Owl Season’s Underway

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A couple we often see in the bosque, told me they had just discovered the nesting place of a pair of owls last night. When I got to the nesting area a few minutes later, there were two owls to be seen — a larger owl in a cottonwood, and another, smaller owl, in an elm tree next to the cottonwood.  The larger female was out taking a break, I presumed.  She was hooting up a storm on her perch in the cottonwood. The smaller owl was perched on a limb, a silent sentry, very alert, guarding the area.   The sun had been down for fifteen minutes or so, forcing me to bump up my ISO to 3200 to get a somewhat sensible shutter speed. As I was photographing the owls, a chorus of coyotes started howling from the undergrowth all around where I was standing beneath the owls. The scene became surreal as I was standing in a small clearing, darkness falling all around, the owl hooting from above, and coyotes yipping and howling in surround sound.

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Hooting. I wonder if you pushed up on the tail feathers of a Great Horned Owl if it would hoot.
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She spies something in the distance.
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Ready. Set…
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¡Hasta la vista!

Upchuck and Personal

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“Hey paparazzo! What the hoot is up? It’s been awhile?
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“Who’s that with you? Oh! Of course. Hi paparazza!”
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“Ak! Hold on a minute. Ak Ak Ak Ak…”
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“AAaaakK!”
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“Sorry. I had to upchuck a pellet. Pretty after glow. Carry on. Where were we?”

 

Takes Two Pterodactyls To Tango

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I wasn’t expecting Mr. pT. (Great Blue Heron Pterodactyl) at the beginning of our walk. I had my ISO set at 400, which is a little slow against dark trees at sunset.  It’s one thing not to expect the Mr. pT., which I should know better, since I see him almost every night. But I really wasn’t expecting to see Ms pT., so imagine my surprise and excitement when Mr. pT. swooped down and flushed Ms pT. out of the clearwater ditch to do a pterodactyl tango on their way over the bosque to the rio Grande.  Part of the challenge is to see if you can find Mr. pT. against the tangle of bare cottonwood branches in the first six photos; and then see if you can find Mr. pT. and Ms pT. in the 7th photo and the last photo.

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Trees for Resa

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Snow through the window

After raining for about an hour this afternoon, the rain suddenly changed to giant snowflakes that were coming down thick in the waning light. I ran out and got photos of the falling snow. In the process I got photos of three cottonwood trees I photograph quite often as conditions change. Resa, who has two blogs I follow, Art Gowns and Graffiti Lux Art & More, thinks Mia is lucky to have her own tree. I told Resa she can have a tree if she would like, so I’m putting up four possible candidates. The first three cottonwoods are on our property, and the fourth is by our cattle ramp. The cattle ramp is on our property but the cottonwood is not, and I don’t photograph that whole tree very often. However, it’s a cool looking cottonwood and is situated so it gets good backlighting in the morning and the afternoon. Plus it has a cattle ramp next to it. But Resa can decide if she like any of these trees or wants to look through previous posts to see if she can find a tree that calls to her. Below are a few links to previous posts that include photos of the first three trees:

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2018/12/first-snow-on-the-2nd

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2017/10/soft-white

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2018/8/misty-morning-spotlights-at-sunrise

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2016/4/medieval-morning

https://offcenternoteven.com/2014/04/23/water-my-world/

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Five Miles in the Snow

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We went out for a walk early this morning and walked five miles in the snow. We headed south on the levee for a change of scenery.

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Cranes glided through the snow.
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Entrance to the enchanted bosque.
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Laurie at the entrance to the enchanted bosque.
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Laurie walked in to see what spirits might be lurking about in the snow.
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She came out and signaled all safe. The spirits were taking a snow day.