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| Male phainopepla looking for mistletoe berries... |
It is so much fun to watch migration in motion. It is almost an overnight sensation...one day just the house finches and cactus wrens, then the white crown sparrows and yellow-rumped warblers and gracing the Preserve again. Orange crowned warblers and Wilson's warblers abound. The uncommon common yellowthroat, Virginia warblers and thrushes flit through the brush. We caught a glimpse of a great blue heron at the pond on camera. Most years I see a few real special treats. I found a spotted towhee scratching around under a desert willow. THAT was a treat. They are not that common here on the desert floor. It is fun looking for the first: the first white-crown, the first robin, the first phainopepla. They come blowing in on the first fall windstorm, fluttering out of the sky like falling leaves. Yellow, grays, blacks with hints of orange, red: a surprising array of colors and songs.
