The Owlet & The Stink Bug

Timothy Price49 Comments

Video of Big Baby Owl’s encounter with a stink bug

The night before last, both owlets flew back over to the tree by their nest. They’ve been getting really good at flying over the past couple of weeks, and we have been finding them within 100 yards or so north, south, and west of the Tangle Heat Tree. They seemed to want to take a longer flight and reminisce about old times by the nest. They have also been spending their daytimes deeper in the bosque.

Last night I went out a little before 8:00 pm. It was cloudy and windy. I walked by the Tangle Heart Tree but did not see the owlets. I knew it was a little early, so I walked down to the south beach, walked back to 4th of July point, made my way back up onto the levee, looked for the owlets but I saw and heard nothing more than the trees swaying and the leaves rustling in the wind. I walked up to Beaver Point, saw and photographed a beaver, then I walked back toward the Tangle Heart Tree. About 200 feet from the Tangle Heat Tree I thought I heard a peep. I stopped and called the owlets, listened best I could through the sound of the blowing wind, and I heard another peep. I called again, and Big Baby Owl flew to a branch about 100 feet from me. About a minute later Little Baby Owl flew up on the branch. Both of the owlets were looking out towards the northwest when Big Baby Owl flew off in that direction, out of the bosque, and landed on the lower bank of the levee. I walked toward her and started the video.

It was after 8:30 pm, and quite dark, when I started the video. I was +2 stops on the exposure, and the camera was having a hard time staying in focus. The Owlet flew up to the upper bank of the levee, ran toward me stopped, bent over, and started trying to eat something on the ground. She straightened up and shook her head. A stink bug dropped in front of her and started walking across the levee. Its stink must have tasted pretty bad because she kept shaking her head as she persued it across the top of the levee. Once she reached the edge of the bosque, Mama Owl fley by out of view of the camera and landed in a cottonwood on the edge of the bosque. The owlet saw her, peeped, and flew up into the cottonwood with Mama Owl. I moved to where I could see the owls, but Mama flew off before I could get her on the video. I was close enough to the owlet to get her in good focus, and she can be heard peeping through the wind.

Big Baby Owl in the cottonwood by the nest on Thursday night.

Little Baby Owl looking back toward the bosque.

Beaver at Beaver Point

Big Baby Owl right after she flew up on the branch last night.

Little Baby Owl joins her.

Both owlets were looking out at something to the northwest before Big Baby Owl flew down to the levee and had her adventure with the stink bug.

Lola: 1/1/2009 – 6/2/2020

Timothy Price80 Comments

I would wake up every morning with Lola lying on my chest smiling at me and purring.

I brought Lola home to a full moon rising over the Sandias on April 3, 2015. I buried Lola at sunrise this morning June 3, 2020. We had five wonderful years with Lola. Lola was doing the best she could with her rheumatoid arthritis, and we were doing the best we could treating her with steroids and Gabapentin, but she succumbed peacefully last night.

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/4/moonrise-lola-and-the-neon-tulip

Lola originally belonged to our neighbor. They got her when she was about a year old in 2010. Lola used to spend a lot of time at our house because the neighbors had dogs that bullied her, and our neighbor’s didn’t like cats as much as dogs. We ended up taking Lola after our neighbor’s moved to New Zealand. Moving in with us was a dream come true for Lola.

Lola helping me with cleanup after the raccoons ransacked our outdoor kitchen in 2011.

Lola was always a Catzilla type cat. She never liked other cats much, but she loved people. https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/4/catzilla

Lola was a really good sport and a good kitty model. She actually seemed to like my limp celery on cats project. https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2016/12/lola-loves-limp-celery

She was often surprised by Spunk’s magic tricks: https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2016/5/spunk-magic

We really miss Lola. Rest in peace Lola.

Feline Matchmaking

Timothy Price62 Comments

Resa, who has the Art Gowns blog, and Spunk have had a thing going for a while now. When I posted The Persistence of Spunkery a couple of weeks ago, Holly and Marina got confused and thought that Resa’s cat Jeep* and Spunk had a thing going. With inspiration from Holly and Marina and collaboration with Resa, I wrote a song about our feline matchmaking and creating a modern, virtual, long-distance romance during these times of Covid cooties between Jeep and Spunk.

Feline Matchmaking
Music & Lyrics by Timothy Price
Inspired by Holly and Marina
Collaboration between Resa and Timothy

Intro
Can we have long-distance love
For kitties locked down, locked in, Zoomed?

Verse
Jeep’s up north to the east
Spunk’s down south to the west

Jeep says meuw, not meow
Spunk says mew followed by a growl

Jeep is four dimensions in three
Spunk’s dimensions? Egyptian eyes
Jeep is a sweet girly whirly
Spunk has his destructive manly ways

Bridge
Girly/Manly ways attract
Equals
Virtual romance for a matter-of-fact

Chorus
Feline matchmaking during Covid cooties
Long-distance love-making, feline beauties
Purring, growling, rubbing screens
Jeep and Spunk have hit the scene

Bridge
Virtual love and Covid Cooties
Modern romance oh so beauti…
Full of screen-time Zoom Zoom Zoomed

Chorus
Feline matchmaking, Covid cooties
Long-distance love-making, feline beauties
Purring, growling, rubbing screens
Jeep and Spunk have hit the scene

*Jeep is named after Eugene the Jeep in the Popeye comic strip[1]. The vehicle we know of as a Jeep was also named after Eugene the Jeep by soldiers during WWII who thought the Willys MB light utility vehicle was “small, able to move between dimensions and could solve seemingly impossible problems”[2].

Purple Collar

Timothy Price55 Comments

A hummingbird landed in my path as I was walking down the side of the levee into the bosque. He said: “Who is that parading past my perch”? I said, “It is only I a lowly paparazzo out for a walk to find wild willing subjects like you!” The hummer responded “Well here I am, get in your shots. I can’t wait all day.”

Note: I saved the images larger, so you can get a good view of the images by clicking on them.

“Hows this side? Do you like my purple collar?” he asked. “You are quite a handsome hombre! Your collar is lovely.” I answered.

Intermission: Here’s a Downy Woodpecker chick in a cottonwood waiting for Mama to bring him breakfast.

“How’s my profile?”

A closer view

Thirty-Eight Years

Timothy Price83 Comments

We celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary today. We went for a walk in the bosque, Laurie barbequed ribs and we sat out on the deck and ate dinner while the owls serenaded us with their hooting back and forth in the bosque. After dinner, we walked out to see the owlets. They had flown about 100 yards south of the Tangle Heart Tree. They are starting to fly really well. The moon was popping in and out of the clouds, and the skies were dramatic. Click on the photos to see a larger view.