Back to Nature
(click on photos to enlarge)
It’s almost hard to believe that we’ve been in our new home just three days shy of a month. I won’t say it’s been all fun as we still have piles of stuff to sort and mucho landscaping to complete but in between the domestic stuff we’ve taken some time to enjoy our natural surroundings. Hummingbirds continue to visit the feeders although their numbers are waning along with the overnight temperatures. In early October we began to notice bats swooping in on the feeders at night and I managed one decent shot of a Mexican Long-tongued Bat. We’ve since learned that early October is the peak of bat migration. Next year we’ll be more prepared. In fact, I can hardly wait!
Mexican Long-tongued Bat (Choeronycleris mexicana)
Twenty-eight bat species occur in Arizona and we have plans to put up one or more bat houses by next spring. Here is a great poster of the Bats of Arizona.
On October 13, the night of the “Hunter’s Moon,” we watched the moon rise right in the center of the saddle of the Dragoon Mountains. We never tire of this view, day or night.
Hunter’s Moon over the Dragoon Mountains
We finally moved the location of our birdbaths and seed to an easily watched spot outside of our walled garden. Nothing was finding the seed or water! It turned out to be a good idea. I’m now sorting through lots of photos of sparrows. We apparently live in sparrow heaven! There are many of over-wintering non-breeders here and the most abundant right now are some old friends commonly seen in Maryland — Chipping Sparrows.
Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina)
An unusual treat has been the appearance of a leucistic (partial albino) Chipping Sparrow that appears but once first thing in the morning and then not seen again until the next morning.
Leucistic Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
One interesting observation has been that the birds are much more interested in the water than the seed. Apparently grass and other seed is abundant now but natural water sources are scarce, so our little birdbaths are extremely attractive to thirsty wildlife including pack rats!
White-throated Wood Rat (aka Pack Rat) (Neotoma albigula)
Lots more sparrow photos in the next post!
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