No sunset, no moon, I couldn’t check on the owls. Rain, much needed rain, kept me inside to post photos of roses. The first Dr. Huey in the above photo. Julie’s giant Dr. Huey is only thinking about blooming. After it blooms we will have our 7th annual Dr. Huey tour.
Fourth of July with a Grasshopperlette.
I posted this one last week when it only had 5 roses in bloom.
Bazzoka’s first beavers. It was dark so they are not super clear. the one on the right looks like a bear.
Bazooka’s first swallow. Swallow are faster and more erratic flyers than bats.
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.
Tiny hummingbird in the tangle heart tree
Chokes on smoke from a distant fire
Purple haze on Sandia’s gray
Pink snuffed out while beaver plays
Owls fall silent have they taken their leave?
A dove coos atop Mia’s tree
Nighthawk flies erratically
Bat cuts through the air
Hangs thick
The Conservancy has been at it again, breaking up and pulling the beaver dams out of the clearwater ditch with their evil Beaver Dam Breaker.
Below is a short video a did last night of a beaver sliding into the Rio Grande after cutting some willows to snack on along the river bank. We saw four beavers last night and six beavers the night before last.
Tomorrow is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas. I wrote a version of the Twelve Days of Christmas using the bosque animals that starts with the 12th day of bosque Christmas. Special guest Suzette Presti was gracious enough to do the vocals. Enjoy.
The Twelfth Day of Bosque Christmas Lyrics by Timothy Price Vocals: Suzette Presti Arrangement: Timothy Price Guitar, bass, percussion: Timothy Price
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Twelve coyotes crooning
Eleven flickers flitting
Ten finches feeding
Nine seagulls sailing
Eight badgers burrowing
Seven cats a purring
Six crows a cawing
Five beaver slaps
Four geese honking
Three cranes in flight
Two owls to hoot and
A pterodactyl in the Tangle-Heart Tree.
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.
Off Center & Not Even 