Yavapai College in Clarkdale has a huge grant of land and they have, bless their collective hearts, preserved about half of it as desert sanctuary complete with a trail system. It is just at the end of our street and terribly easy for me to use.

But I have to say this about the area: I have never been fond of the Verde Valley with the exception of the immediate riparian belt along the River. But now that I am left with this fairly flat mesquite/scrub desert I am beginning to like it. On the one hand it is more productive than I had thought and on the hand birds are far easier to spot and watch. There isn't a single Cottonwood tree for them to vanish into.

his is a view of this lush habitat:  

 

Yavapai College (YCC) 04/04/06:

We have had a bit of rain - I think that's what that stuff is still called - and this morning was dry and only lightly overcast. Last week I saw a pair of Flickers and the week before that we had a visit by Western Bluebirds. Today neither bird was seen. I rather imagine that the Bluebirds have passed on by but I don't know about the Flickers.

This is a Black-throated Sparrow. They are not rare, but they are fairly new to me and so this one is a bit exciting.

OK, so birds can make mistakes. This Cactus Wren has been there for a week and simply calls and calls. No Wren will answer because the rest of them are 1000'  lower in proper Lower Sonoran Desert. I guess God loves idiots, too. Doesn't look to good, does he!

This just might be the best picture I have ever taken. It is simple, well composed and in focus. Looks like an Audubon painting. This is a pair of House Finches and a Goldfinch. Ordinary birds just sitting around but they look lovely.

This Mourning Dove looks so sleepy that it looks as if he would fall off the branch. Maybe I just caught him in mid-blink. Maybe he is a she.

Well, just a dumpy old House Finch, I know. But the sunrise on him is lovely so here he is.

Somebody has placed two auto-junk sculptures on the trail system that YCC has in this desert. How neat!

If the other one is girl, is this one a guy?

Same House Finch - I guess I like him. My tastes must be changing.

 

Yavapai College (YCC) 04/04/06:

Kind of a cold and lightly overcast morning. Still, the true believer forges onward.

Seen with great difficulty, is this Brown Towhee. As is their custom, this one is buried deeply in dense brush. What!

A common bird of this kind of habitat is the White-Crowned Sparrow. They are usually seen in shrubs, but apparently they come to the ground to feed.

So, when it is a slow morning you photograph even Gamble Quail. Do you notice anything odd about the way this one is perched?
YCC 04/18/06:

Walked this with Kris this morning.

Not just any Cardinal, but a Northern Cardinal.

Starting to see Say's Phoebes now. They are becoming somewhat common.

Sex in the air! These House Finches were fun to watch way up high.