Monday, April 15, 2013

Birds at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

In an attempt to catch up with my blogging, this is my final post from the Desert Museum.  We are currently in Hollister MO and I paid for a weeks worth of internet, so now I can try to catch up on the blog that was lacking during our long days of driving, eating tuna salad and sleeping in parking lots.  It feels good to be settled for the next seven days.

Here is the wrap up from Desert Museum:


There are birds throughout the museum, some wild and some part of the exhibit.  One of my favorites was when I was leaving at the end of the day and came across this woodpecker digging into the ocotilla bloom.



There are two aviaries here, one which is most mourning doves and then there is the hummingbird aviary, which is my favorite.
 
Gambel's Quail
 


We were very lucky to have three different nests to view.  It really helps to have the assistance of a docent to find these as they are incredibly tiny.



How the mother fits in there is amazing enough, but to have two or three young ones is even more so.



Thank goodness it's a very rapid process of laying the eggs, hatching and having them out of the nest.  It wouldn't take long at all for them to outgrow the home.



The nests are described as decorative instead of messy and I liked that analogy and will use it to describe our own nest on wheels.  It ain't messy...it's decorative.  Works for me!

Long Live the Queen of the Nest With Wheels

2 comments:

  1. What a treat to see the hummers in their nest. I have never seen a hummingbird nest though we have them all around us. I'm not sure I even know where to look. All of the birds in Arizon are wonderful and it surprises me how many of them are totally different than our birds in the Middle West. I was there for a few days with a friend at Mayo Clinic and we saw birds everywhere. Oh boy, Oh boy! By the way, I have the same camera as yours but my pictures are not so clear ... hummmm. Looked into having it serviced to see if it was the camera or me (will never admit it is me, though that is a possibility). I was told I have to send it to New Jersey if I want it serviced ... are you kidding me??? New Jersey, what a chrock ... So I guess I will just continue to blame the camera and live with it :)

    So you made it through Texas and are now in Missouri looking for a camping grounds, right. The weather has been hit or miss according to the news, but it seems like safe sailing for you at this point. We have cold one day and warm the next ... but we have also had a lot of rain (which is a very good thing) which makes everything messy and muddy ... so that is my excuse for not starting to clean up my yard. I need perfect weather and conditions before I can do that Ha! I live in the Chicago area so you are pretty far from me even though we are neighbors. I will be taking at least one trip into Wisconsin this year, but it is more to the east side. But, I haven't given up yet ... maybe in the future we will cross paths and enjoy a few moment of face to face friendship. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy your travels from a distance. Be safe Queen of the Decorative Nest ...

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  2. Oh wow, I've never seen a hummingbird's nest either. And these had babies in them!!! These bird photos are just fabulous! The hummingbirds are incredible! The shot of the baby is awesome. I'm jealous!

    I will have to check around to see if there are any aviaries around here that I can maybe travel to on a short day or two trip.

    Enjoy your time in Missouri and be safe. Hugs, Edna B.

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