The seed ring has been up for a couple of weeks and so far, the doves haven’t shown any inclination to eat from it. However, they aren’t opposed to scrounging underneath for seeds that fall when the cardinals have been up there. When we pulled into camp last night, there were several doves under the tree which made me wonder if the cardinals are exceptionally messy eaters. Then I saw that the top seed cake was split in two and in danger of falling off the feeder. Hmmmm…
I was outside watching the birds this morning and realized the cardinals were not totally responsible for the feast on the ground…house sparrows have found the feeder. And they were having a good time attacking the seed cake; saw four on the feeder at one time. When the fifth bird tried to find a seat at the table, it caused a minor dust-up. All of which might explain the decimation of the top seed cake and the doves hitting the jackpot on the ground.
Instead of sitting outside waiting for bird picture opportunities, I decided to play with technology which allowed me to multi-task: Connected my phone to the camera’s wi-fi network, went in the camper to have breakfast and used my phone as a remote to take pictures. There are two slight drawbacks to that set-up: 1. The camera needs to be focused on one spot only and 2. There is an ever so slight lag time between pushing the button on the phone and the camera taking the picture. So, fun things could be happening at any of the other feeders that weren’t going to be captured and the image I see on the phone may or may not be the image that the camera gets. Oh, well, it’s another way to amuse myself and there’s a little thing called a ‘delete’ button.
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We decided to go for a bike ride. When I came into the camper for my camera, Kim was adding oil to his bike. I stepped out of the camper to find him in front of the truck, bending over and supporting himself with his hand on the hood and calling for me to come. First thought? He’s having a heart attack! As I responded, “I’m coming…what’s wrong?”, he continued with, “Come over here, but slowly, be careful where you walk…and bring your camera.” Okay, so maybe not a heart attack. But what?” He said that movement on the ground had caught his eye and he saw that it was small but wide sand-colored lizard…he was bending over to get a look at it. So next time lead with that! Anyway, it blended so well with the sand that it was hard for me to find with the camera. After getting a good picture of it, we continued taking pictures to determine its threshhold of fear. I was able to get maybe six inches from it and it didn't flinch. When I looked at the picture, I could see that it was keeping an eye on me, but it didn't move until we turned toward the bikes. Then it skittered away fast.
As we were watching it, a crow overhead let loose with a loud "Caw!" and the lizard immediately flattened to the ground. Research tells us it’s a horned lizard…small, about 2 inches from snout to vent; round through the belly. There are 16 species of Horned Lizards and I narrowed identification down to two, either a desert horned lizard or a regal horned lizard. I’m waiting on approval to join a FB group whose sole purpose is to help people identify reptiles and amphibians. The birding page is so helpful…hope this one will be also.
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It was in 2016 that we discovered Ghost Bikes, white painted bicycles placed where a bicyclist has died, usually as a result of a car/bike accident. We’ve seen many in our travels around Arizona.
Here is the short obituary I found (I didn’t include the survivors information):
James Kemp, 29, of Arizona City died in a hit and run accident on Sept. 20, 2023. Mr. Kemp, also known as Elizabeth, was born on Feb. 4, 1994, in Chandler. He received a GED and worked as a security guard and computer technician. He was a mentor for the Robotics Club at Mission Heights Preparatory High School.
So it seems that James was a transgender named Elizabeth, whose nickname was most likely Lizzi. The hit-and-run accident occurred early in the morning, between 5 and 5:40 a.m. After reading all the details, my first thought was accident or intentional?
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When walking back across the road to our bikes, I saw a white skateboard at the top of the ditch opposite the white bike. The skateboard had a name, with the only dates being the year he was born and the year he died. This obituary was printed on the website pinalcentral.com but it appears that
HOUSTON — Jason Ramirez, 31, died on May 2, 2023. Mr. Ramirez was born on Aug. 8, 1991. He was described as a free spirit and lover of music and riding his skateboard. He loved his family and friends very much, had a huge heart and would do anything to make people happy.
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Enjoyed the ride to Gu-Atchi Trading Post today. Clouds drifted over now and again but it was mostly sunny with the temperature hovering in the low 70s.
We like to go to the Trading Post to get nachos. There’s nothing special about them that calls for a 120-mile round-trip ride. Nope, they’re just convenience store nachos, but it makes for a nice destination on the bikes and a nice snack when we get there. Don’t know that we’ve ever made the nacho trip in the truck. Wouldn’t be the same.
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Sky had minor clouds but cleared enough that Kim is imaging. Of course, who knows how long the clear sky will last but the Crab Nebula is in the telescope’s sight.
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I’ve decided that the next member of my Tribe will be a turtle. Been making drawings and working it out in my head for several days. Time to get started.
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