Spring in the Wintertime Fools Nature

The arguments over weather global warming is causing strange weather changes or if they're cyclical seem moot when a warm spell happens in February. No one cares -- they're just happy it's happening.

Temperatures here are at least 5 degrees above normal, which is high in an Arizona winter. When it hits the high 60s, insects appear overnight and birds hop around feasting on them.

Today I saw a red-tailed hawk soaring overhead, swooping around happily on the air currents. The covey of Gambrel's Quail made their noisy appearance in the yard, but as soon as I opened the door to take a photo, they skeedaddled. Half ran up the hill and half flew in the opposite direction. They called to each other for several minutes, until Lucky ran the rest of them off.

I managed to get a photo through the dining room window of a White Breasted Nuthatch pausing as he drilled through the bark on a tree. He flitted and climbed vertically, giddily pecking the newborn insects in the warm air.