Grey Shrike - Butcher Bird

 Grey Shrike - Butcher Bird

I was excited to see this bird again this morning.  I saw one for the first time a few weeks ago when taking the dogs for a walk in the desert near my house.  I was surprised that it didn't fly off right away with the dogs running all around, and had plenty time to study its marking. I didn't have my camera with me at the time, and probably wouldn't have gotten a very good picture anyways because it was getting dark, but I went right home and looked it up. I think it is a Loggerhead shrike. According to what I read shrikes are known as butcher birds because they hunt somewhat like hawks. They wait on perches and swoop down on birds, lizards, and other small animals. Because they don't have talons like hawks, they skewer their catch on cactus spines and thorns or stuffs them between rocks to eat them.

Ethal M's Cactus Garden

Ethel M Chocolates is a great place to spend a few hours. It is a very popular place with tourists.  The parking lot always seems to have at least one or two tours buses. The extensive cactus garden (one of the world's largest collection) is amazing in the spring when the majority of cactus are in bloom, and during Christmas when the cacti and trees are lit by Christmas lights. But even if you can't make it at optimum times, it is still well worth spending time here.

The self-guided factory tour is a walk down a glassed hallway where you can see the working making candy if you are lucky enough to arrive at the right time. Wall plaques describe the history of the place and the candy making process. The tour ends at a candy store where you can sample one of their delicious creations.

Cactus Flowers - Ethel M's Cactus Garden - The garden contain a staggering sample of cacti from all over the world.  If you are interested, you can read the little signs that tell you about each species.

Lantana spilling over a pot - Ethel M's Cactus Garden. These flowers bloom all summer long so if you don't make it in the spring, you will still see some flowering plants and trees.

Cactus Flower - Ethal M's Cactus Garden - This is one of the later blooming cacti. I didn't make it until May. You will see more cacti in bloom if you go during the months of March and April.

Male Grackle - Ethel M's Cactus Garden - The grackle were very entertaining as they took advantage of the flowing water pot. If you look closely and listen to the birds, you will probably find some nesting in the tree and larger cacti.

Female Grackle - Ethel M's Cactus Gardn

 Christmas Lights - Ethel M's Cactus Garden

Christmas Lights - Ethel M's Cactus Garden

Baby Mocking Bird

Baby Mocking Bird - These birds are  easy to identify because they often stick their tail feathers up in the air when they are standing, and are incessant singers (if you can call it that).

I spotted this little bird on my walk down the street this morning. Actually I heard it way before I saw it.  It was calling for its mother very loudly. I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that the incessant noise was coming from such a little guy because these birds never shut up. They sometimes sing all day and all night long, which can be terribly annoying when you want to sleep with your window to take advantage of the short season of cool weather.

See "An Intro to Mockingbirds: The Noisiest, Most Aggressive Small Bird You'll Ever Meet" to see videos of Mockingbirds defending their nests, and to find out more information about these birds.

Gambel's Quail

Gambel's Quail on rooftop   

Quail are one of my favorite birds. I love their personalities. They strut around with their plumes sticking out in front of them, always trying to keep up with the covey, calling to each other to keep tabs on where they are so they don't get left behind. You can always tell when quail are around because they never stop talking. There is nothing more entertaining than seeing a trail of little quail following the adults across a street with there little plumes bobbing up and down in front of them, all in a row like a mother duck and her ducklings. I have lived here for over 14 years and have only been seeing quail in this area for the last couple of years.  Last year they really seemed to move in and now we see them everywhere, usually near houses next to open desert, sometimes on our street in the Mesquite Trees when the seedpods start to fall, but there are a lot of cats that probably keep them away. Prior to last year I would see them in the desert near our house on really wet years, but mostly I just saw them at the bird preserve and other wetter areas.