MORE PICS and some NEW QUICKS

Great title, eh?

OK, it's getting late...

I got some more photos ready to share late last night.

ARIZONA BIRDS

Those who know me, know I have a passion for bird watching. Well, there are only so many birds in North Central Washington to see, so when we decided to head states away, I started compiling a list of birds I "had to see!" Needless to say, several of those birds, were never found, however, other surprises were awaiting me. Let's start with the birds that we saw in the Desert Museum. What an awesome spot. I took so many pictures, and I can't wait to scrap them all. This museum (Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us) was full of not only animals and plants, but mineral displays, earth science discoveries, cave replicas, raptor demonstrations, and some wonderful iced tea and ice cream. We even ran in to Dr. Jean and family (our vets from back home) which was very strange, but kind of cool!

We saw the "road runner" which was at the top of Max's list. We wouldn't have even seen him sitting in the ground hog display if a man next to us wouldn't have pointed him out. Once we got his attention, however, he came front and center to get a picture.

Next, we entered the Bird Aviary which was full of all kinds of gorgeous creatures. I caught a shot of some doves on a branch, and some strange little fellow (I actually named him from my Sibley's guide, but it's in the car and it's cold outside so I'm not going to go look it up for you, sorry). He had some long spindley legs for sure.

And this little gal, isn't she pretty? . . . is, I believe, a female Cardinal. I have never seen a Cardinal before, but I know they had them in the display, and she was so willing to pose for a photo.

and lastly, here is a close up of the Harris Hawk. They are all over this area of Arizona. The beautes we saw at the museum are all captive birds. They let them out twice a day for a cool demonstration of their hunting techniques, swooping together as a family to capture prey. The coolest thing about the Harris Hawk was returning to Grandma's house, and seeing two Harris Hawks in the wild the next day. They were perched in the trees and lightposts and trying to look for some lunch (photos of that one later).

and then there were the WILD BIRDS
if you can call them that... they were pretty comfortable with us taking pictures of them at Grandma's house. In fact, Max made pretty close friends with some Gambles Quail once he learned their language, which is slightly differnt from the California Quail that he is used to speaking. He had them running to Grandma's yard, calling after him. After chasing them all over for several days, there they were, right in front of Max, waiting for a picture.

OK, what is next....
Oh, check out this lovely dove that is nesting in one of Grandma's cactus. Zoe, grabbed the camera one day and took this photo of her sitting on her "one and only" egg. She's so pretty. Look at that eye!!!

And two more....
Here is what I didn't recognize until my Grandma, and Aunt Wanita confirmed, is a Mocking Bird. I saw this same bird (I think) every day we were there, sitting on the same post. The next photo is a shot I got of a hummer at my Uncle Ray and Aunt Wanita's place on Wednesday evening. They have a gorgeous Desert yard, and I have some fabulous photos to scrap very soon. Thanks for a yummy steak dinner Aunt W. and Uncle R., it was fantastic! I can't wait until these little hummers make it up our way in a few weeks.

MORE MUSEUM SHOTS
of my Mom and Dad, Jeff under a Palm, Max with his "twin" near the mineral display, and me, Zoe, and my Mom standing in front of a giant Saguaro on the drive back to Grandmas (totally other story...)

OK, and now the NEW QUICKS

I have three new collections of quick pages up in the store. I made them from some of my favorite scrap kits, and with additions from other kits. Each set includes 4 12x12 PNG quick pages, simply slip your photos in the layer underneath. I hope you like them.

Made Pages - Lemon Tree

Made Pages - Darcy's Workbench

Made Pages - Te Amo