I photographed what appears to be a dove snacking on the fruit of a saguaro up the road. We were on our way home from a short shopping trip as we passed this cactus about a block away from our driveway. Click on the image to enlarge.
Critters
More Eggs in the Thrasher Nest
Much to our surprise, there are three new eggs in the nest where we watched the curve billed thrashers fledge two chicks this spring. I was out in the front of the house taking pictures when I peeked in the nest in our cholla cactus and saw the eggs. In the photo, note the white strands of dental floss; we recycle our floss in the outdoors just for the reason that birds will build nests using string, floss and anything else they can find.
I’m not sure if thrashers raise multiple sets of chicks in a year; the bird book and Wikipedia were silent on that issue. We will be watching to see if these hatch in the next couple of weeks and get more pictures of thrasher chicks if we can. Click on the image to enlarge.
Travel Day
Cabela, Bear and Bay Bay rode to the California house today. For the most part, they were OK with the commute. Bay Bay still has a bit of anxiety, but settled down after a while and everyone rode OK. We stop twice during the six hour trip to let the dogs stretch and do whatever comes naturally. Click on the image to enlarge.
Javelina Crossing
I guess that the javelina knew that we posted a crossing sign; late this afternoon at around six PM, Beethoven started barking. It turned out that he saw a herd of javelina crossing through our back yard. I ran to get my camera and caught this image of the last of them up on the hill. There were two females, four juveniles and this must be the daddy “cactus rat.”
Javelina Crossing
I planted three sign posts this week – two to accommodate no trespassing signs near both entrances to the RV drive, and one in the wash behind the house. I bought the no trespassing signs when we bought the other materials, so they were installed on Tuesday.
Today, the “JAVELINA XING” sign arrived in the mail. I installed it on the post in the wash. Verna took this photo.
The sign is installed approximately where we have seen javelina in the past. Verna took the image below to show the location of the sign next to the RV drive. Click on either image to enlarge.
Due Vigilance
Late in the afternoon, all the little desert birds and critters gather by the bird feeders. Beethoven (on the Spa) and Cabela (at the patio screen) keep a vigilant posture over the gathering. It is their “job.” Click on the image to enlarge.
