Marcy Scott News Today

As a landscape planting, desert willow is an excellent choice.

The spectacular scenery of the mountains themselves, whether bathed in sunset pinks or shrouded in swiftly moving fog against cobalt blue sky, was breathtaking and unforgettable.

Among the showiest of these early bloomers are the hedgehog cacti, so dubbed because their spiny clumps of many stems.

For a lot of us, that first sighting is most likely to be a male black-chinned hummingbird, the common breeder here and freshly back from its winter haunts in southwestern Mexico.

In just the past week we’ve seen males of both pyrrhuloxias and phainopeplas reclaiming their favored lookout perches.

When the bluebirds first arrive, usually during November, they seem to prefer mistletoe berries above all else.

I fervently wish these all these likely fire-and-drought survivors good luck and better conditions next year.

Some other bird blessings of the year have been a handful of rarities, like rufous-backed robin, broad-billed hummingbird, and common ground-dove.

What the birds lack in colorful plumage they more than make up for with their bubbly personalities.

Although jays feed on a wide variety of foods, these nut caches are vital to their winter survival.