to photograph. Now, I'm down to one, the Silver-spotted Skipper. The other day when Brian was gone, I photographed what I thought was a Golden-headed Scallopwing, only to be informed by Brian when he got back from his road trip that it was a Saltbush Sootywing. (see post June 23) So today, at the saltbush where I had photographed the sootywing, I thought I was photographing the sootywing again. I almost didn't even bother. I already have a lot of photos of that sootywing. Was I surprised when I downloaded the photos to discover it was a Golden-headed Scallopwing! Seeing the gold head, there was no need to even confirm the ID with Brian. It would be easier to identify if all Golden-headed Scallopwings had a gold head, but they don't. Mostly, just the males do.

Next on my list is the Silver-spotted Skipper. And of course there are species that Brian documented here that I've yet to see, or photograph. Butterfly numbers are increasing here, so I'm optimistic that it'll be a fun summer.

Observed a female Black-chinned Hummingbird at the Standing Cypress. Seeing that never gets old. (Apparently, neither does photographing it.)

Here's a Black Setwing. It looks more blue to me on this photo, but at a distance they look black.

The eccentric in me

I was reading (in a book belonging to one of my eccentric sisters), the definition of eccentric. Yup, no doubt about it, I'm an eccentric. The book (ON DESIRE by William Irvine, 2006) defines an eccentric person as a nonconformist who is "curious, creative, intelligent, idealistic, and opinionated." The part that really convinced me was when he said, "eccentrics are passionately devoted to at least one idea, enterprise, or hobby..., the typical eccentric doesn't stop at one obsession but goes on to develop half a dozen." And these obsessions bring them delight, unlike the obsessions of, say, an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yup, my seven passions bring me joy (birds, butterflies, dragonflies, oasis, photography, ancestry, and blogging). I'm even happier knowing why I'm a happy person. And it's comforting to know that it's OK to be eccentric, and I don't have to try to conform to society's standards.*

There is a definite paucity of butterflies and odes around Alpine this year. Some people think it's due to the drought, but there were plenty last year. I think it was the long cold winter. At any rate, I've tired of looking in vain for them. What few I find are species I've posted here before.

I can't remember what these flowers are called, but they do well here in Alpine's clay soil.

The ducklings don't quack with their tiny baby voices anymore. They sound pretty grown up.

I'm sure they are not genetically 100% domestic duck. I think this wild Mexican Duck is their father, which means they won't get as big as their mother. They may be as big as they're going to get.

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* My husband has passions, but they all center around food. Hunting for it, fishing for it, gardening for it, cooking it, eating it...