While I was out in the bosque at sunset, I saw two owls in a cottonwood, and a pterodactyl (Great Blue Heron) in the Tangle-Heart Tree. I also photographed cranes against a colored sky, and two ducks in the dark.
The temperature never rose above freezing today. I walked out to Beaver Point right before sunset, and a group of cranes were hanging out in the Rio Grande, wading around fluffed up to keep warm. There was a lone Canadian goose hanging with the cranes, and a duck floated by and then took off.
Douglas of Moorezart blog came by the hotel and we had a very nice visit. Douglas had one of the quesadillas we brought with us. Douglas lived in the Albuquerque area some years ago, and hadn’t had local fare in a long time. A seagull joined us just as Douglas was leaving and asked to try some quesadilla. I named him Jonathan Livingston. He was a very obedient seagull, and he flew over a few feet away when I asked him to so I could put a piece of quesadilla on the rail (I don’t trust large, wild birds to get really close to them). Then he would walk back along the rail and grab the morsel with his beak, knocking the pieces on the ground a couple of times. Since he has webbed feet, he couldn’t pick up the morsels with his feet and hold it in his claws while he ate it like parrots do.
Since we’ve been in presentations most of the day, and are tied up with happenings until well after 10:00 pm tonight, I haven’t been out to do photos, but I did get the video of Jonathan Livingston.
The Sandhill Cranes are flying over in larger flocks each flock of fluing V’s. The often circle over the area to gain altitude or regroup before continuing south.
Short video of the look and sound of the Flying V as the cranes fly south.
We had a clear morning, not a cloud in sight, for the second day of the 48th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Balloons launched in a mass ascension, but there was no wind to speak of, so the balloons hung over the balloon field for a couple of hours.
This pink flamingo boat is what I believe to be the first special shape boat to be on the Rio Grande during the balloon fiesta. Kayakers, canoeists, and paddle boarders paddled, floated and shoved their way through the shallows of the Rio Grande as they watched the balloons.
My neighbor texted me that there were buzzards (Turkey Vultures) in the dead cottonwood a couple of properties south of us. There were still four hanging out in the tree sunning themselves and watching the balloons when I got there. Three flew off soon after I arrived, while the one remaining buzzard shook the dust out of its feathers and settled in to watch what was going on below.
