BajaNomad

Baja Bird and Baja Grown Tomato

DianaT - 10-11-2009 at 09:11 PM

Hey, look at this



Got to try it---ya only live once.



This bite tastes good



So does this one



Go for it!



OK, who moved the tomato



He is one very loud little bird!

BajaNuts - 10-11-2009 at 09:42 PM

that last pic on the pump says a lot....................MINE....MINE.....MINE....MINE....

as always, nice pics, Diana~

DianaT - 10-12-2009 at 10:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaNuts
that last pic on the pump says a lot....................MINE....MINE.....MINE....MINE....

as always, nice pics, Diana~


Thanks and yes, he was VERY territorial with HIS tomato. :biggrin:

Paula - 10-12-2009 at 11:56 AM

Very cool!

losfrailes - 10-12-2009 at 12:57 PM

Nice pics,

BTW, I think thats a Mocking Bird! They can be very noisy and distracting. My little dog hates them cause the make noises like the cats around.

DianaT - 10-12-2009 at 02:56 PM

Thanks Paula----watching things like these noisy pushing birds keeps me entertained.

losfrailes,
I have not a clue as to what this bird is. I keep looking it up in my Birds of Mexico book and every time I think I found the correct picture, I look it up and it does not live here. :lol:

Cypress - 10-12-2009 at 03:18 PM

A Mexican Mockingbird.:yes:

Wiles - 10-12-2009 at 03:23 PM

Hint Hint:

This is the state bird for.......

Wiles - 10-12-2009 at 03:31 PM

Hint Hint,

This bird loves pithaya and is not afraid of the spines.

Wiles - 10-12-2009 at 03:39 PM

Diana,

All good pics.

The bird on the rusted pump handle is exceptional. Great shot for a magazine, maybe something like 'Arizona Highways' (oops, another hint).

Bird

tehag - 10-12-2009 at 03:45 PM

Cactus wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus.

More insectivore than fruit eater, in one of the pics above he appears to have a grub. That would be on his usual bug-and-worm menu. They are noisy, bold, and live and nest amongst the cacti and other thorny stuff all over Baja, So Cal, and Arizona.

tripledigitken - 10-12-2009 at 03:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tehag
Cactus wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus.

More insectivore than fruit eater, in one of the pics above he appears to have a grub. That would be on his usual bug-and-worm menu. They are noisy, bold, and live and nest amongst the cacti and other thorny stuff all over Baja, So Cal, and Arizona.


The "Birdman" pulls through again!

Thanks Tehag

DianaT - 10-12-2009 at 04:31 PM

My sincere apologies to all those from Arizonia for my lack of knowledge. :lol::lol:

I have several pix of him on the pump, the pump that one year ago was not rusted---I think even plastic would rust here.

I knew someone would edumacate me about these birds. Cactus Wren---I will remember that and thank you.

I do believe that is a grub in his mouth---the grub being one of the reasons the tomato was on the ground.

He and his friends are fun to watch and listen too---and they are very loud for such little birds.

Diane

losfrailes - 10-12-2009 at 04:39 PM

You might find that the locals call him a 'sinsontle'.

That is mexican spanish for mockingbird.

I am no expert on local birds, but my neighbors have led me to believe that this is what they are.

However,they are called, they are very active and raucous. Love 'em here in my yard.

Edited for bird name, 'sinsontle' Forgot the 'L'

[Edited on 10-13-2009 by losfrailes]

Bird

tehag - 10-12-2009 at 08:07 PM

Senzontle is indeed what a mockingbird is called down here. They are well liked. On the Mexican one-hundred-peso note the very fine print to the right of the frame of Nezahualcoyotl's picture is a poem which mentions the senzontle and calls it the bird of 400 voices.

Diane's very nice photos are of a matraca del desierto or cactus wren.

Sorry if this is redundant, but here is a site that may help to identify some of our local birds, butterflies, dragonflies, lizards, etc.:

http://bcsbirds.com

Skipjack Joe - 10-12-2009 at 09:08 PM

Thanks for the link, tehag.

I tend do disagree with you about the wren, though. Mostly I think he's enjoying the liquid that he's getting from that tomato. A real treat in the desert.

DianaT - 10-12-2009 at 09:19 PM

tehag

THANKS for that link---great one and I will study it more.

We saw a white seabird today that we have not noticed before---need to see them again, hopefully take a pix or two and try to identify it---if not, we will check with you.

Skipjack, they do enjoy our tomatoes. The only bird we see enjoying them more are the ravens and they don't wait until they are picked.

LOSARIPES - 10-13-2009 at 05:27 AM

The bird on the picture above is called "Guirigo", or "wirigo...here in Baja. I don't know the correct spelling. They are noisy, pranky and stubborn... my golden lab chases them. He dislikes them a lot

DianaT - 10-13-2009 at 09:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by LOSARIPES
The bird on the picture above is called "Guirigo", or "wirigo...here in Baja. I don't know the correct spelling. They are noisy, pranky and stubborn... my golden lab chases them. He dislikes them a lot


Thanks for that name. My dogs don't like them either---I have to lock the dogs in the house to take any pictures. :yes:

vgabndo - 10-13-2009 at 12:09 PM

AH heck...I was just ready to jump in with Cactus Wren and Tehag beat me to it. I used to love their mannerism in San Nicolas of jumping up and sweeping backwards with both feet landing on fresh ground and hopefully exposing seeds and bugs.

oladulce - 10-14-2009 at 07:15 PM

Cactus wrens do a great job of cleaning the bugs from your radiator. Watch how they'll go directly to the front of your truck looking for goodies.

Like their mockingbird cousins, they're very vocal when you get too close to their nest but I've yet to have any dive bomb me like mockingbirds do. We have a bunch that nest in the cholla forests behind us and when we take our gatos for walks "our"wrens send out an alarm and suddenly wrens from our neighbors yards come sqwaking and they continue with the racket until we leave the area.

They walk around the cactus spines like it's nothing. I love to hear their distant calling to each other in the desert and their spots are cool.

DianaT - 10-14-2009 at 07:49 PM

I am liking these Cactus Wrens more and more---guess I will have to bother them with taking more pictures. :yes:

lingililingili - 10-14-2009 at 08:08 PM

Love the pics Diana

oladulce - 10-14-2009 at 08:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tehag


Sorry if this is redundant, but here is a site that may help to identify some of our local birds, butterflies, dragonflies, lizards, etc.:

http://bcsbirds.com


Great website Tehag!

I really like the thumbnail pictures of the common Baja birds. Alot easier to scan through the photos to find the ID of a bird you've seen than to try and look it up in a typical bird book.

Did you look for the sea bird you were talking about DianaT? Description?

If it's a small shorebird, never mind. Sandpipers and plovers all look the same to me and I gave up trying to memorize the difference.

DianaT - 10-14-2009 at 08:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by oladulce


Did you look for the sea bird you were talking about DianaT? Description?

If it's a small shorebird, never mind. Sandpipers and plovers all look the same to me and I gave up trying to memorize the difference.


Not yet--it was not on the beach yesterday or today, but it will be back----all white and it was swimming. Maybe tomorrow, I hope and then off to that great website---love it!

I will say, however we saw something really strange yesterday. There were four what looked like white birds in somewhat of a formation, but they were flying REALLY high, higher than we have ever seen a bird fly. It was so high that we could not even make out that they were birds and they disappeared upward out of sight-----

By now, you probably known what we are thinking----Beam me up! :yes:

Unless tehag or someone can tell me about birds that fly so high that they look like fuzzy white round things and are high enough they should need oxygen masks----we will keep wondering.

Skipjack Joe - 10-14-2009 at 11:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by oladulce
Cactus wrens do a great job of cleaning the bugs from your radiator. Watch how they'll go directly to the front of your truck looking for goodies.


I wanted to share an experience related to their intelligence.

It was around 1975, I believe. Nick and I had just graduated and decided to drive across the country, coast to coast. There were many long tedious hours on the highway, however, where you just maintained your speed. Having little to do I just focused on the road ahead. After a while I noticed that there always seemed to be brewer's blackbirds in our lane on the highway ahead of us. As the car would approach them they would run off, always reaching the curb as we reached them. I looked in the rear view mirror and would see them running back out to the same area we saw them initially.

What on earth?, I wondered. Curiosity got the better of me finally and I pulled over to try to understand. I got down and looked, and found to my suprise that there were small bugs here and there laying dead on the highway.

The birds had learned that passing vehicles would inadvertently hit a bug now and then and were easy meals. They had staked out their territory.

You can see this behavior along many of our blue highways in the west. It's quite common.

vgabndo - 10-15-2009 at 10:12 AM

Skipjack, I have read that there is a whole ecosystem that begins with those road-kill bugs and extends right up to mammals with foxes and coyotes feeding on the rodents who also favor the free meals.

I was surprised recently to have to slow frequently for Common Coots (Mudhens) on the road. Unless they have some unlikely mourning behavior, it appears they are cannibalistic and feed on their road killed bretheren! This on the margins of the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge on or near the southern Oregon border.

I'm intrigued by the possible ecosystems created near my home by wide separations between the north and southbound lanes of I-5 ajacent to 6000' Black Butte. (which would be a national park if it were in Kansas!) It is illegal to park except for emergencies and pedestrians are forbidden so it is unlikely that more than a very few humans have intruded into this 20 + acre space for the last three decades.

[Edited on 10-15-2009 by vgabndo]

Skipjack Joe - 10-15-2009 at 10:29 AM

You're right, Vag. That Modoc County is really great. The desert around the refuge is loaded with great horned owls and they're real easy to watch. It turned out that the paved road going through Lava Beds was a magnet for them. The desert mice and rats were totally vulnerable on the asphalt. So these big birds would just sit on the telephone poles and wait. All we had to do was park our car around 10PM and the show would begin.

Well, for some, that's entertainment.

DianaT - 10-15-2009 at 10:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo

I'm intrigued by the possible ecosystems created near my home by wide separations between the north and southbound lanes of I-5 ajacent to 6000' Black Butte. (which would be a national park if it were in Kansas!) It is illegal to park except for emergencies and pedestrians are forbidden so it is unlikely that more than a very few humans have intruded into this 20 + acre space for the last three decades.

[Edited on 10-15-2009 by vgabndo]


That is an interesting thought-- would be interesting to see over a long term study how and what develops under those circumstances.

Skipjack, shoot, I even find watching the little common Cactus Wrens running around my yard to say nothing about the watching the behavior of the pelicans and vultures.

Now, owls, a highway and mice? That would be fun, except of course for the mice. :biggrin:

vgabndo - 10-15-2009 at 03:52 PM

Things are really changing in Modoc country. I remember thirty years ago on a Audobon Christmas Bird Count standing in the snow and without taking a step, but by turning in a circle with my binoculars I counted AT LEAST 400 Bald Eagles. (1973?) These days, by driving around, I may count 30. It is probably related to the reduction in the populations of Snow and Canada geese. I shot a lot of video there back in the VHS days. There were times when the flocks of geese would suddenly take wing and when they swept overhead they actually changed the f-stop on the camera. "Darkening the sky" was no exageration. It is also a unique sound.

I too have had my very best horned owl sightings there, and burrowing owls also.

[Edited on 10-15-2009 by vgabndo]

Birds

tehag - 10-15-2009 at 04:02 PM

Highway medians, golf courses, sewage canals, abandoned strip mines are all examples of the ironies that abound in the ongoing friction between humans and other creatures. Three miles wide and a whole country long there exists in Asia one of the most pristine refuges on the planet. It is the old DMZ between North and South Korea. Quite by accident, human conflict has resulted in the setting aside of an enormous swath of important land which in these ensuing 50-plus years has returned to a natural condition the like of which is nearly impossible to find elsewhere on Earth.

Skipjack Joe - 10-15-2009 at 05:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo
I too have had my very best horned owl sightings there, and burrowing owls also.


I'd like to see a burrowing owl some day.

How do you go about finding one (no jokes please)?

vgabndo - 10-15-2009 at 10:09 PM

For me, some luck and a lot of time sitting scanning the holes in levee banks with the binoculars. Due to the traffic through the Refuge, interestingly, a vehicle is one of the best "blinds" I could have. It has been a long time since I could invest that amount of time "birdwatching". My patience and the numb butt of old age are working against me.:lol:

duke62 - 10-16-2009 at 12:05 AM

As a kid, saw them a lot of them (Burrowing Owls) when we moved from San Diego to Orange County for a couple of years, and lived on the edge of the Irvine Ranch, back when Orange County's name was fitting. We were stupid and shot slingshots at them, but never hit one. I have never seen one since. Me thinks they need a pretty specialized environment, the same, unfortunately, as tract developments.

Desertsurfergal - 10-17-2009 at 04:57 PM

These are GREAT photos. I love birds. He might be a Wren??? Anyway, we do have burrowing owls in our wash behind the house here in Havasu. Cool birds.

DianaT - 10-17-2009 at 08:31 PM

Again, thanks---I am glad you enjoy the photos.

I sure would love to see some burrowing owls. I have seen a few, but that was a very long time ago.

Diane