Western Screech Owl

Yesterday afternoon while we were out in the back yard we happened to look up into one of the palo verde trees and saw this little guy (or gal). Yep, right there just feet away was our own little Western screech owl. I say "our" because this owl has lived in our yard or immediate area for a number of years.

We hear it in the early evening in both the spring and fall when the windows are open, and last fall we happened to catch mom teaching her owlet to fly.

We spent a few minutes watching the owl and watched it silently fly off to another tree a bit later; apparently we disturbed it a bit with our attempts at picture taking.

Today, I went back out to the tree and it was right back in the same place. So it looks like this palo verde tree might be its daytime roost. I hope so.

Have fun finding the wildlife in your backyard.

Local honey

Hmm. Looks like the ice on the Rillito will break today. For those that don't live in the Tucson area, the Rillito (little river in Spanish) is one of the rivers through Tucson. Right now it's dry. The breaking of the ice means temperatures should run over 100°F for the first time this year.

We finally stopped in at Southwest Bee Supply (south 6th ave and 18th st) to pick up some local honey. It's just a small shop that looks like it's been around for years with easy parking right around the corner. We picked up a pound (a pints a pound, the world around), which cost a bit over $3 including a jar. The honey itself costs $2.40/# which seems like a real deal, and you can bring in your own jar to save the price of buying a new one each time. Seems perfect. We get to reuse a jar that would otherwise end up in the trash (here in Tucson all glass ends up in a landfill--even the stuff put in a recycle bin, alas), and we get another local product at a reasonable price.