Fabulous Flowering Plants and Lively Lizards

Ceanothus

Bush Poppy in foreground

 Despite the lack of snow this past Winter, there are some fabulous blooming wildflowers and shrubs on the mountain this Spring.

Lupine

 

Scarlet Bugler

Showy Penstemon

Paintbrush

One of the great aspects of planting native wildflowers is that they are adapted to living in your "patch" in the world. Unlike my previous neighbor who could grow a multitude of flowers no matter whether they were native or not, I struggle to keep plants alive. However, I am having GREAT success with the native plants that we added to our yard! The butterflies and birds seem pretty appreciative about my success as well.

If you remember, during migration, we had between 30-40 hummingbirds fattening up at our backyard feeders. Filling up the feeders with nectar numerous times a day was exhausting. Now, the few hummingbirds that have made our yard their home for the Summer have flowers to get fresh nectar.

Verdin

 The Living Desert is a great place to visit before it gets too hot. Besides seeing the animals on exhibit, it's great to walk among the colorful, blooming trees, flowers and cacti and to look for wildlife hidden within them.

Queen Butterfly

Lesser Goldfinch enjoying a bath

We discovered a garden oasis on the grounds that was filled with birds and butterflies.

Zebra-tailed Lizard

One of the fun parts of going to the desert is looking for lizards that we don't see in the mountains. We were lucky to spot this appropriately named Zebra-tailed lizard. It blends in extremely well in the sandy washes until it takes off at top speed on its hind legs with its tail curled up over its body. Wow!

Desert Spiny Lizard

When you hear rustling under a bush, keep an eye out for the source. We discovered this large, bulky Desert Spiny Lizard. It's turquoise dew lap, interspersed yellow scales and black shoulder wedge are striking. These lizards are pretty serious about their territory! We witnessed two Desert Spiny Lizards rolling and tustling after an initial warning display of bulking up and pushup behavior. The winner chased the loser about 8 feet before we lost sight of them in the underbrush. Whew!

This post has been mostly about flowering plants and lively lizards but I have to share the biggest surprise of the week! If you ever watch  Mountain Chickadees, you know they tirelessly forage and store seeds, right?

Imagine your surprise if while you were wearing this slipper, a Mountain Chickadee landed on your foot and stashed a sunflower seed next to your shoelace! Ha  I couldn't make that story up! It really happened.

 

"In every walk in Nature, one receives far more than he seeks." 

John Muir

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.

Click on photos to enlarge.

 

Spring in the Mountains

Today, it felt more like Winter than Spring with temperatures in the 30's, drizzle and fog. Our fingers and toes were freezing while we tried to spot some birds! Crazy, huh?

Most people, I'm sure, would avoid birding on a day like today but it was a great day for birding! It ended up being a "minor" fallout. We found lots of migrating warblers, Lazuli Buntings, Chipping Sparrows and Black-headed Grosbeaks in higher numbers than usual.

A couple of weeks ago, we went out on a similar day and found a rare Red-throated Loon. That was quite exciting as well!

Lazuli Bunting

I absolutely LOVE Spring! I am totally obsessed with finding migrating birds and newcomers from the Neotropics who plan on breeding in our wilderness. I have been lucky to see this beautiful Lazuli Bunting on a warm, sunny day as well.

These are a few of my favorite wire birds that have recently arrived....Bulloch's Oriole, Horned Meadowlark and the Western Kingbird. They all love open landscape for foraging.

This striking Tri-colored Blackbird has been recently added to threatened and endangered species list in California. Like so many birds, habitat loss is to blame.

This beautiful Western Tanager must be the favorite of most birders like me! It always amazes me when birds arrive from Central and South America to breed in our mountains! What a feat!

This striking Red-breasted Sapsucker is a year round resident but it is not often seen. On this day, he made his presence known to all the sapsuckers by drumming loudly on this trash can. It was quite impressive!

Along with songbirds, we have found some "hunters" like this Merlin. He/she should be heading north soon.

Yellow Warbler

Hope you take time to enjoy Spring! What a special time of year!

Remember, if the weather is cold and stormy, you might have your best chance to see some great birds! If you venture out on a freezing morning, don't forget the hot chocolate!

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.