Whose spot is it?

Miska, that is MY spot!!

And that is MY breakfast you're eyeing! 

While I was distracted taking photos of a baby Red-bellied woodpecker at our peanut feeder, Miska took the opportunity to climb onto my chair and check out what I was having for breakfast this morning.  Red-belly baby seen below. Don't know if this is a male or a female fledgling.  Adult males have a red stripe starting at their nose and going over the top of their heads to the nape of their neck while the female is similar but there is a break in the red stripe between the top of the nose & the top of the skull.  Anyway, we are thrilled to know these beautiful birds are breeding on our property and producing young.

Not the usual bird

We get some unusual and not so unusual birds in Arizona as this state is a haven for birds migrating both north to their breeding grounds in Canada and the arctic in spring and south to their winter homes in Central and S. America in fall.  Our ponds in our local community park attract quite a few different species of water fowl.  This year was no exception as we spotted a number of species we hadn't seen before in this locale.  And my dogs do what comes naturally to them - they pointed.

A closer look at the bird - most likely a Great Egret judging by its yellow beak.  There were 4 of them hanging around these ponds for a couple of weeks and now they are gone.