Critters

Spring has sprung loose a lot of new wildfowl near our Arizona home. A breeding pair (or two) brought their brood(s) up on the hill behind the RV drive where I have my bird feeders. There are always a lot of seeds that make their way to the ground from the feeders and these birds were there to take advantage of the spillage.

The two birds in the image were with a group of several little guys being herded around by a couple of adult quail. According to Wikipedia, females usually lay 10 to 12 eggs at a time. When the chicks hatch, they leave the nest within hours and follow their parents as they forage.

It’s always so cute when these little chicks are seen scurrying here and there behind or in front of the parents. I hope to have more photos of them going to and fro this late spring. Click on the image to enlarge.

I’m told that these are rarely seen and I believe that since this is the first time in four years that I have seen one. We think it’s a pocket gopher or similar critter according to a wildlife pamphlet we consulted after I took this photo.

I went up on the hill behind the RV drive to refill the bird feeders and saw the gopher near the base of the garden poles where the feeders hang. It went back into its hole and disappeared, so I went about my business with the birdseed block and bell I brought up with me. When I opened the packages, there were a few loose seeds that I threw down close to the hole where I saw it a few minutes before.

After I finished, I retreated down the hill a bit where I could see the hole. By and by, the birds started to come back to the feeders and shortly after that, the gopher stuck its nose out of the hole and started eating some of the seeds I had tossed its way. Eventually, it came all of the way out of the hole and I was able to get this photo of it.

At present, I don’t consider the gopher a varmint, but just another of the wildlife critters in our desert. I reserve the right to reconsider its varmint status if it starts to devour some of Damsel’s cacti and veggies. Click on the image to enlarge.

UPDATE: Thanks to the keen observation skills of reader and friend Crotalus, we have determined that this is not a gopher at all, but rather, a Round Tailed Ground Squirrel.

Not much going on here today other than a little badly needed rain. Went to the supermarket for some stuff while it was pouring and when I got home it dried up. We went out to the courtyard with the camera and managed to catch this photo of one of the Curve Billed Thrashers just coming out of the nest with the six eggs.

There is a lot of activity around the nest and Damsel and I wonder if there could be more than one pair of Thrashers that laid eggs there. Six seems a lot for one bird. Click on the image to enlarge.

Damsel and I saw three eggs in this Curve Billed Thrasher nest earlier in the spring, but when we checked on them later, they were gone. We don’t know if the nest was raided or if the parents tossed non-viable eggs out. We did find a thrasher eggshell on the road nearby, cracked open and empty.

Now, however, it seems that the parents are serious about covering the odds of one or two survivors by laying a half-dozen eggs in the nest. I walked by the cholla cactus where this nest is located and saw blue in the nest. I got this shot by holding the camera out at arm’s length and pointing at where I thought the nest was located. I didn’t want to get stabbed by the spines. It was a lucky camera shot, it seems.

For now, we will give the Thrashers their space, not wanting to disturb nature in progress. If we’re lucky again, perhaps we can photograph some chicks in the nest after they hatch. Click on the image to enlarge.