Upon completion of our after-dinner walk today, we arrived back home to see (and hear) a curve billed thrasher atop the big saguaro cactus serenading the neighborhood with a spring mating song. Click on the image to enlarge.
Photography
Birds at the Feeders
During the morning walk-around, I noticed that there were several birds helping themselves to the goodies in the feeders out back. I took several pictures with my Canon Rebel SL1 camera. Those photos are below (clickable).
This is a sparrow in the mesquite tree waiting its turn for the feeders.
Here are a couple of sparrows and a finch on the round feeder.
And finally, a finch attending “Bird Church” in the big mesquite tree.
Last Quarter Moon and the Big Saguaro
There is also a little House Finch perched atop the cactus. Taken with my Galaxy S23 this morning. Click on the image to enlarge.
Cactus Wren on Saguaro Buds
This is a throwback to the end of our May 2018 excursion to Northern California. We had been on the road for several weeks and upon returning to our home, this Cactus Wren posed on our big saguaro for this photo. Click on the image to enlarge.
White Sands
We took a short drive up Dunes Road at White Sands Nat’l Monument yesterday on our way to our present camping spot in Deming, NM. After a few miles, the pavement ended and we were driving on the white sand. In the photo below, you can see dunes and footprints on some of the softer gypsum sand.
Having seen this impressive natural sandpile, we asked “How did this get here?” The answer is it’s the sediment left behind by an ancient sea.
From NPS:
Geology of White Sands
The story of the world’s largest gypsum dunefield began 280 million years ago when the Permian Sea covered this area and gypsum settled on the sea floor. The formation of the dunefield continues today in an endless cycle of erosion and renewal.
We didn’t have time to get out and play in the sand this time. Maybe when we come through here next spring we will take the time to do so.
