Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Fidgety little birds


On Sunday I took my usual walk at the Desert Botanical Garden.  It was an almost perfect day to be outside.  (Sorry, all you snow country people.)   While I was there, I got myself an iced tea and took a seat away from the crowds under a huge cascalote tree.  That's where I noticed a bit of activity up in the foliage and around the yellow blooms on the tree.  There was a group of Verdin flitting around in the tree looking for insects to feed on.  Verdin are tiny little birds, only about 4.5 inches long (11cm) and they are members of the Penduline tit family.  They are the only members that can be found in the Western Hemisphere.


I've seen these birds at the garden before and I've tried many times to get some photos of them but, they are on the move constantly.  I sat under that tree for an hour with telephoto lens in hand and shot off around 40 photos before I gave up.  These are the only two worth showing.  It seems these birds never sit still, not for one second.

Oh well, it was a beautiful day to sit under a tree and drink iced tea.  I'm not complaining.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You did well to capture such clear images, beautiful little birds!

Mo said...

A bird I've never heard of before and a tree I've never heard of before. Both would easily keep me amused for an hour too. And the tea, well that's just a bonus really.

Steve Reed said...

I've struggled to get good pictures of tits here, too. Twitchy little things. Yours turned out well, though! It's a matter of perseverance!

Billy Blue Eyes said...

Well at least our Robins do

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Beautiful shots of beautiful feathered friends :)

Lowell said...

You did well. These things flit like a flirt! Very hard to get a photo! The iced tea sounds perfect!

Birdman said...

Sitting in the sun and chirping. You can't complain about that.

Judy said...

Cute little birds. Funny because on Sunday I had a walk and tried to get a photo of some birds but they were too fast for me too.

William Kendall said...

They are beautiful, particularly that first one!

Linda said...

Really beautiful.

RedPat said...

Great shots, Sharon! I've never heard of these guys before.

cieldequimper said...

That's a real little darling. I wonder what he'd say if confronted with the European Robin. They look a little bit like cousins! :-)

glenda said...

I think I have seen some of these in my tall bushes.

Lois said...

At least you got a couple of good shots. What cute little birds! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day.

Randy said...

Beautiful little bird.

Catalyst said...

This is the time of year I miss living in Phoenix. And the DBG is a perfect place to spend some time.

Bob Crowe said...

Never heard of the species, but since you point it out I've probably seen/overlooked them around PHX. Graceful little things.

Kate said...

What a sweet little creature!