OH, THE WEATHER OUTSIDE......

The weather outside where you live might be frightful, but here it is DELIGHTFUL. We went birding on Saturday, December 20 with friends, Stein and Colleen Siminson. The morning started out chilly, but the sky was blue and it was a beautiful day. We started out at the Green Valley wastewater treatment ponds and saw lots and lots of water fowl.

Then we went up to Madera Canyon and birded along Proctor Trail. We then came back to our subdivision (where Bob changed into shorts and t-shirt) and birded along the Anza Trail. Colleen had seen Bob's "Devil's Claw" pods, and she wanted some so we picked a bunch along the trail. I took this picture next to some Burrowing Owl nest sites. No Burrowing Owls yet, but we are hoping they will return to nest here in the spring.

The next day, Sunday, December 21, Bob and I went up to Proctor Trail again. We had heard from friends that an Elegant Trogon had been seen up there the day before. We hiked all the way up the trail, but unfortunately we didn't see the Trogon. We saw a number of other birds and it was a great day to be out.

We are amazed at how green it still is here. On our way up the trail we saw such diversity: cactus, pine trees, ferns growing in rocks, and flowers that are still blooming.

As Bob says, "Another great day in Paradise!"