January 24, 2023 to January 25, 2023
One for the birds
I’m going to quit griping about how cold it’s been in the mornings here lately, after Kelly helped put things in perspective by reporting that it’s down to 6 this morning now that she’s back home in Colorado. It makes yesterday’s low of 28 and today’s of 30 sound quite mild!
Still, with both days quite cold and a warming trend just around the corner neither of us thinks it’s a time to do anything dramatic or new on the bikes on either of these two days. On Tuesday Rachael took another lengthy walk out to Sentinel Peak and Tumamoc Hill, seeing three(!) roadrunners this time but taking no more photos at all. And I didn’t even leave the house all day, chilling out and working up ideas for how we’ll spend the summer when we return from Italy.
And today? Just another ride out to Marana during the warmest hours of the day - a very nice ride, but one we’ve already done at least three times this winter. Nothing new to show there, really. So I was warming to the idea that I could take a much needed blog break and give the tips of my poor index fingers some time off when I glimpsed a small bird fly in and alight on a chain link fence as I biked past. White-crowned sparrow! New bird! So of course I have to post it.
And it wasn’t the only new bird of the day. Not long after I stopped for that one another small bird flew in and I was pleased when I got home and saw it was a black phoebe.
And at the lake at the end of the ride I was really startled to see four or five swallows swirling above the water. Swallows! And it isn’t even February yet! They must be the vanguard of the spring migration. I wonder if we won’t be seeing more of them before we leave town.
I’m pretty sure they were bank swallows, but I never got a good enough look to be sure - and it’s an exercise in futility to try to capture a decent shot of a swallow in flight. I’ve no doubt that there will be other bank swallows in my future before long, so for now we’ll just take note but not take credit.
And it was a surprisingly good day for birding in general, giving me the best views so far of several previously-logged species. Might as well include them, as well as a short video of a group of shovelers circling around trying to stir up a meal. There were maybe a hundred shovelers on the pond by Sweetwater Preserve, repeatedly forming and dissolving circles. It’s an interesting process to watch - typically a few ducks will start circling together and then others will swim over one by one and accrete themselves onto the wheel.
No photos of the road though, but since every post should have a bike in it here at least is the front wheel of Rachael’s bike, waiting to receive its new tire. Plus a charming photo of her colorful new bike socks, which we don’t want to forget either.
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1 year ago
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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 800’; for the tour: 1,243 miles, 43,100’
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2023 Bird List
55. White-throated sparrow
56. Black phoebe
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I've been thinking about hummingbird feeders. Phil says he's had hummingbirds since October at his feeders in Oro Valley.
It is 26 degrees right now. I took a walk around the block (literally) and it felt nice. I'm sure the windchill factor when on a bike wouldn't be so nice!
1 year ago
I’m not surprised about the hummingbirds - Anna’s live here throughout the winter, but that’s about it. You don’t start getting more variety until the summer months.
1 year ago
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