As we drive to and from the blinds, Freida points out some of the true semi-desert species. We enjoy good looks at Black-throated Sparrow, Horned Lark, Vermilion Flycatcher, and of course Roadrunner. Verdins and Bushtits are also out there in the bush somewhere - Freida identifies their calls, but they're seldom spotted. The local jay is the Western Scrub Jay, one of the commonest birds except for the ubiquitous Northern Mockingbird, whose calls are heard everywhere, all day long.
The sparrow
crowd is well represented by Chipping, Lincoln's, Vesper, White-crowned, but most of all
Lark Sparrow. Dozens show up at the stock pond feeders as well as Freida's backyard.
LATER - Photography outings feature a tasty picnic lunch - the barbecue
sandwiches are of course delicious. Likewise welcome are Freida's scrumptious
suppers - Duncan and I relish home-cooked meals after many days of road food. The
jello salad is especially recommended.
Both Orchard and Scott's Orioles are seen & heard around the water tanks An even
more colorful bird that shows up for a portrait is Summer Tanager, recently arrived from
its winter range in Central America. It seems to occupy an ecological niche in the
Americas similar to that of the bee-eaters of Africa & Asia. There are many
reports of the "summer redbird" feeding on honeybees, catching them on the wing
and of course swiping off the stinger before enjoying its meal. It also dines on
wasps, especially the larvae.
It never
fails. Two birds that we wanted most to photograph at the ranch were Painted Bunting
and especially Varied Bunting, the latter a not uncommon summer resident according to
Freida . She warned, however, that they usually didn't appear in numbers until late
April, and she was right. We saw neither. But all was forgiven when a
cooperative Lazuli Bunting, on its way to summer in the Rocky Mountains, showed up and
posed smartly.