A coyote sauntering along the levee looks back to check out the paparazzo.
The Neowise comet from 7/20. That was the only clear sky we had last week.
Hummer holding an iron cross over the Rio Grande.
Oh! We’ve been seeing daddy owl, but not mama owl or the owlets.
Loki
Marble
Silver
Sasha
Spunk
Dawn this morning.
Urban Katydid hanging on the outside of the glass between the 5th and 6th levels of the parking structure enjoying the view of downtown Albuquerque.
The buzz off
“Hey, there boy. You’re bothering me.” This poor bumblebee was trying to feed on the echinacea when other bees kept pestering it and T-boning it. I was not able to capture a T-bone, but you can see how the bumble is knocked “off-center” and ends up “not even” right after being slammed into by other flying insects.
Incoming
After the flyby T-bone
Knocked off-center & not even
The bumblebee was determined to feed.
After another whack
Incoming again
Treading air
Painting flowers on the plywood coving Jimmy John’s windows on old Route 66 (Central Avenue), Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I don’t know what type of lilies these are. I’m pretty sure we got them as a collection from Brecks, but that was years ago, and Brecks doesn’t offer anything that looks like these lilies on their website.
Ladybug on a daisy.
This lily is part of the collection, the same type of lily in a different color.
Black-Eyed Susan with a wasp.
Rio Samba
Woodhouse toad and paw prints on the edge of the Rio Grande.
A cormorant was being silly, sunning himself on a stick in the Rio Grande while watching the kayaks float by.
“Hey, y’all do I look like a dragon, or what?”
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.
Silver in his favorite box on the table.
Daddy Owl silhouetted at dusk
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
Osprey overhead
Beaver basking in the twilight
Beaver on the east bank grooming at twilight
Off Center & Not Even 