Angele.'s photostream  

A bird that I have only seen a few times in my yard. Always in winter but not even every year. When I have seen them it is usually for two or three days. A flock of maybe a dozen were eating palm drupe, catching insects on the fly and getting drinks in my yard.
This is a male.

yesterday was an unusual day; besides the butterfly there were a couple of birds I don't usually see. Phainopepla are not rare in the scrub near my home but are very rare visitors to my yard. This female came several times for drinks. A Canyon Towhee did the same.
Male Phainopepla are glossy jet black with white on its primaries that really can be seen from the underside when it flies.

Temps have been a little warmer than usual - we even had a 70 degree day this past week. Today's high was 55f.
I still can't quite believe this butterfly was here though. Looking for an id - didn't find it on my county's list at Butterflies & moths .org, need to check my earlier photos; might already have an id... if you know who this is please tell!

My first reaction to seeing this magnificent bird with the straps on its legs was a mixture of horror and anger... how dare someone do this to a creature that is so obviously meant to be gloriously wild. Then I thought perhaps it was being rehabilitated after an injury though I have no idea if a rehabilitator would use leg straps like this.
This bird was strong enough to get away and I am rooting for it to remain free. If you have a different opinion about falconry please don't share it with me; I'll feel guilty about thinking bad things about your opinions, pfft!