Some one’s white duck was in the irrigation ditch tonight.
I spotted a Beaver on the other side of the river.
He slithered into the water.
Swam toward me like Jaws.
He made a right turn,
Then a left turn.
Then Splashed me after I was yelling at him to splash for quite some time.
Daddy Owl
Is there a dragon in the clouds?
The Sandias with a soft pink.
The beavers were out early tonight. We saw three beavers gathering willows, reflecting, and swimming around.
Thirty-nine wild skies. One for each year Laurie and I have been married. Be sure to click on the gallery to view a slide show of the photos.
All of the clouds to the north at sunset tonight were contrails.
The owlets were lined up tonight in their order of age. Major Tom Peepers on the highest branch in front. Mona Lisa in the middle, and Sleepy mostly hidden farthest back.
All of the blood moon photos were shot between 4:30 am and 5:04 am. I changed my exposure allowing the non-eclipsed portion of the moon to washout. When there is no cloud cover it easier to keep the non-eclipsed portions of the moon from washing out. The bright parts of the moon cast a glow off of the thin cloud cover that turned into heavier clouds as the moon sank toward the horizon. After the moon slipped behind the tree I walked up the road to where I could barely see the white sliver of the moon through the haze. After that it disappeared. The full eclipse was at 5:18 am, but it had slipped behind the clouds and out of sight.
More flowers and roses for the Super Flower Blood Moon.
All three owlets have flown into the bosque. They are near the Tangle Heart Tree. Can you find them in the above photo? I’m not sure you can see Mona Lisa from the photo. I believe she is blocked by a branch. This is a higher resolution image than I normally upload, so you can click on it to see the full image and enlarge the image to help find the owlets.
A super-wide view of the area the owlets are in with the Tangle Heart Tree on the right.
Contrails when I got home.
Wild sky of the Sandias and Rio Grande.
More wild skies. The last shot was sunset tonight.
The Flowers: Mutant Peace, Peonies and Rio Samba.
The western clouds were beautiful, but not promising for a clear sky in the wee hours of the morning when the Super Flower Moon gets bloody. I’ll get up a 3:00am and check the sky.
The Super Flower Moon Rise.
Super Flower Moon
Super-wide-angle view of the Super Flower Moon rising over the Sandias and Rio Grande.
Super Flower Moon in the clouds.
Can you find Venus?
You should be able to see Venus in the above photo.
There was nice color in the west, but I missed most of it photographing the moon.
I was going to buy a ultra-wide-angle lens for my Fuji XE-1 that I used to use as a carry camera. But the 10-24mm zoom lens is quite large, which makes it not as desirable to carry when I’m also carrying the Bazooka on a 7D Mark II body, and the 70-200mm zoom lens a 5Ds body. I have been using my iPhone XE for all street photography and wide-angle photos, stitching together panoramas for ultra-wide-angle shots. I finally decided that since an iPhone 12 Mini was the same price as a Fuji 10-24mm lens, I might as well upgrade my iPhone to the iPhone 12 Mini. The 12 Mini is the same form factor as the old iPhone 5, which is my favorite style of iPhone case, and the camera has wide-angle and super-wide-angle. The iPhone 12 Pro has telephoto, also, but I have the Bazooka and the iPhone 12 is bigger than I like.
What’s really nice with the iPhone 12 Mini is the “Portrait” setting works for any abject or critter as you can see in the photos of the kitties and the America Rose above. The “Portrait” setting on my iPhone SE only worked on human faces. When I tried using it on the cats, or anything else, it said “No faces recognized” and would not take a photo. I’m really happy with the camera on the iPhone 12 Mini.
All photos below were shot with the Bazooka 400mm lens on a Canon 7D Mark II body.
Can you find the Owlets in this photo? The above photo is a full-sized so when you click on it, you should be a able to see a little better.
Hint: Major Tom Peepers was in a pretty distinctive spot in the tree tonight.
I wonder which Owlet is Sleepy? This photo might give you a clue about where Sleepy and Mona Lisa were.
Western Tanager? Blue Grosbeak and Mystery yellow-bellied bird across the river at Beaver Point.
More Iris blooming.
Down by the river
How many faces can you find?
Lots of clouds. Lots of brush strokes. Not as much reds and oranges as I was hoping for.
Under a clear blue sky, the sun sinking low, a Swainson’s Hawk flew over head. Susan Hunter corrected me on my naming of the hawlk. Thanks, Susan. The only clouds were far to the south behind Mia’s Tree.
I buried a raccoon pup at dawn
Found him by the steps
Heartless and emptied
Secretly sacrificed
Under half-moon? Rose at two
Such a mystery
With last rites fitting any innocent soul
Tucked in under spadefuls of sandy soil
Laid to rest, secured for eternity
A spark of life lit
Snuffed, sacrificed
So much misery
The poem above was inspired by a poor baby raccoon, gutted and left near our doorstep. I don’t know what killed it, but it seemed very sacrificial. I’m packing several day’s worths of photos into this post because of the possibility that other things will come up, and many of the photos not get posted.
Click on the galleries below to see a slideshow of the photos in their correct aspect ratios.
Grosbeaks, Hummer, and Towhee the Line
I am Wood Duck hear me roar!
Got Your Goose and Goslings with Cormorant
Cooper’s Hawks’ Hanky Panky
Fuzzette, Major Tom Peppers out of the nest with Mona Lisa and Sleeping still in the nest, Mama Owl, Daddy Owl, Daddy Owl, Mama Owl, Daddy Owl
Fido blowing in the wind in Saturn on the Rio Grande.
We got lots of rain today as promised by the forecast.
A slight break in the weather about 30 minutes after I got all wet carrying groceries from the store to the car and then from the car into the house in the pouring rain. Les choses sont contre nous!
Off Center & Not Even 