At Jeff and Debby’s

Though the main purpose of our trip to Arizona was to see Bill and Alice, we also planned on seeing Jeff and Debbie, Leslie’s brother and sister-in-law, on the way home. It just seemed wrong to drive through Fresno without stopping to visit. Even though we see them quite often because their son lives in Portland, we’ve only managed to get to their Fresno home a few times.  When we’ve been there in the past it’s been hot and dry, but that wasn’t the case on this trip.  Heck, I even ended up wading in water over the top of my shoes on our first walk.  

Although we did a lot more walking than we did in Arizona, we didn’t see nearly as many birds and almost all of the birds we saw were ones we often see in the summer at home. I suspect I’m generally viewed as a “birder,” but I tend to see myself as a (wildlife) photographer.  When I’m walking around with a camera I’m a lot more aware of my surroundings than when I am without one.  When I don’t see birds, I look a little harder and see other things, like this beautiful lupine, a flower we won’t see in Pacific Northwest for several months.

Lupine

I can’t remember ever seeing this orange flower (which might explain why I don’t know what it is), though my iPhone tells me it is Amsinckia, commonly called Fiddleneck

Fiddleneck

We also sighted a small flock of one of my favorite birds, Cedar Waxwings.

Cedar Waxwings

Although White-Crowned Sparrows are common in the summer at home, this might be the first time I’ve seen one this year.

White-Crowned Sparrow

After all the rain and cloudy weather we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest this Fall and Winter, it was a delight to be able to take pictures in full sunshine, even pictures of common birds.