View from the Innside

our yard is a Certified Wildlife Habitat!

On Tuesday our yard became a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.  One of our guests told me about the program and said that we certainly qualified.  To be certified, you have to provide food, water, shelter and a place to raise young.  For some of them, you need to have two sources.  For instance, we stock bird feeders, hummingbird feeders, suet in the winter and thistle feeders, and this year I grew sunflowers and now have sunflower seed heads on the wall.  We have three fountains and several birdbaths, big trees, shrubs, and dense vines on the walls.  We're in!

Now I look forward to receiving our official sign and posting it in the yard.

New Mexico native finds a new home

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--Despite heavy local traffic and many people in the immediate area, this New Mexico native has taken up residence in the Old Town area.

He has most recently been seen in the courtyard of the Bottger Mansion Bed & Breakfast, apparently hoping to snag another finch for his lunch.  He has also been sighted strolling across Old Town Plaza. 

His scruffy appearance indicates  run-ins with other locals, possibly birds defending themselves or neighborhood cats already in residence.

ladderback woodpeckers

It's been a good spring for new birds this year.  The only problem is that we see them and identify them, but they only stay for a couple of days.  We've had Eurasian collared doves, a sharp-shinned hawk, a roadrunner, and even heard some calls of different birds that we haven't been able to see.  They're way up in our Chinese elm trees.

The latest was a pair of ladderback woodpeckers, but so far we only saw them for two days in a row and haven't seen them since then. 

I found this photo on another website.  They got it from the Stokes Field Guide.

uncommon birds in our yard

For two days on April 17th and 18th, we had these Eurasian collared doves in our yard.  I looked them up in our bird book and thought they might be ringed turtle doves, which would be very rare.  Fortunately, a guest with a good camera took this photo and I sent it off to a local bird person at the Rio Grande Nature Center.

I'm really familiar with all the birds in our yard, so when I see something different, I get pretty excited about it.  I like to think that we're creating a little micro-ecosystem in our small yard, so it's pretty satisfying to provide a haven for some different birds, even if only for a couple of days.