Spring is here at Wanderland Ranch!

As the days warm up here at Wanderland Ranch, we’re seeing more and more critters!

The turkey vultures have migrated back already. Soaring high above, patrolling the area and keeping the desert clean. We’ve also noticed significantly more ravens around than last year. They’ve made their home in a large tree nearby and are undoubtably eating well. We watch them play in water dishes and have we’ve even witnessed a few midair tussles between flock members. They are certainly entertaining to watch!

There are many kinds of lizards on the property. Desert spinies, geckos, zebra tails and we are lucky enough to have many horned toad lizards too. They are regularly seen out and about every day now. They’re often caught snacking on all the unsuspecting ants trotting out of the nearby ant hills. We found our first scorpion of the year as well. It gave Tim quite a surprise as he was working in the shop the other night. As the temperatures continue to rise, we know the rattlesnakes are coming out also but we have yet to see any.

What I think is most exciting of all is that a couple of mourning doves have decided to lay 2 eggs in one of our garden pots. The eggs appeared April 5th so I believe right around Easter we may see some chicks hatching. What perfect timing! Momma dove has been doing an excellent job sitting on her eggs and doesn’t seem to mind us being around, not too close of course. We did, however, manage to set up a camera nearby that we’re hoping will capture video of the babies hatching and document their first few weeks of life at the homestead before they leave the nest!

We’ve made big improvements to the garden this year and are hoping for a fruitful harvest. Keeping the pests away has been quite a battle. We’ve already had a few run ins with 2 skunks and a couple of resident squirrels that sure do like to cause a mess. But with some reinforced planter covers and lots of bird netting, we’re winning the war so far. Our seedlings are growing and so is our confidence about gardening in the desert.

We’re looking forward to warmer days. Happy to see more little animals out enjoying the sun and eager to see the desert bloom again. Hoping for lots of rain this monsoon season as we had an unseasonably warm and dry winter. We’re always keeping busy with our crafts but are grateful and excited to continue sharing about what makes this place so special.

Thanks for reading!