The Big Yard: Notes from a Pajama Birdwatcher
August 2, 2023
Another heat dome. The third. The high pressure blocks monsoon moisture, which remains to the south in Sonora. July’s rainfall came in at 2.38 inches, the worst total in the 15 years we’ve lived here. The well is struggling to keep up with us, even with all our water-saving measures (showers are overrated). Deer hold to the yard’s shade and slurp from the birdbath where grosbeaks and goldfinches stand like statues to cool their feet. Every green blade leans back into brown.
I smell death, but it’s only the fly trap, the gallon jar writhing with flies and black carrion beetles.
Despite the heat (and adding to my discomfort), a flock of Mexican jays screeches from the oak above the house. The birds pluck acorns from their caps and purposely, I’m sure, drop the hard nuts onto the metal roof where they thwack like marbles and bounce all the way to the rain gutter. Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack.
Bellota drop. The quintessential sound of August.
What our friends to the south call Bellotas are the fruit of Quercus emoryi, the Emory oak. Whereas most acorns need to be leached of their bitter tannins, you can eat these fresh off the tree. Or, as I do, semi-fresh off the ground.
The nutritious nut contains complex carbohydrates that help balance blood sugar and is rich in oil. But they require a bit of effort to de-hull and extract each morsel. I like to crack the shell in the “traditional” Sonoran way by turning the acorn between my incisors and cutting around the midriff to uncap the shell and release a perfect nutmeat.
Nutty and delicious.
When I upload my eBird report for the morning, I see that yesterday’s numbers (47 species) ranked the Big Yard at #1 in the country. Number One! A first! I know the ranking won’t last long—some yahoo in Indiana is probably already posting his 48 birds—but it raises my spirits all the same, making me believe anything can happen.
Like rain under a heat dome.
Note: Shortly after writing this, the sky opened and delivered more than half an inch of glorious rain to my shouts and whoops from the back porch. Magic.
Thanks for subscribing! More to come as the August migration gets underway!
Wishing you rain!! Those are such lovely photos. That blue grosbeak is fantastic with the tail feathers too!