Category: birds

Ordinary birds that can class up the place when they visit

Mourning dove — my “gateway bird.”

When I work from home, I take a break and go for a walk around my apartment complex to see what there is and to get some air and sun. This morning, the grackles were in rare form. As you may know, a mere few can create a din — like drunks fresh out of a bar on a Saturday night during the wee hours. If you’ve ever heard their screeching and observed their dive-bombing, you know what I’m getting at.

Overall, we don’t get anything fancy here at the property in terms of feathered visitors. We do see American robins at times, like the few I spotted a couple of months ago, With their debonair appearance and beautiful calls and songs. Lately we’ve seen more mourning doves, which are ordinary, it’s true, but definitely classier than rock pigeons. Mourning doves are low-key and have more refined eating habits, not to mention their lovely 5-syllable calls. Continue reading Ordinary birds that can class up the place when they visit

My need to name things that I come across in the desert

Fourwing saltbush — a shrub found in sandy or gravely soils, or deposit soils (w/ high pH or salt levels, due to rapid evaporation), such as at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge or Clark County Wetlands Park.

I’ve become somewhat obsessed with learning about what I’m looking at when it comes to the desert outdoors. I think it’s the diversity and uniqueness that pique my interest. I mean, that’s the reason (I think) why I started observing and studying birds and their behaviors about six years ago and have since developed a level of expertise. And now there’s this relatively recent offshoot of wanting to delve into other aspects of the natural landscape.

Maybe I’m in a place in life where I have a need to discover more meaning and make more sense of things. Perhaps this is a spillover from trying to figure myself out, which I still haven’t done! Sure, I’m part of the human species. But among species, you have your hybrids, and those can be quite puzzling. But they also make life more interesting and magical.

Anyway, when I hike or go to nature preserves, I invariably carry a camera and zoom. Whereas previously, a pair of binoculars would do just fine. And like I said, my curiosity about what I’m seeing now extends beyond birds. Questions that pop up in my mind in whack-a-mole fashion as I walk through, say, somewhere in the Spring Mountains, include things like: What is that plant? That wildflower? What type of shrub is this? What about that sedimentary rock, or this dry soil? Continue reading My need to name things that I come across in the desert

The vibe near the pond at Sunset Park

Female mallard preening.

If you’re a Sunset Park newbie, just follow the sound of honking ducks to locate the pond. It’s only about 100 yards from the main entrance on Sunset Road.

When it was my first time there, I noted that the pond smelled like the ocean. It was cool and damp by the ledge, as if seaside. In the distance, I even spotted a man fly fishing. Continue reading The vibe near the pond at Sunset Park