In my last post I wrote about the streak we were on finding new species of birds. Well, this past week was the best week so far for adding new species to our Arizona 2014 bird list. Species to date stands at 102 thanks to our finding and identifying 8 new species this week. This weeks highlight was spotting a pair of Road Runners at Usery Park this morning. A highlight only because it is the first time we have seen a pair. Plus these two birds stayed in plain view and close by for several minutes before they went "beep-beep" and scooted off. Well, maybe not.....
This week also gave us our first big raptor day. On Wednesday we birded on the Salt River and were rewarded with sightings of 5 new species for our list. These were: Golden Eagles, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Common Black Hawk, a Merlin, and a Prairie Falcon.
Other new species this week included a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. I have posted a photo of this bird in this post.
Other than birding we have had a great week cycling. Dana recovered from her cold earlier in the week so that we were able to ride our mountain bikes at Usery Park on Wednesday. We rode our road bikes on Friday and this morning we road our mountain bikes again at Usery Park with Steve and Bill. I did a road bike ride with Steve on Monday without Dana as she had not yet recovered enough.
I golfed twice this week. I spent 1 1/2 on the tennis court on Friday afternoon giving some instruction to the 1.5 tennis team. This week I gave instruction on forehand ground strokes. Adult instruction is interesting and rewarding. I am very much enjoying my time on the court. Not sure how long this gig will last but I will volunteer my time until I am not needed, or I am told to stay away.
On Tuesday we played our third league game of Bocce Ball. We lost. End of story. After the game we hosted happy hour and thoroughly enjoyed an evening of fun with our Bocce Ball partners Gail and Tony as well as our dear friends and neighbours Lila and LeRoy and Spence and Rosie.
Finally, a comment on the weather. No rain yet! However, humidity soared up to 54% today and there were menacing looking clouds to the north and to the south. The daytime temperature had dropped from mid to high 70's to around 60 today. The same is predicted for the next 4 or 5 days. Please think of us as we struggle through this "cold snap". I think we are in the middle of a Canadian Polar Vortex. Hell, it might even rain. Maybe.
Included in this post are photos of some of the birds we saw this week. In addition I am posting one I took at around 9:00 p.m. last evening. The fountain is at the small entertainment area adjacent to the bocce ball, pickle ball and tennis courts. The camera was mounted on a tripod. I set the shutter on the camera to be open for about 2.5 seconds. Surprising how much light is captured in 2.5 seconds.
That is all for this week. Ciao!
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| Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. A real cutie!! |
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| We saw this little get together this afternoon at Gilbert. The Snowy Egret is surrounded by his fans. He is like a rock star. The other birds are Black-necked Stilts and Avocets. |
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| Cannot have too many Heron photos. This Heron though itself and Eagle, or perhaps a Raven? |
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| Lesser Goldfinch at Gilbert Water Ranch this afternoon. |
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler. A very common bird here. Hard to photograph as it is very active and normally is in found high in the tree canopy. |
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| Fountain at Mesa Regal RV |
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| Palm trees across from the fountain. |
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