Turkey Vulture in Flight Over the Tanque Verde Wash — Image by kenne
Late afternoon
Brings the big birds
Circling in for a landing
In the dead trees
By the Tanque Verde Wash.
Their stay will be brief
Before warming up
In the morning sun
Before liftoff, circling
Gaging the currents.
Each day for most of March
The turkey vultures return
In their journey north
To their northern home
Only to return next fall.
— kenne
Western Bluebird — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Be like I, hold your head up high,
‘Til you see a ray of light and cheer.
And so remember this, life is no abyss,
Somewhere there’s a bluebird of happiness.
— from The Bluebird of Happiness by Edward Heyman
Cedar Waxwing In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
— kenne
Black-throated Sparrow — Image by kenne
— kenne
Female Phainopepla — Photo-Artistry by kenne
There She Was
There she was,
Gazing at me
Wondering why
I look so funny.
There she was,
On her perch
An ocotillo branch
Sharing the gray.
There she was
A little red
In her eye
Continuing to gaze.
There she was
As I wonder why
The ocotillo
Not mesquite.
There she was
Flycatcher by name
Preferring the berries
Of desert mistletoe.
There she was
Not gazing at me
Turning her eye
To mistletoe berries.
There she was
In the desert winter
No insects
For this flycatcher.
There she was
Where there are
Berries abundant
For a misnamed bird.
There she was
Until the days
Grew hot
In the desert sun.
Now she’s gone
To the mountains
In search of a
New berry source.
— kenne
Adding Color to Sparrows — Photo-Artistry by kenne
— kenne
Verdin In Sabino Canyon Riparian Area — Photo-Artistry by kenne
— kenne
