Some of the Wildlife You May Spot in Sun City Grand - Part One, "the Birds"

First of all I want to say, this information is not limited to Sun City Grand. Part One here is all about some of my favorite local birds and they are all birds I have seen here in Sun City Grand, but you could just as easily see them in any of the other area communities.

Of course there are many more bird species than what I have listed here. I've left out the finches, the sparrows, the wrens and yes... even the doves. The birds I have listed here are the ones that are more apt to catch your eye because of their size, antics or uniqueness to Arizona.

We have a number of bird species that are always fun to watch. Some of them live here year round and others migrate in and out of the area. Sun City West has swans that live on the golf course lakes and have been named.

Unfortunately, Sun City Grand doesn't have resident swans yet but one of the more majestic birds that you will see flying around our lakes are the Blue Herons. They can have a wingspan of 5'-6' and create quite a picture when flying overhead.

In the last two months, while driving through Sun City Grand, I've had the pleasure of seeing roadrunners making a mad dash across the road in front of me.

These birds are much larger than I imagined. They can reach close to 2' in length

The Quail are some of my favorite local birds to watch. They are creatures of habit and local residents will tell you how a quail family will travel past their back patio at the same time each evening.

The babies are adorable little puff balls and the families look out for each other vigilantly. In fact there is usually a scout in the group watching out for potential danger and constantly vocalizing to the group.

I had the pleasure last year of having a family come through my front courtyard every day for about three weeks, at aproximately the same time each day. I was sad when they stopped coming by. It was probably because my cat was always sitting in the window watching for them too.

Of course everyones favorite are the hummingbirds. The last two days our backyard visitors have been absolutely exuberant. It's as if they are celebrating the recent rains.

Last night my husband went out on the back patio and one flew off his perch and right up to Rick as if to say hi. Then, ZOOM, he was off. We quite often have what I call hummingbird wars over the bird feeders I have out for them. We get much enjoyment from these social creatures.

Last (but certainly not least) is the Great Horned Owl. There are several species of owls you might see come out at dusk but the sight of this guy always amazes me.

My husband went to a clients house in Sun City West once to deliver something and saw an owl sitting on a yard ornament. He just glanced at it and thought it was one of the fake plastic ones that people use to scare off other birds. That is until the bird blinked his eyes and turned his head. It scared the bejeebers out of him. He said the owl was sitting only about 6 feet from the front door and he wasn't the least bit concerned with having Rick that close.

Well that's it for this post. As I said there are many more birds I could have mentioned and I'm sure I've forgotten other people's favorites but at least this gives you an idea of the variety of wonderful birds you can see right here in Sun City Grand.

Stay tuned for Part Two where I will talk about some of the creepy crawlies you might encounter as well as the four legged critters running around.