A tractor was out plowing a field and making lots of dust in the cool of the evening. The wind blew the dust over the clearwater ditch and into the bosque. Mr pT, a pterodactyl formerly known as a Great blue Heron, was wading in the clearwater ditch, took flight, and flew through the dust into the bosque.
This is a male Queen Butterfly feeding on purple wildflowers in the bosque. You can tell he’s a male by the black, teardrop shaped spots on the lower inside of his wings that are pheromone scales. Unlike Monarch butterflies that don’t use pheromones to attract mates, the Queens do.
A turkey’s lurking in the weeds
I think she sees me, yes indeed
That’s alright miss turkey lurk
I’ll leave you be to dust and scratch
I’ll leave you to your turkey work
For any of you who know Spunk Kitty, you will understand how Spunk will not be outdone by mice, birds, squirrels, and especially lizards and bullfrogs. Spunk was not very happy that I posted Froggyphunk, by Jeremiah and the Lizards, yesterday before he got a chance to pitch his song idea to me. When I got home this afternoon, I got an ear full from Spunk about me posting a song by a stupid bullfrog when he had a song in mind called Meowing at the Half Moon. He insisted I help him record his song that instant. I told him I was tired and that I would rather do it over the weekend. Spunk would have none of that “over the stupid weekend” talk, and told me he would “scratch my eyes out” if we did not record his song tonight. So Spunk and I went into my darkroom/music studio, played, meowed, mixed and produced Meowing at the Half Moon by Dumpsta-Spunk. Enjoy.
The three owlets from two doors down were playing on the ditch bank and in the bosque last night, while mama owl watched from a perch along the clearwater ditch.
Two owlets sparring over a perch.
They noticed the paparazzo,
The three owlets and Mama owl.
A beaver has been sitting like a bear on the riverbank across from Beaver Point grooming itself in the evenings after sunset. I took the video above last night. During the first part of the video the beaver was about 300 feet south of where I was standing, so when I zoomed in with the video processing software, there’s a soft focus on the beaver. I walked down through the brush and got almost directly across from the beaver, so the video has better focus for the last part. After moving across from the beaver it noticed me, got into the river, and slapped its tail against the water a couple of times. The tail slaps are a little week because when the beaver pauses to splash, the current interrupts the power of the splash. Tail slaps are much loader and more forceful in calmer water. The audio is of the river rushing by, traffic from I-25 to the east, and jets flying overhead.
The photos below were from the June 1st. The beaver was about 200 feet north of me, but it was later, and much darker. I was not able to get the camera to focus for video that night, but I was able to enhance the stills so they are bright with fairly good detail.
I found this Western Ornate Box Turtle lying and the road where he would have been smashed by a driver not paying attention. I stopped in the middle of the road, jumped out of the car, grabbed him and brought him home. I took a couple of photos of him on our counter before I let him go on our property under the giant Dr. Huey.
If you were thinking the AWB started collaborating on a new rock band, you are half right. You might just hear a tune or two from Jeremiah & The Lizards at some point in the future.
Laurie: Do these binoculars need to be cleaned?
Me: Can you see through them?
Laurie: I see a colorful Bird through his dirty windshield.
Me: They don’t need to me cleaned then.
Off Center & Not Even 