Bats and hummingbirds oh me oh my

With the monsoons the summer wildlife has been heading elsewhere for their midnight snacks. All except the fruit bats that are still arriving to drain my three hummingbird feeders every night!

Cute little guy isn't he? Looks like a teddy bear. I LOVE watching them swoop into the feeders in the night--not sure how many come but I would say ten to fifteen...of course now they've discovered their sugar bar they're surely addicted. Last year I think they were gone by mid september but our weather has remained warm, with temps close to 100* in the day, going down to 75* at night--one morning I got up to 61* but that was a fluke it seems.

We've had at least four and I think maybe five different types of hummingbirds. The Costa, which are here all year round, ditto with the Annas. The migrants are the Rufous: feisty little redheads who have completely taken over one of the feeders.

Looks like a little sweetheart, doesn't he? You should see them in action! Loud angry cht cht as they chase every other hummingbird away.

We've had another one that I'm not sure about. Dark oily green back, darker wings with a light colored underbody--the violet crowned below is the closest I can come to what he looks like--unfortunately the one who frequents our feeders doesn't have a red bill! Or if he does I can't see it. Can any of you Tucsonians shed light on this?

I'm missing the nightly visits of the javelina and also the coyotes, who have been strangely absent. Once in a while I hear the yips far in the distance but they haven't been traveling by our house.

The clouds have been outdoing themselves, great billowing masses that send cloud shadows racing across the Catalina Mountains. I have to say that since spending time in Portland in June and July I am even more appreciative of the Sonoran Desert. Not only is it peaceful but the beauty is at times so awe-insiring that I don't have words to describe it!



I am looking forward to the fall when I can open my windows at night again. The only thing bad about that is that my dog smells things and occasionally goes nuts, barking hysterically. He hasn't had to spend the night in the closet for a long while.

Here is a picture of myself and my dog taken outside our house by my husband's very talented second cousin, Sherry VanDyke:

Aren't the clouds amazing?