Patience is a virtue, and I may not always be virtuous. Probably like many, I have great patience with some things and am very impatient with others.  I have been impatient with speed of recovery (or lack there of) of my bones to mend in my foot, but I am very grateful for my backyard. I suppose the pace is normal, but I am impatient.

Some people think I am very patient when photographing insects and birds. I find I am more joyful than patient. With the cooler weather, there have been fewer insects. Many insects overwinter as eggs, larvae, pupae, or other less conspicuous stages. In my yard, there has been a population of young Gray Bird Grasshoppers. They can be very variable in coloration. You can tell they are young grasshoppers because their wings are not fully developed yet. I have been going out and checking on them and photographing them periodically throughout the month.

I had the usual variety of birds visiting my feeders and fountain. Nothing rare, but not common in my yard has been a Lincoln's Sparrow.  Yellow-rumped Warblers are not as abundant as House Sparrows and House Finch, but always attract my camera. I particularly like to catch the bird splashing in water.

My night cameras have confirmed more than one opossum has come to visit. At least one opossum visits nightly. So do some neighborhood cats. One time, a neighborhood black kitten stalked one of the opossums at a distance. It didn't catch it, but was curious.  Skunks are less frequent, but come by a couple of times a month.

At the end of the month, I tested my foot and made a brief trip to El Dorado Park with my son who was visiting from Tucson for the holiday. I'm still not ready for prime time, but it was good to see a few park birds.

Happy nature watching. 
 

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