The Big Yard: Notes from a Pajama Birdwatcher

A very late Swainson’s Thrush.

June 18, 2025

The June doldrums continue. Today and tomorrow will gauge the highest temperatures of the year so far, exceeding 100 degrees. My tomato plants wilt. Native grasses bolt. The lizards stick to the shadows like the birds to suet. A single white-winged dove hugs the head of the statue fountain, wings drooping, watching me but refusing to stir although I walk past her to replenish the grape jelly and sliced oranges.

And still, the yard has its surprises. A Swainson’s thrush threads the shaded undergrowth to drink from the fountain pool. This is the latest one I’ve seen here. The migrant should be at its breeding grounds in northern Canada or Alaska by now.

Maybe it knows about the Canada wildfires...or Alaska’s first-ever heat advisory.

Another surprise. Today is a rare triple-triple: Three tanagers and three orioles join the ubiquitous grosbeaks to add vibrancy to the white heat. Some of the males even bring along their colorful mates; they sing to each other from the fruiting elderberry with such excitement they must know what I can only guess.

Monsoon moisture surges in Mexico’s Sierra Madres.

It begins. A seasonal shift of wind that arises from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California. As the desert heats up, the rising continental air mass creates a thermal low that draws in oceanic air laden with moisture. Miles-wide columns of rising hot air penetrate the upper layers of cool, wet air, boiling over and into brilliant thunderheads that corkscrew upward tens of thousands of feet above the bone-dry landscape. Updrafts accompany terrific downdrafts. Dust billows. Lightning flares. Rain pummels the ground in localized, violent thunderstorms.

The season of chubascos approaches.

And the birds are reveling in the secret knowledge of it.

This morning’s Summer Tanager, a young male in his first spring plumage.

A male Western Tanager at the orange and jelly station.

A male Hepatic Tanager with his mate (below).

A male “Yucca” Oriole, one of many this spring/summer.

A male Bullock’s Oriole, the least common of the three regular orioles.

And, finally, a male Hooded Oriole, rounding out this morning’s colorful parade.

From two summers ago, the most stunning of all, a male Flame-colored Tanager. This time of year, I’m always watching for the return of this beauty.

Thanks for reading! Next up: Our first monsoon chubasco! (Now that we are “officially” in the monsoon season as of June 15th.)