Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Another Hummer at the Feeder

Hummer at the Feeder

It is always a pleasure to see the little hummingbirds partake of Damsel’s feeders behind the patio. I was on the RV drive after hanging a bird seed bell up on the hill when this little guy came buzzing up to the feeder a few feet away. I had the camera with me so I pointed and shot several images as the bird browsed the feeder.

I have been (sometimes) in the habit of taking the camera with me when doing something outdoors just in case a photo opportunity should present itself. Had I had the camera with me this morning (and I didn’t) when I took the dogs out for a run, I might have been able to capture a shot of a pair of adult quail and about a dozen little ones we encountered on the RV drive as we were returning from the road. The broods of quail have been plentiful around the area, but I really haven’t been able to get a decent shot of them. Maybe later.

Camera Specs: Canon EOS REBEL SL1, 1/400 sec, F5.6, ISO 250, Focal Length 300mm. Click on the image to enlarge.

04 Jun 2015 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

My First Red Bird Flower Opened Today

Red Bird Flower

Only about a week later than the first flowers from last year, my first red bird of paradise (a.k.a. Pride of Barbados) bud opened today. Of the three caesalpinia pulcherrima shrubs in the courtyard, this is the largest in spring growth. Two years ago, it was the retarded one with the others growing larger before it did. But they all grew and had flowers all summer long.

More 411 on the RBoP/PoB from Wikipedia:

Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas. It could be native to the West Indies, but its exact origin is unknown due to widespread cultivation. Common names for this species include Poinciana, Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Dwarf Poinciana, Pride of Barbados, and flamboyant-de-jardin.

It is a shrub growing to 3 m tall. The leaves are bipinnate, 20–40 cm long,bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow, orange or red petals. The fruit is a pod 6–12 cm long.

03 Jun 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Banners and the Arizona Sky

Banners and the Arizona Sky

This is the way our flagpole and the two flags look as seen from the courtyard. The sky is nicely accented by wispy clouds with the flags in the foreground as watched over by the eagle on top of the pole.

Art and Patriotism all in one photo, in my opinion. Click on the image to enlarge.

02 Jun 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Patriotism Photography

Global Warming Resources Update

We have been maintaining a Global Warming Resources page on this website since 2005 or so. I recently went through and checked some of the links and found that some things have disappeared over the last seven or eight years, so I deleted them from the page.

Clicking on the animation above will open the resources page in a new tab or window (browser dependent). The page contains a list of our favorite posts on the topic of climate change, a number of other climate-related websites (cleaned up to eliminate dead links), some favorite articles on other sites plus a complete scrolling repository for all climate-related posts written on this site.

Finally, there is a “Sage Quotations” feature that enumerates a handful of insightful things uttered by a few of history’s smartest people, reproduced here for your viewing pleasure:

Sage Quotations

“Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.”
   — Leonardo Da Vinci, Artist, Inventor

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
   — Galileo Galilei, Astronomer, Philosopher

“Scientists best serve public policy by living within the ethics of science, not those of politics. If the scientific community will not unfrock the charlatans, the public will not discern the difference; science and the nation will suffer.”
   — Philip Handler, National Academy of Sciences

“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.”
   — Michael Crichton, MD, Author, Film Maker

01 Jun 2015 by Environment

More Lemon Blossoms

Lemon Blossom

Although there are many lemons already established on our lemon tree, there are bunches of new lemon blossoms popping out. I guess that there are bound to be even more lemons than we originally thought might be the case. This is fine with us – we will be harvesting the lemons for ourselves, our neighbors and a local seniors and disabled persons care center. The more the merrier.

We had a wonderful weekend. The temperatures for both days exceeded triple digits for both days and we’re glad to see the summer season finally starting after an unseasonably cool springtime. We ate a couple of very good weekend meals, including a tasty chicken Marsala entrée on Saturday, followed by grilled flat iron steak sliced on Sunday. The menu was an embellishment to our excellent retirement routine.

31 May 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography Retirement

Sunset

Sunset

Today was the first triple digit temperature day for us since last fall. We enjoyed watching some NASCAR and MLB on TV today despite the warmer temperatures outside because we decided to run the A/C to keep the puppies cool (and us, too).

Some high thin cirrus clouds appeared over the western horizon to provide us with a simply lovely and colorful sunset. There will be a passage overhead of the International Space Station in about a half hour. There seems to be plenty of moonlight this evening as Venus is setting in the west for us to watch the ISS streak overhead before winking out as it crosses into the Earth’s shadow.

It has been a gorgeous day. Click on the image to enlarge.

30 May 2015 by Arizona Environment Photography

Gambel’s Quail Spring Chicks

Gambel’s Quail Spring Chicks

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.

28 May 2015 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

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