Blooming Arizona

Arizona has a lot of very dry landscape and very hot desert. It also has some exquisitely beautiful flowers, both on the ubiquitous cactuses and in the spritely gardens and near the mountain streams in Scottsdale, Camp Verde, Sedona and Jerome.

I've put together a video photo album of some of my favorite shots of the flora I saw in Arizona (I visited from April 28 through May 4), and added some fun music, called Carry On Bach, by Paul Arden Taylor, performed by the Academy Wind Trio.

Below are four of my favorite still shots from the video. To see all of the shots, visit the Blooming Arizona page.

Spa Time for Cedar Waxwings!

I must have done something right yesterday to get a chance to see a flock of cedar waxwings splash about in the water in the stream just north of Laupot Bridge in Central Park. I had been chasing hawks all day, first in Riverside Park at 116th Street, then at Tompkins Square Park, followed by a break to see a friend's movie, and then off to Washington Square Park. I decided to stop at Laupot to feed the birds before going to the ballet (not Swan Lake, by the way).

Oh, what joy when I saw a flock of at least eight cedar waxwings! And even more joy when they came down to bathe, and I was able to catch their ablutions on video. This, my friends, is the kind of Silly Video I'm trying to make when I go out every day with my camera. I hope you have as much fun watching this as I had watching the waxwings.

The music, which fits as perfectly as I could hope, is by Chopin.

Just a little postscript: As I headed out of the park for Lincoln Center, the sky opened and I got soaked. I wasn't nearly as happy to be wet as the waxwings appeared to be.

Hundreds of Lark Sparrows

More from my trip to Arizona. The feeders in the backyard of my hostess's house had many visitors, but the most numerous were the beautiful lark sparrows. Although I saw a house sparrow here or there, the lark sparrows provided the daily song and beauty. These photos and video were shot in Camp Verde, Arizona, from April 29-May 3, 2016.

Lark Sparrow, Camp Verde, Arizona, April 29, 2016

These striking birds have very strong stripes and a spot on the chest that reminded me of the song sparrows we see here in Central Park.

One of my favorite sights while I backyard bird-watched was the "lark sparrow tree," when a nearby tree would "leaf out" with these lovely little birdies.

I understand that these birds are decreasing in number east of the Mississippi, but are still thriving in the West.

I've added a short video to the Filming the Feathers series to celebrate these feathered beauties, set to a recorder sonata by Handel.