Cactus Cure for the Sunday Scaries

Today was Sunday, and with it came the inevitable anxiety with the impending return to weekday responsibilities. I’ve wanted to go back with a camera to the spot where we saw the pair of Cactus Wrens on our run two weeks ago. It’s about 2 miles from any parking lot, so not convenient to reach walking. But, only 3.5 miles from home, so I took our old mountain bike down there on the trail for the first time. Peter stayed home to let Orlando play in the yard before sundown/coyote time. I stayed focused with just about 30 minutes until the hillside would be in the shadows. I passed the Kite and the Osprey without stopping – it would be too much time to get the camera out of the bag.

I pulled up to the spot, leaned the bike against the fence, pulled out the camera and listened. It seemed quieter than before, but slowly my hearing came back and I started to recognize some of the locals. I spotted a Mocking Bird sitting still in a cactus, my eyes were starting to focus. Then I turned and there was THIS FACE!

This week we figured out that the Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher is the one that makes the sound of a little kitten crying (there is also a Catbird in the Eastern US that sounds similar) so I was happy to also track this one this evening.

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-Blair