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.
Swainson Flyover
Category: Sandias
¡Un Dos Tres¡ Pink Moon… NOT! Again!
One Owlet. Major Tom Peepers.
Two Owlets. Mona Lisa and Major Tom Peepers
Three Owlets. Mona Lisa, Major Tom Peepers and ????
How about Sleepy for the third Owlet?
Actually Major Tom Peepers ran out of steam, also.
Sweet dreams Major Tom Peepers.
Mona Lisa and Major Tom Peepers thought it was a little bright out as you can see them squinting in the next two photos.
Another year. Another no show for the Pink Moon. Marina had clicked on my Pink Moon post from last year and reminded me that tonight is April’s full moon (maybe April’s fool moon) known as the Pink Moon.
Cloud cover thwarted me again. The Pink Moon would have risen near the towers.
The extent of the pink southeast of the Sandias.
We got a slight big of clearing to the west.
Moon Rise Over Sandias
Fuzzette
Under crystal clear, blue skies I made a very interesting discovery.
Fuzzette, Fuzzy, and Nora Owl
Fuzzy has a big sister, Fuzzette, who Nora Owl finally allowed to come out into the world so we can admire her beauty and cuteness.
Ducks in a row.
Fuzzette
Sucker
Fuzzy
Fish
Osric Owl napping in his outpost about 200 feet from Fuzzette, Fuzzy, and Nora Owl.
Bucky Bullfrog
Fuzzette
Marina’s Incognito Pear Tree looking rather pear-shaped.
Nora Owl napping with her ear tufts blowing in the wind.
And you thought Unicorns were equestrians!
Fuzzette is rather intense.
Tulip tortured by the heat and sun.
Fuzzy wide-eyed and presumably bushy tailed.
Lady Banks
Fuzzette has expressive eyes.
Tulip with a slight blush of pink.
Osric Owl doing ear tuft semaphore.
A sunny bunny.
¡Adios muchachos, muchachas!
Eye Eye Eye
Cary Kingfisher: “Eye see you Paparazzo!”
Finnegan Finch: “Eye see you Paparazzo!”
Terrance Turkey Vulture: “Eye see you Paparazzo!”
Mama Owl: “¿Qué pasa Paparazzo? ¿Te gustan las plumas de mi cola?”
Cary Kingfisher who happens to be a Belted Kingfisher: “I’m outta here! ¡Sta luego Ese!”
Minimalist Skies
Jupiter above the moon at 6:15 am this morning.
Daddy Owl blowing in the sunset.
Crows play in pink.
Sparse clouds over the Sandias.
Mama Owl is still “tufting” it out.
Washboard clouds
Minimal clouds to the west.
Paint the Light Dramatic
We did get rain, snow, and high winds last night and most of the day. We got rain in the valley, but the Sandias and foothills got snow with really high winds.
The afternoon light from the sun peeking through the clouds was intense on the cottonwoods.
Looking SE to SW after sunset.
The Sandias with clouds at sunset.
Cottonwoods, dry irrigation ditch, and gate.
Looking west.
Dramatic light on the Sandias.
Spring Walk
After spending five hours dismantling desks, tables, and chairs and moving them to our new office building, I went on a walk to check on Nora Owl. On the way, I saw sparrows, a muskrat, an echelon of cranes, a cinnamon duck. No owlets popped their heads, up and Nora Owl gave me “mad dogs” when I called to see if any owlets were around. One good sign that the owlets might have hatched is Osric Owl was watching over Nora Owl from a nearby cottonwood. On the way back I saw a Flicker, a squadron of crazy Cormorants, a bluebird of some type, and another sparrow feeding on buds in Marina’s pear tree. The clouds were beautiful in the low sunlight about 30 minutes before sunset.
Muskrat nibbling on grass near its den.
Muskrat swimming with its mouth full of grass.
Nora Owl giving me “mad dogs”.
Osric Owl on his lookout branch.
Cinnamon Duck.
Sandhill Cranes still hanging around.
Intermission: My desk we moved from the office downtown to the new office. I build the desk in 1990. That is a light table on the left-hand side I used for sorting slides and transparencies before digital cameras. The desk on the floor is Dede’s desk that she designed and I built for her in 2007, I believe. it will go in the corner to the right of my desk. I will build Bruce’s desk in the corner to the left of my desk.
Flicker
A squadron of crazy Cormorants.
A hover dove.
Barney Bluebird
Jack Sparrow
Clouds over the Sandias.
Eye Eye Nora
Nora Owl is still sitting. Either her owlets have hatched and they are not showing their cute faces or they will be hatching very soon.
Nora Owl in side-view.
Crane gliding above the Sandias. We saw a handful of cranes tonight.
A cute bunny greeted me when I got home. He was still hanging out when I left to check on Nora Owl.
Moon intermission.
The Sandias from the Beach at sunset.
Daddy Owl was hooting when I walked up to the tree he was in. Mama Owls was answering him.
When I walked over to Mama Owl’s hole in the tree, she stopped answering Daddy Owl and ducked into the hole. If you look carefully you can see the tipity tips of her ear tufts.
The painter was working on a soft sunset for Marina.
All Clear
By late afternoon there were no clouds, no owls, no Pteradactyl, no squadrons of fighter ducks. Simply blue skies, a little snow lining the crest of the Sandias, a ragged Cormorant, a lonely crane, and a time-lapse video.
Above is a time-lapse video Tristan took of the balloons and clouds this morning. This video really shows how the winds blow in different directions at different altitudes in Albuquerque, which makes it easy to navigate hot air balloons around the Albuquerque area.
Cormorant
A little bit of snow along the top of the Sandias with the towers.
The cormorant looked ragged under its wings.
Towers in focus.
A lonesome crane flying around looking for other cranes.
