As I previously mentioned in another post, I have recently had a new rabbit living in my courtyard. She made quite a snug little place for herself right under my mesquite tree, and for awhile, she would sit out there for hours every day.
It was interesting to me how she, like me, spent much of her day doing nothing but essentially being still. The main difference (other than that she's healthy and a rabbit, and I'm sick and a human) is that she seemed rather content with everything. As far as I could tell, she was not ruminating about her purpose and the overall meaning of life, nor pondering the why's of what was and what could have been. Instead, she seemed perfectly content in her way of life -- patient, quiet and watchful.
And then I realized there was a bit more to her story. One day, while looking out the window, I suddenly saw that she was not alone, and there was a reason she was hanging out in one spot all day. She was keeping an eye on her two newborns, both of whom had apparently been safe in hiding all this time!
How cute are they? It's hard to see from the poor quality of the photos (taken through a window screen), but there's a lizard with the two bunnies in that last picture. He seemed to take a liking to them, and the three hung out together for several days.
It was fun to watch as the little ones explored their surroundings and became acquainted with each other. One seemed to be rather adventurous, bravely traveling far in his exciting explorations each day, while the other preferred to stay near home and close to his mother.
I haven't seen any of them in a week or two. Perhaps now that the kids are all grown up, everyone may have moved on to bigger and more exciting things. :)
There are quite a few round-tailed squirrels who climb the tree outside my window each day as well, looking for mesquite beans. Here are a couple photos of them perusing the branches for some food.
Living in Arizona, I often see a fair share of creepy, crawly lizards as well. I'm not quite as fond of them as I am of some of the other creatures who roam outside, but they are still interesting to look at from a distance...
And of course, the tree and feeders still attract lots of birds. My favorites are the cardinals and finches. I love how they brighten the desert with their joyful songs and vivid colors. Here is a yellow goldfinch sitting on one of the mesquite tree branches, waiting patiently for his turn at the feeder.
But my most interesting visitor of late was one that actually took me a bit by surprise. I was laying here in bed (that's not the surprising part) listening to an audio-book when I suddenly heard a bit of a thud. I looked up and saw something had perched itself onto the screen of my window. It was hard to make out exactly what it was at first, as it was in a bit of an awkward position:
Contrary to what it looks like, that's not a giant bird hanging upside down from a tree branch. :) He's moving himself around on my window screen.
It wasn't until the bird settled himself and peeked in to look at me that I realized this was not an ordinary bird. It was an elf owl!
Elf owls are named after their small size, often just 6 inches in length. They are the smallest owls in the world. They are also nocturnal, and typically nest in natural tree cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes of saguaro cacti. It is therefore very rare to ever see them in the daytime. In over a decade of living in the Southwest, this was my first glimpse of one. Not that I actually get out much, of course, but still. It was quite a treat.
We stared at each other for awhile, and I'm not sure who found the other more interesting.
After his curiosity was apparently satisfied, he decided to do a little dance of sorts before flying away.
I've also had another bird who seems to like to peek in on me every now and then. For two days straight, he would fly to my window and seem to look inside, chirp at me, then fly away and come back for another look a few seconds later. This actually went on for hours and hours. It was hard to get a photo of him as he moved around so fast, but here is one of the few I snapped as he was checking me out (or, more likely, admiriing his own reflection).
Peeping Tom
I'm hoping more excitement is soon on its way, this time in the form of a certain paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. I could use some really good news.
