Our Own Backyard Birds

With Spring having sprung here, the birds are just bursting with new songs of joy! My daughters and I are really enjoying them, too. I thought I would share some of the pictures of our birds that we've taken.

Spotted Towee (Pipilo maculatus)

White-crowned Sparrow - (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)

Curve-billed Thrasher, (Toxostoma curvirostre)

Great-tailed Grackle or Mexican Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 

Gambel's Quail, (Callipepla gambelii)

It's so amazing to watch the birds and see how they interact with each other. Most of the birds come early in the morning and again in the early evening. There is always a quail posted up on duty - the watchman in the tower - like this last picture above. Usually a male, alerts everyone when it is safe to come out and when it's time to go back to the bushes.

One time, I was watching all the birds happily eating and flitting about - one bossing another letting the other know that piece of bread or seed belonged to him. All of a sudden every bird, whether quail, jay or otherwise disappeared. As I continued to watch, I saw a great big hawk circling the area. After a while, it circled away to hunt somewhere else and then the quail at its post of duty once again let everyone know it was safe.

Interestingly, we have one more critter very much in tune with the birds...

Our one rabbit comes with the birds every morning and every evening fertilizing our lawn for us.