Morning sky. White hot flames.
There were six beavers on the other side of the bank, eating, grooming, and lounging around. It was dusk, so it was too dark to see them in the above photo. We could see them clearly with binoculars.
Spunk dreams
We had thunderstorms roll through this afternoon. We got 4/100 of an inch of rain. The temperature dropped from 92ºF (33.3ºC) to 68ºF (20ºC) in a matter of minutes.
Blue Grosbeak singing while watching the sunset
Blue Grosbeak in silhouette
Sunrise
Spunk with his ears
Three lumps = three beavers at dusk
Sunset
Dr. Huey
Posing like he’s going to be on the cover of the Heron’s Quarterly.
Shaking it up
He has a featherdo like Mo of the Three Studges
Wynona
Assassin Bug
Wynona. A big brown beaver.
Western Bluebird in silhouette
Round-eyed Devil
Sasha exercising
Ma ma ma, my peonies
Dusty Sandias
Tangle Heart Tree
Setting sun
When we checked on Walter and Willa tonight, all we could see was Willa. She was high in the tree, looking all around, hopping from limb to limb, climbing the trunk of the tree. She wore herself out, and Walter was nowhere to be seen. Willa laid down on the broken branch we first spotted her on, exhausted from her efforts. Then Walter flew in from another tree, all proud of himself. He was hopping and flying around, looking for Nora. They were ready for dinner.
Willa: “Hey, Paparazzo, do you see Walter anywhere?”
Walter flew in from another tree.
Willa: “Mama! I need dinner!”
As we were walking back, the badger made a mad dash from one hole to another hole. We stopped, and it came back out and listened to us for a bit. We were so close to it that I had to take a few steps back to get enough distance to focus on the badger.
Sunset
Walter’s tail among the tatones in a different tree from yesterday.
We couldn’t find Walter and Willa in their cottonwood tree this afternoon. And for good reason. They were not in it. They had both flown to the tree to the west of their tree. It will be very hard to see them at dusk from now on.
Nora napping way up high in the cottonwood west of the tree she nested in.
Willa sacked out after making the flight to the new tree.
Western Tanager
Swallow, House Finch, Robin
Mother’s Day Flowers
Silver napping
Marina’s Incognito Pear tree has become rather sculptural.
Sunset
Dawn
Night To Day. Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price. Vocals by Teagan Riordain Geneviene.
I played an unplugged version of Night To Day on my freshly restored Elvis Presley Harmony guitar in my farewell to 2023 video on New Year’s Eve. I later recorded the metal version and asked Teagan if she wanted to sing it. She wasn’t sure about singing metal, but Teagan is a good sport, and she is adventurous when it comes to art and music, so she dove into the metallic pool and nailed it. Her ethereal voice is perfect for the ghostly theme of Night To Day.
If you have trouble viewing the video, you can listen to the song on SoundCloud.
Night to Day
Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price
Vocals by Teagan Riordain Geneviene
[Verse 1]
I saw Sun crash to the ground
It threw colors far and wide
With yellows into reds consumed
Swallowed up by ravenous blues
[Pre-chorus]
Dusk sang dirges to the dark
Clouds ignited a fiery show
[Chorus]
See the darkness
Nighttime’s falling
Time to slumber,
But ghosts are calling
Feel the darkness
Your skin starts crawling
Who can sleep when ghosts come calling
[Verse 2]
As embers meander through the night
Shadows creep under bright moonlight
Dawn wakes colors that light the sky
Painting darkness red, yellow, blue
[Pre-chorus]
Defeating darkness that’s Eos’ way
She breathes life into one more day
[Chorus]
See the light
Ghosts dissolving
Time to rise
A new day’s calling
Feel the light
Your skin stops crawling
When you’re up to see ghosts dissolving
[Bridge]
Night to day. Day to night
Flesh and spirits, in a moment, fight
For the right to live or die
Trading places, one sacrificed
[Outro]
See the darkness
Nighttime’s falling
Time to slumber
Ghosts come calling
See the light
A new day’s calling
Time to rise, see ghosts dissolving
Rio Samba
Altissimo
Guard hummingbird en garde
Spotted Towhee in the tree. House Finch lands in the same tree. Spotted Towhee chases House Finch away.
Spotted Towhee was all proud of himself.
Nora Owl flew over where I could get better shots of her this afternoon.
Walter and Willa were in the top of the cottonwood huddled up together and dozing on and off.
Osric Owl was trying to sleep with the wind blowing his ear tufts.
We have had persistent high winds since Thursday night. Several thunderstorms blew through this afternoon dropping a quarter inch of rain, and pelting us with marble sized hail.
…along about a Saturday night!
I caught Jack Sparrow taking a bath in the irrigation ditch.
Dip. Flap and flutter. ¡Hasta las vista! Paparazzo!”
A Lesser Goldfinch was banging a seed on the branch to get it open and then holding it in its beak before it flew off. Click on photos to enlarge.
Western Bluebird and a Flycatcher
Blue Heron. Blue day. Bird shots going my way!
Willa and Walter trying to get a little shuteye this morning.
The many faces of Willa
Sunset
Off Center & Not Even 