A cormorant was being silly, sunning himself on a stick in the Rio Grande while watching the kayaks float by.
Category: Animals
¡Hace Calor!
The forecast for Corrales was for 105º F (40.6º C). Our thermometer, which was in the shade at 16:18, showed 103.9º F (39.95ºF). The weather app on my phone showed 106º F (41.1º C) at 16:24. The air was dry at 17% humidity outside. It was hot and dry enough that the water feed into our evaporative air-conditioner could not keep up with the evaporation rate. The water level would fall below the pump’s inlet, so it could not pump water up to the pads until the water filled the base back up enough for the pump to suck up water and send it to the pads, where the water would evaporate quickly, and the water level would fall below the pump’s inlet again. If the water wouldn’t have been evaporating faster than the water filling the base of the cooler, the temperature in the house would have been 5 to 10 degrees cooler.
So what do the kitties do when the temperature is over 100º F outside? They lie around inside where the temperature 22 degrees cooler than outside.
Sasha cooling off on the base of the treadmill.
Marble stretched on the box on the table on the treadmill.
Loki giving me that “You’re bothering me boy!” look on the self in front of the treadmill.
Loki ignoring the paparazzo to concentrate on an electrifyingly cool nap.
Spunk discovered that lying in a small box in front of the cooler increased the airflow.
Critter Update
Last night there was not much of a sunset, but daddy owl flew up on a tree well after sundown so we could see him in silhouette. He stayed on the tree until I was able to walk around where I could get him in profile in the afterglow. An Osprey flew overhead and then a beaver was out basking in the twilight on the east bank of the river.
Daddy Owl in profile at twilight
Heritage Hopper
Pearl Crescents Courting
Romance is in the air and on the Shasta Daisies, as the Pearl Cresent Butterflies have been courting with standoffs and flurries of fluttery foolery in the flowers. I assume the smaller butterflies are the males.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there and gawk at me?”
The male paused to savor the view of Lady Crescent’s beautiful butterfly behind.
Fluttery butterfly foolery in the flower.
I found these two had snuck off into the weeds to do the butterfly bad thing.
Viceroy on the Rio Grande
The Passenger
Silver Sleeping
Greetings From Little Owl
One the branch staring me down.
We haven’t seen the little owls for a couple of weeks. When the smoke descended upon us the owls seemed to say “¡Hasta la vista! Babies!” and disappeared. Over the past week, we had heard them eeping, but we couldn’t find them in the trees. Various people mentioned hearing the owlets and seeing them fly into the bosque, but sightings, where the owlets are perched on a branch eeping and watching people, had become scarce.
Last night when I was walking to 4th of July Point at sunset, I heard eeping, and I found this little owl on a branch behind the Tangle Heart Tree. Laurie walked up and we could hear the other owlet eeping deeper in the bosque south of the Tangle Heart Tree, but I couldn’t find it.
Taking a closer look at the pesky paparazzo.
Half-moon in the Tangle Heart Tree
































