Through My Windows

A few things in my backyard

My neighborhood has ribbons of untouched desert weaving around and beyond the homes and streets. Thanks to that, there are many creatures which respond to the birdfeeders, suet cakes, hummingbird feeders and water that I offer. I enjoy the volume and proximity of desert birds that come through my yard regularly. There has always been a Cooper’s Hawk presence in the neighborhood. Some years I hardly see them. In other years, they are ever present. Within the past two weeks, a young Cooper’s Hawk has been coming over on many afternoons to take a long drink from the water in my backyard.

The yellow eyes and vertical streaking on its belly lets me know this is a juvenile bird. When it drinks, it spends about five minutes at the water’s edge. It will drink, then look around for about a minute before drinking again. As with most birds, it cannot swallow so it dips its bill in water, fills it, and then lifts its head to let the water dribble down its throat.

Like many others in Tucson, we have families of Gambel’s Quail. Often, at least one of the youngsters in my yard will have a white feather in its wing. I always smile at this special bird. I have yet to see an adult with that feature, so I don’t know whether the birds grow in regular feathers later, or whether the birds with the white feathers don’t survive long in the desert.

On July 5th I shared a post about a Cottontail Rabbit in my yard. You may remember the photo below and, if you wish, you can revisit that post here. https://www.danweiszphotography.com/p/one-cute-little-bunny

In that post I shared how rabbits sleep with their eyes open. They will close their nictitating membrane, to keep their eyes moist, but as favored prey they must always be on alert for potential predators. The day after I posted that story, I saw a rabbit ‘heat dumping’ and resting beneath the cool shade of potted plants on my porch. I was inside the house and could not see the rabbit’s head because it was behind the lavender leaves. I assumed that it was sleeping.

I ran for my camera, of course. The Cottontail lay still when I returned until I quietly raised the lens to take a photo. Then the rabbit quickly sat up!! Even behind the lavender bush, half asleep, and with me inside the house and behind double-paned glass, the rabbit had sensed my presence. Whether it was my movement or a shadow or whatever, it was fascinating to witness how alert the resting rabbit was to the slightest sense of danger.

At this time of year I see numerous posts on social media of local Tucsonans enjoying the presence of Bobcats and Bobcat kittens in their backyards. I am very envious. Although I know there are Bobcats in my neighborhood, I rarely see them here. The most recent observation came one year ago, in July 2025. The other day I went outside to collect the Oriole feeder in order to refill it and brought it into the kitchen. When I went back out to hang the feeder, I looked up and saw a Bobcat on my porch not ten feet from me. I stopped and apologized out loud, and then turned and walked back inside the house. The cat had watched me and then jumped onto the sitting wall.

I could barely see the cat from the kitchen so I ran to the other end of my house and looked through the bedroom window. The Bobcat was still there, staring intently at something. Then, it crouched down, looking ready to pounce!

Once it jumped, it disappeared. I couldn’t tell whether or not it had caught anything. I ran back to the kitchen but couldn’t see the Bobcat from there either. There was a group of Gambel’s Quail in the desert off of the porch that were standing around in a large circle putting up a loud fuss, but I never saw movement in the bushes to let me know whether the Bobcat was there or whether it had caught anything. I hope I don’t have to wait another year to get a glimpse of this special Cat.