Woody and the Power Poles

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Woody, the Downy Woodpecker, was making a lot of noise hammering away on a power pole.

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Hammering in the shadowy side of the power pole.
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Out of the shadows with an insulator blocking the view.
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Watching the sunset from a different power pole.
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¡Hasta la vista!

Cranes’ Law

Cranes’ Law: Cranes will double in number every few minutes from 2 to 4 to 8 and then there will be a crowd of cranes in the shallows.

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If you take a left past Holly’s Tangle-Heart Tree, followed by a few hops, a dozen skips and a great big jump, you will be on the west bank of Rio Grande where, especially at sunset, you will see a magical view of the Sandias with the river flowing by in the foreground. In the shallows of the river, this time of year, you will see Sandhill Cranes. There were two cranes in the shallows when made the final jump as the sun slipped behind the horizon. I photographed cranes circling and landing south of me, and the last of the red blaze on the Sandias. I turned to look at what the two carnes were doing and there were four cranes. A few minutes later more cranes flew in, then more flew in until there was a crowd of cranes in standing in front of me in the shallows of the river.

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Two
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Four

Six, Seven

Twelve

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In coming!
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Easy does it.
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Tripped on a fish or what?
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Beak plant!
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Good recovery.

 

As many as 28.

Sparing match.

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Here we come!
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Going for a smooth landing.
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Surfing the current.
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Whoops!
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Another fish strike.
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Another beak plant.
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Recovery.
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Chilling.
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Did you see that silly goose?

 

Trees at Sunset

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Holly’s Tangle-Heart Tree
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Cool clouds over the levee and bosque.
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Susan’s Tree, Teagan’s Trees, Robin’s Tree, and the unclaimed Tree. There’s an owl in Teagan’s Tree.
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Teagan’s Tree with an owl perched in it.

Below is a closer shot of the owl in Teagan’s Tree. The owl flying over us as we walked towards it on the ditch bank. The owl landed in a tree behind me along the ditch bank. Two closeups of the owl.

Trees in the Snow

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Resa’s Tree

Snow has fallen most of the day. After I got home, I went out and photographed the trees on our property that have been claimed.

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Robin’s Tree
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Tiffany’s Tree? I don’t remember if Tiffany claimed this tree or not.
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Susan’s Tree
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Resa’s Tree from a different point of view
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Susan’s Tree from a different point of view
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Birds foraging in the snow
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Lyn’s Tree with Resa’s Tree in the back ground
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Black bamboo bowing low in the snow