Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Finches

This is a photo of one of the Nyjer Seed feeders in the back yard intended to attract Finches. You can see it was doing its job this morning when I snapped the photo.

On the left side of the feeder (stage right) is a House Finch, the male of the species. House Finches are commonly seen throughout the U.S. and Mexico, with some excursions north of the U.S. border.

The smaller Lesser Goldfinches are seen on the right and bottom of the feeder. This variety of Goldfinch ranges across much of the Southwest U.S. and Mexico. They seem to be permanent residents here in the Sonoran Deserts of Arizona.

Both species of finch like to snack on the Nyjer seeds. The oily content of the seeds seems to be nutritious for the birds. We buy Nyjer seeds for the Finches and a mixed seed variety for the other birds that hang out here. Nyjer is quite a bit more expensive than the other seed mixes, but we think it is worth the investment in order to keep the finches coming around.

Click on the image to enlarge in the viewer.

10 Feb 2025 by Arizona Critters Photography

Canon Powershot
  A710-IS Retirement

After almost 18 years, I’m finally retiring my Canon Powershot A710-IS Camera. This venerable little photo workhorse has served me for all these years as a pocket-sized take-along camera as well as being available at my office desk for impromptu photo needs in the house.

The A710-IS is actually a very sophisticated little camera with features such as 6x optical zoom, image stabilization and a host of modes and other features. Frankly, it has survived other small cameras, which have come and gone, that I tried out in the past. One feature I liked is an optical viewfinder, which is largely unavailable among pocket-sized units these days.

The camera is being retired for a couple of reasons – 1) it had fallen into disuse since I carry my phone/camera most of the time and use it for those occasions where I may have used the little Canon. 2) I took it up on the hill where the birdfeeders are located and attempted to photograph a squirrel up there, but got an overexposed image.

I will miss the little camera which has already been in the Canon Museum of Retired Cameras and Accessories for a long time now. It’s now in the little box where electrical and other disposables repose until the next free dump day sponsored by the Town of Wickenburg.

07 Feb 2025 by Nostalgia Photography

Revival of the Compost Bin

In the post on Imbolc Weekend, I mentioned that our compost bin needed rejuvenation by virtue of a new bag of worms. I ordered 500 wrigglers from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm at that time; today, the worms arrived and I followed the recommended instructions to introduce them to the heap within the bin. I assume that they are happily getting busy with their program of converting our compost items into vermicast.

When we replaced our old compost bin with this one, I predicted that it, also, wouldn’t last very long in Arizona, like it’s predecessor, but it has hung in there for nearly 10 years now. Here’s a photo of the bin then and now:

As you can see, the lid is a little warped and needs to be secured with a bungee, but the ol’ bin is still doing its job of keeping the compost heap, worms, castings and soil contained within.

05 Feb 2025 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden

Imbolc Weekend

Imbolc, also called Saint Brigid’s Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival. It marks the beginning of spring, and for Christians it is the feast day of Saint Brigid. It is held in early February, which is about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox (i.e. Cross-Quarter Day). Our ancestors (both of us) are western Europeans, many of whom were Celtic, Scottish or Irish. The actual day for Imbolc will be on the 3rd of February, but we’re going to start celebrating early by enjoying a weekend full of Celtic-like feasting.

First off, on Friday 01/31 we’re having Irish Beef Stew and Soda Bread. Then, on Saturday, it will be Irish Braised Chicken and Irish Coffee. On Sunday, it will be Corned Beef and Cabbage. I will come back to this post and put in links to the dishes we are preparing.

Compost Heap

In other developments, we seem to have lost our vermicomposting worms; they were in our outdoor compost bin behind the garage doing their thing, but when checking on them (which I apparently need to do more of), it did not appear that there were any active worms. So, just a while ago, I ordered 500 composting worms from Uncle Jim. They should be here in a few days.

One theory of why the worms are gone is that during our 2024 late summer and early fall, the daytime temperatures were usually in excess of 100°F. Since worms cannot survive in soil temperatures that exceed 85°F., we think that the increased soil temperatures might have done them in.

So, when the worms show up, we will stir up the compost heap and welcome them to their new digs. More on that later.

31 Jan 2025 by Culture Food & Dining Notions

Cardinalis Cardinalis

I took my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 camera with me on my morning walk, when this Cardinal lit atop the anti-squirrel cone on the bird feeder crook. Zoom lens set to 250mm in the camera’s “program” mode, which is the setting for automatically adjusting aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed. Clickable image.

It is a nice, sunny morning here with temperatures in the 50s F. The forecast is for possible rain over night and for the next few days. We need it.

UPDATE: [02/05/25] In the interest of being fair and balanced, I took an image of the Female of the Cardinalis species in a mesquite tree out back near the birdfeeders. Click to open the image viewer.

26 Jan 2025 by Arizona Critters Environment Home & Garden Notions Photography

Arizona Sunset

We’re cozy and warm inside our little house here in wintry Arizona where the temperature actually went below 32°F last night. B-r-r-r. Tonight is forecast to be a little warmer at perhaps 39°F.

I realize that much of the country here in North America has much cooler temperatures than we do, but we’re summer fans which put us comfortable at temperatures on the order of 100°F as acceptable. So, we’re allowed to complain.

I took the photo above just after sunset this evening while walking the dogs down to the road for their final outing until late tonight, when we will again brave the cold to walk them before bedtime.

Camera phone photo — click to open the image viewer.

Note to self – Today we had the plumber over to flush out the Tankless Water Heater which seems to be an annual necessity. ~$200 expense.

24 Jan 2025 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

New Camera Working Well

This won’t be a very long post about the new camera in use here, but I wanted to display this photo of a Gila Woodpecker that perched on a backyard Mesquite tree this morning; the new camera seems to be doing an excellent job of delivering crisp and graphic photos of our fauna and flora, as well as astronomical objects, people and so forth.

Gila Woodpecker in Mesquite tree. Click to open the Image Viewer.

There will be more images down the blog as time and energy permit.

22 Jan 2025 by Arizona Critters Photography

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