Snow Day!!

Well this is a first -- a snow day for Tucson's schools!

From the Arizona Daily Star, January 22, 2007:

Sunday's snow left behind closed schools and treacherous road conditions throughout the metropolitan area this morning.The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department report that numerous roads and bridges were closed due to icing early this morning. In addition, the National Weather Service has issued advisories for snow and dense fog. The fog advisory remains in effect until 9 a.m. while the snow advisory expires at 5 p.m. today.

Kids across the greater Tucson area are experiencing something their counterparts in the Northeast take for granted: A snow day. Schools across Tucson were either closed or starting late today. School bus service was eliminated in most Tucson school districts.

It snowed last night starting around 7:30 pm - large wonderful soft flakes. At our elevation, about 2300 feet, we received about an inch of snow, but we're in the lowest part of the valley. Other areas received as much as three inches.Two Red-tailed Hawks huddled together on the eucalyptus tree across the street. A third flew in with its prey, but it was still too dark to get a clear photo. The Mourning Doves were waiting for me when I went out to feed the birds and the sunflower seed I scattered on the surface of the snow was gone in a flash. All the gang were there: Cactus Wrens, the Cardinal pair, several charms (don't you love that word?) of House Finches, Curve-billed Thrashers, a Gilded Flicker, Abert's Towhees, Gambel's Quail, Lesser Goldfinches, White-crowned and House Sparrows. A Roadrunner hopped up on the wall, and the Gila Woodpeckers were out in force. The Santa Catalina Mountains had 12 inches of snow at 10 this morning and it was reportedly still snowing there, so there may be some good skiing on Mt. Lemmon (the southernmost ski slope in the US). By 2:00 pm today the snow in our neighbourhood had pretty much melted, but we're expecting a hard freeze tonight.

t.beth of The Firefly Forest has posted some great shots of desert vegetation in today's snow and Daniel of cowjumping.net presents us with a Tucson-sized snowman.

Backyard Birds - Gilded Flicker

Gila Woodpeckers are year-round residents of our neighbourhood. Four of them feed in my patio regularly. During the summer, they brought their babies in and fed them orange bits and seeds. I was looking out the window early yesterday morning and noticed that one of the woodpeckers was different. I was kind of bleary-eyed, but awake enough to realize it wasn't a Gila Woodpecker.

Gila Woodpecker; Gilded Flicker

I photographed the bird through the kitchen window, because I didn't want to frighten it. When I uploaded the photos, I found this flight shot showing a dark gold underwing.

Sparrow; Gilded Flicker

I remembered a similar bird recently posted on a friend's blog. t. beth of Firefly Forest described and beautifully photographed a Northern Red-Shafted Flicker a few days ago at a location about half a mile from where I live. However, the bird in our yard had a golden underwing, rather than the red of the local Northern. I did a little research and was delighted when I realized that the new visitor eating from the suet block must be a Gilded Flicker (Colaptes auratus mearnsi).

"Like the Northern Flicker, the Gilded Flicker is a medium-large, conspicuous bird, often seen on the ground. Flickers have brown backs with black, horizontal barring. The breast features a large, black crescent and the undersides are speckled. Gilded Flicker compares with the subspecies of Northern Flicker in several ways: Like the Red-shafted subspecies, Gilded Flicker has a red malar stripe, gray throat, and gray ear-coverts. These are in contrast to Yellow-shafted, which has a black malar stripe, tan throat, and tan ear-coverts. Gilded Flicker, however, differs from Red-shafted in having a yellowish crown (hence the name "Gilded"), and yellow shafts on the primaries. Gilded Flicker is slightly smaller than both Northern Flicker subspecies, and the background color of the underside is whitish, instead of tan."

Audubon Watchlist

This morning, the flicker was back, this time on the large seed block usually frequented by Gambel's Quail, Gila Woodpeckers and Cactus Wrens. When two Gila Woodpeckers joined it, it was easy to see the differences.

Gilded Flicker (larger, and with the brown back)

Male and Female Gila Woodpeckers
(the male has the red crown)

2007 - Birds on the Feeders - Hummingbird

Family life's been complicated in this part of the Old Pueblo recently and I haven't yet been able to pursue any of my 2007 goals, one of which is to study digital photography in a systematic, disciplined way. But I don't want to lose touch with my friends in the blogosphere, so I thought I'd try to take some photos of the birds at our feeders and post them on my blog. It's not an easy task. Robin Andrea, endment and others seem to walk freely among the birds in their environment, talking with them and making friends. Most of those who frequent our patio fly off the moment I step outside the kitchen door. The only feeders that are near enough for me to capture any real detail of their visitors are the hummingbird feeders outside the dining room window.

Yesterday, this little female broadtail was happily flying back and forth - sipping from the feeder and then off to a high branch in a nearby privet hedge to digest the sweet nectar. I was captivated by her golden back as it reflected the low western sun.The Gila woodpeckers come frequently to the patio these days. There's plenty for them to feed from - a seed block, a suet block, a peanut butter holder, oranges and clementines, but still they seem to think there's something special for them at the hummingbird feeder. Here's one clinging to the feeder:and here he is after his drink. Do you think he's looking a little guilty or maybe just a wee bit defiant?