Water is vital to us all Summer, Spring, Fall or Winter. Whether we have 2 legs, 4 legs or wings instead, we all need our life sustaining drink. This week, I was drawn to this colorful water trough in a cattle grazing field when a huge flock of Pinyon Jays descended upon it. This noisy group of 20 or more Jays aren't seen often so I stopped what I was doing for a brief appearance. Sadly, they didn't give me much chance to get their photos since it seems they don't enjoy 2 legged company too much.
Fortunately, a few other birds showed up starting with the Hairy Woodpecker.
I had another chasing the "Red-footed Booby" experience this week. Instead of chasing the Booby, I was chasing the Evening Grosbeak. It's not as rare a find but it is an unusual bird to show up in Southern California from the more northern Sierra Mts. It took me over a week to finally get a distant photo of this really neat looking bird! Maybe, I'll get lucky and get a closer shot but if not, I'm happy with this one.
The Evening Grosbeaks have been hanging out with the multitude of American Robins at various dripping faucets and puddles. Again, water is important! This is one of the Robins waiting in line for the nearby watering hole.
If you provide a dish of water especially if it is dripping, the wildlife will appreciate it. The Steller's Jay and Ruby-crowned Kinglet were recent visitors to our water dish. I caught a glimpse of the red "crown" on the kinglet that I rarely see. Neat!
One of my favorite birds is not colorful. I admire it for lots of reasons. First, it's a brave little bird that is always first to check out a new birdfeeder or water source while the other birds linger in the trees watching. It is always in motion storing food for the future what it doesn't immediately need. This mighty little bird is the Mountain Chickadee.
As I said in the beginning, we all need water no matter how many legs or feathers we wear. Cheers!
