Surprised Guest

Our watch cat Wallop alerted me to an intruder this morning. Whatever it was had come down the chimney and was now in the wood burning stove. I peeked in, expecting a rat, and there was a very sooty unhappy cactus wren. So I shut the door, woke up Guy and asked for his advice. "Just reach in and grab it," says he. So I open the back door, put the cat in the bathroom, and open the door of the stove just a crack when out it flew. Now that it knew the way out of the box, it wasn't going to wait another second. Unfortunately it headed for the front door, which was still closed, bounced off some blinds, and spotted freedom through the kitchen.  And smacked right into the window over the sink. Ouch, that had to hurt. There it clung to a strainer in the utensil jar and refused to move. So I opened the front door too, and this time when it flew again it was right for Guy's head. Then it ended up behind some bookcases. There is only one other window in the living room without a blind over it, so that's the next spot it smacked into. After 3 or 4 attempts to get through the glass, I slithered behind the recliner, and opened the window, hoping the bird would stay put long enough for me to slide it open. Now that window doesn't have a screen so it perched on the edge, looking at freedom but figuring this was another trick glass pane. Finally it took off out the window.  So I let the cat out, who still thought his prize was in the stove, and continued walking around it for awhile.

Iguana and Quail

It's 102 degrees today. I made sure everything was thoroughly watered, then spent the rest of the day indoors under the swamp cooler and the fans. It helped a lot to wet down my tank top and put it back on.  It's supposed to be 104 on Saturday.

I saw my first desert iguana today. I used to have a pet green iguana. Imagine my surprise today when I looked out my front window and saw what looked like a sand colored iguana, about 3" from back to belly, and about a foot long. It was cruising through the sand I just watered heading for the joshua tree. I never saw it leave so maybe it is still in the tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_iguana

Then a few minutes ago, I saw a mom, a pop, and a baby quail heading for the chicken wire enclosure where I have the peppers planted. The little darling hopped right through the fence, leaving mom and dad outside.  I asked my boyfriend if they would abandon it there, and he said he didn't think so. As if they heard us, mom and dad both ran off. About 30 seconds later I see the little one pop up on a rock, dive through the fence, and take off like a rocket in the direction of the parents.

Back Home Again

As I was leaving my house today, I discovered a bird that looks like a red finch or sparrow is building a rather messy nest over my front porch light fixture. We don't use the front porch that often so it shouldn't be a problem.

I spotted the gopher snake again today hanging out under the laundry room. Or it could be a different snake entirely. Its not like they have name tags.

The joshua tree is in full bloom. They remind me of popcorn balls.