Rancho Colibri at sabrarmijo.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2004! HAPPY YEAR OF THE MONKEY!
Well, it's been a couple months since my last note. The weather has been mostly warmer than usual with little to no precip. The desert strikes again!

Anyway, here's my update on the bird watching. We have not seen any new birds for a long while. The winter birds are the Scrub Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Western Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Juncos, Kinglet, along with the Bushtits, Grackles and Starlings. Just lately we have seen a couple Goldfinches at the thistle feeder. Can't be sure if they are Americans or Lessers because of their dull winter colors. The Juncos also like the thistle feeder. We have also enjoyed the flights of the wintering ducks, geese, and cranes over our place everyday. They go from their river grounds out to the fields in the area. In fact, a group of 5 Sandhills were in a field just a block away yesterday and today. They were chasing around and make lots of noise. Maybe we can sneak over there and get some photos for the website. Because of the warm weather the trees are starting to bud out! And yesterday, I scared up a Mourning Dove in the neighbor's yard while walking the dog. I wonder what other signs I'll see of an early Spring.

Of course, we still have the residents around, including Mazey and Chicken Little. I really got worried about them a few weeks ago. They roost in vine near the front gate and it has no leaves to protect them. We had a really cold front come through with high winds and very low wind-chill temps, but they survived it all. We had a little snow/drizzle the last couple days too, but that didn't seem to faze them. They really are troopers. They love us and won't leave. We give them cracked corn and water, now it's their turn to provide us with some eggs! Oh, well, we do like having them here to keep down the bugs.

Well, that's it for now. Feliz Ano Nuevo!