We got about an inch of snow last night. The sun came out and melted most of the snow even though the high temp was only around 35ºF. The clouds broke up for a very short time this evening, allowing me to get a shot of the moon through the lavender mist†.
†Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) is a masterpiece by Jackson Pollock: https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/pollock-number-1-1950-lavender-mist.html
A dusting of snow on the Sandias
Following in someone’s footsteps
Snow on trees. Towers in the clouds.
Southwestern sky
Not so lonely dove
Snow is forecast
Owls were well hidden tonight
The moon is starting to get full of itself
Dawn this morning
The morning started off mostly cloudy, and clouds blew around overhead all day long producing some interesting skies. In the late afternoon, we had dramatic pre-storm light. It’s overcast and raining this evening, so no moonshot tonight.
“¡Hola! Buenos Días. Me llamo Cara de Calavera (Skull Face).”
Blanca: “¿Qúe pasa? Cara de Calavera.” Cara de Calavera: “Hay un paparazzo en el dique.”
Blanca: “Oye paparazzo, ¿qué pasa?” Me: “¡Disparándote con mi Bazooka!”
Wild morning sky
Susan Hunter identified this bird as a Song Sparrow. It was foraging on the river’s edge.
Pre-storm dramatic light on the cottonwoods.
Robin
Another Robin
And yet another Robin.
How many robins can you find in this tree?
Pre-storming
The many faces of Tommee Towhee.
The Lonesome Dove
Mama Owl and Daddy Owl trying to get some rest after a night of really hooting it up.
Moon in Tangle Heart Tree at sunset
We have cloud cover tonight with snow predicted by early morning. Therefore, I’m posting the birds I photographed yesterday.
Flicker at the tiptop of Susan’s Tree at dawn.
Actually, there were two flickers at the tiptop of Susan’s Tree at dawn.
The other flicker.
Owls’ Backs
The Canadian Geese complained that I have not been giving them enough attention.
The Pter in a tangle.
Downy Woodpecker
Grazing
Cooper’s Hawk in the top of a cottonwood between the clearwater ditch and the irrigation ditch.
“It looks like the wind is blowing in a nice afterglow tonight.” Wise words Daddy Owl.
Crows on the crow highway.
Ducks basking in the afterglow.
Cranes, ducks, and geese enjoying the glow.
More crows heading south.
Sandias catching the afterglow long after sundown.
Clouds from the bosque view.
Cranes In The Mist. November 2009.
Cranes In The Mist is one of Susan Brant Graham’s favorite photos that I have done. Below are some cranes in the mist from this morning, but they don’t quite have the same magic as the original taken in 2009. Susan is not only my photographer of the day for my last post in the Travel Photo Challenge, but she is also one of my favorite photographers, period.
Laurie and I have known Susan for 20 years now. It all started with the Albuquerque Rose Society where Susan, Laurie, Tristan, Susan’s mother, and I all competed in rose shows and rose arranging competitions. I believe it was the summer of 2007, Susan was taking photos of roses in our garden when her camera broke. She had a Canon point-n-shoot then. That incident inspired her to get a Canon 5D full-frame camera, and she started taking photography seriously. She upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark II soon after it became available. Susan is an OBGYN and also has a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Over the years she has won many awards for her photography. She wrote the American Rose Society guidelines for judging photographs of roses and published a book on matting photographs for rose shows.
Susan and I share the same birthdate, so we have used our birthdays to do photography day trips. Susan, Laurie, and I have also photographed various special events together. Susan retired a few years ago and has recently been working on projects that show how colorblind people see color and on genealogy. She has published books on El Dia de los Muertos parade in Albuquerque, her colorblind project, and she is currently working on a book or books based on her family genealogy. Susan’s blog is http://susanbgraham.com/blog/. She has not been active on her blog this year with all her other projects and the craziness of 2020.
You can see photos from one of our more notable birthday excursions to Abó Ruins and Quarai Ruins at https://wp.me/p1yQyy-2cH and https://wp.me/s1yQyy-quarai. El Dia de los Muertos parade and the Blacksmith World Championships were two of the more memorable events we photographed together. Photos from those two events can be seen at El Dia de los Muertos: https://wp.me/p1yQyy-Vg. Blacksmith World Championships: https://wp.me/p1yQyy-1BG.
My last set of travel photos for the challenge are of Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge along the Rio Grande about 55 miles south of Albuquerque. The photos were taken in December 2009 when Laurie and I drove down to explore the area. It was cold and wet, and we saw very little wildlife that day.
Jupiter and Saturn were in the trees tonight. December 31, 2020.
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge
Dawn glow
We go to Taos in northern New Mexico for Day 8 of the Travel Photo Challenge. In August 2009, Laurie and I attempted to hike to Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in New Mexico at 13,167 ft (4,013 m). We got up to around 12,500 feet and turned around because the weather was becoming cold and stormy. We still had a wonderful time with beautiful scenery.
The photographer of the day is picpholio nature photography at https://picpholio.wordpress.com/. picholio combines photography with his love for nature, walking and cycling. He mainly shoots in Belgium and the surrounding countries and does especially great macro photography.
Jupiter with moons and Saturn getting ever farther apart. December 28, 2020.
Canadian Geese echelon flying over the Rio Grande with the Sandias in the clouds.
On the way to Wheeler Peak, 13,167 ft (4,013 m)
I’m a Bald Eagle and I approve this post.
I took a break from putting this post together to go out a see what was going on in the bosque and river. A Bald Eagle flew over in approval of this post. The clouds approved also, forming a pterodactyl being chased by a chimera.
My photographer of the day is Lukas Kondraciuk with Through Open Lens at https://throughopenlens.com/. Lukas does wonderful bird photographs, tells really bad jokes, and always has interesting facts about whatever he posts.
Pterodactyl and Chimera in the clouds.
Jupiter with 3 clear moons and maybe one faint moon, and a moon peeking out from behind Jupiter on the top right. Saturn is slowly diverging, moving further away each night.
For Day 5 of the Travel Photo Challenge, I present you with a whole bunch of photos of a Gray Hawk, a Barn Owl, and a group of Harris Hawks. In October 2017, we drove to Tucson for a Linguistics conference. On the way home, we stopped by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The museum has a raptor free-flight exhibit, which we happened to be just in time for.
Gray Hawk, also known as the Mexican goshawk. 
When Barney the Barn Owl flew out of the aviary, all the crowd went “Aaahhh! How cute!” He is certainly adorable. He flew silently between perches entertaining his adoring crowd. 
The stars of the show we experienced were the Harris Hawks. Four Harris Hawks performed for the finale of the free-flight show. Harris Hawks have made a regional adaptation to the harsh conditions in the Sonoran Desert by hunting in groups. The Sonoran Desert is the only place that Harris Hawks have been observed hunting and working together in groups. Their distribution in the US is limited to southern Arizona, southeastern New Mexico, and southwest Texas. Their larger distribution is throughout most of Mexico, the west coast of Central America, and the lower elevations of South America. Free flight shows are great for photographing these raptors because they are close enough to get a lot of detail and action shots.
…throw it all in the recycle bin.
In preparation for moving, I’m purging prehistoric software. Some of it goes back to the 1980s, most of it the 1990s. Either way, it’s like several million years old in cyber-time.
I couldn’t get Windows 98 to the recycle bin before it crashed — chaos reigns within.
Chaos reigned within the sbliminal, bit/byte backmasking in these old Microsft CDs.
Chaos reigned within the grocery store when a pigeon perched above the pickles.
If you spin these CDs backwards you see “Bill Gates is Lord! Chaos Reigns Within!”
Chaos reigned within the “sneaker net”. Networking was optional. No cat videos on the Internet.
Microsoft Office 4.2.1 on 33 install disks. Chaos reigned within installing that sucker.
Crows bathing in the Rio Grande in the late afternoon.
Video of the crows bathing.
The Pterodactyl was sunbathing in a cottonwood and took a flight when he got tired of the paparazzo photographing him. He landed on another cottonwood across the ditch. No sooner than he settled in, another Pterodactyl flew in a took his place.
What’s that?
Incoming
Ready
Get Set
New Pterodactyl
Off Center & Not Even 