Desert Creatures

I would have thought that the desert would be a very desolate place in terms of wildlife, but there are a ton of animals that live here. In the Red Rock area, you can see burros, bighorn sheep, and tortoises (not that, in all my hiking trips out there, I've ever actually witnessed one of these creatures). I hear that there are coyotes that you will even see in neighborhoods on the outskirts of town. I am pleased to have never seen one of them and hope to keep it that way.

My backyard is lined with pine trees, and several types of birds love to rest in their branches. Since spring, every day I have heard the songs of mockingbirds. They have many songs that they sing, and they sure do sing them loud! Every so often, when I look outside, I will see a hummingbird looking in the window at me. I'm not quite sure which species they are, and I've tried to get a picture of them but the darn things move too fast. They are metallic jade in color, so I think they might be a magnificent hummingbird. My friend, Mark, suggested several types of flowers that I can get to attract them, so hopefully I'll catch one on film someday.

Every afternoon, there are a number of mourning doves sitting in the branches of the pine trees. They are obviously used to city living and don't mind the dogs or me coming outside. The pictures below are some of my favorite, with nice close up shots of these birds, along with the cityscape and mountains in the background.