Morning in the Garden

Black-chinned hummingbird

I am a volunteer at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Every Monday morning I join a group of dedicated Birders (people who look for birds) and we spent the morning searching for birds. Sometimes we are delighted to see other creatures.

Last week we found a couple of Hummingbirds. The Black-chinned Hummingbird was hanging around an Agave blossom finding nectar in its tubular flowers. The Anna's hummingbird found a place to take a shower. He even flashed some of his bright fuchsia throat color at us.


Then I spied a White-winged Dove enjoying breakfast at a Saguaro.

We were all excited to see this Ladder-backed Woodpecker who was also feeding at another Saguaro.
He is a pretty little guy with a bright red head.

We always find at least one Desert Spiny Lizard. They are always fascinating to watch.
A group of Round-tailed Ground Squirrels has made a home by one of the paths in the garden. This little guy was watching us as we came around the corner.
At the end of our walk we usually find some shady tables to eat some breakfast and discuss our sightings for the day. Last week, we noticed this handsome guy watching us just over our heads. Perhaps he was doing people watching. Or maybe he was looking to see if we had any muffin crumbs to share with him.

Northern Cardinal