Category: Birds

Tourist

Timothy Price64 Comments

Pre-dawn

Dawn

Misty, a Mississippi Kite, is staying in Corrales for the summer.

We interrupt this post for a news flash. Søren has Tail Feathers! Yes! You heard it here first. Søren has tail feathers. For those of you who don’t know, Søren is our neurotic African Grey Parrot. Tristan and David got him around 2007. When Tristan and David divorced in 2014, Søren went crazy and pulled out all his feathers. We took Søren so he could live with a couple. He let all his feathers grow back, but he had been pulling out his tail feathers until a few weeks ago. Why he stopped pulling them out all of a sudden I can’t say, but he has figured out that he might be able to fly having all his feathers grown out. He finally looks like a whole African Grey Parrot.

Søren with his red tail feathers

The moon finally broke through the clouds for a bit last night.

Snake In The Grass

Timothy Price68 Comments

Tristan walked out to her car to go to work and discovered a large Diamond Back Rattlesnake beside her car. She when back inside, got her snake stick, and a 5-gallon bucket with a lid, put the snake in the bucket, put the lid on the buck, carried the buck with the snake in it out to the Petroglyph Park, and let the snake go. She said the snake was very calm the whole time.

A dazed Lesser Goldfinch sitting on Tristan’s thumb.

Early Beaver Shot The Bunny

Timothy Price50 Comments

Dawn

NE view of the Rio Grande on Wednesday evening. NE view of the Rio Grande this morning.

SE view of the Rio Grande on Wednesday evening. SE view of the Rio Grande this morning.

A beaver up and out at dawn.

Bunning through the fence.

Shots of the Bunny

pTerodactyl at dawn.

Spunk is a Cat Tree hugger.

We got a really violent thunderstorm this afternoon. The wind was strong, driving the rain sideways, and the visibility was low. The weather station recorded the event as producing 0.95 inches of rain. The wind-driven rain got almost everything on the deck wet.

The clouds right after the thunderstorm. Views looking east and west.

The clouds at 7:30 pm. Views looking east and west.

8:11 pm (official sunset). Views looking east and west.

The Mystery Bird Identified?

Timothy Price61 Comments

I went out to check on Venus and the moon this morning, but they were blocked by clouds. However, I got a clear view of Jupiter with four of its moons.

No one could I identify this bird I posted on July 5th. The bird is small and around 200 feet from me when I took the photo. Now I think it’s a juvenile Western Bluebird.

Juvenile Western Bluebirds up close and personal.

Buddy finally got de-coned. I was in the field this morning, so by the time I got to see Buddy, he had worn himself out. He may have to wear the cone again when he gets his eyelid fixed. But that’s a month away.

Sliver Moon, Venus, Flash Flood

Timothy Price50 Comments

Venus and the moon rising through the clouds at dawn.

Venus

We did not get rain last night, but there were flash flood warnings for Sandoval County. Obviously, there was a significant amount of rain and flash flooding to the north of us as the Rio Grande’s water level rose about 3 feet last night. It was receding this evening when I was out at the river.

The Rio Grande looking north from Beaver Point last night and tonight.

The Rio Grande looking south from Beaver Point last night and tonight.

The red strip of mud between the light-colored bank and the water is how high the river rose and then fell from last night to tonight. About 3 feet.

Speaking of Beaver Point, a beaver swam by, crawled out of the water, went up onto the bank and disappeared into the willows.

The Black-crowned Night-heron was out hunting on the river to the north of Beaver Point. It looks like it got a fish.

Clouds reaching out this afternoon. No rain on us.