Owl Moon Sky

Daddy Owl going “Aak! Aak! Aak!”

Daddy owl let me get close again tonight, and he paused from posing to puke up a pellet. I felt honored to be part of his pellet puking circle.

Back to posing.

The moon is a little over half full tonight at 64.3%.

Since we had cloud cover for the first two days I would have seen the sliver moon, I only have the seven moonshots so far in February.

Catching air

From the Ministry of Silly Walks on Water.

Sunset looking to the southeast over the Rio Grande.

Trees and clouds at dusk looking northwest from the levee.

Hot & Roses

When I got in my car at the office, the temp read 116º F (46.7º C). I started driving and it dropped to 112º F (44.4º C) and I thought it seemed really warm, at the next red light a few miles down the road, I checked the weather app on the phone, and it showed the temperature in Corrales at 108º F (42.2º C) at 17:22 hours. When I got home at 17:30 hours, the temperature was a cool 102º F ( 38.9º C) on our outside thermometer. Many of the roses were loving the heat. At sunset, the temperature had dropped to 88º F (31.1º C). There was a warm wind blowing cotton off of Resa’s Tree. I finally got a decent shot of Resa’s tree with the cotton on it, but I wasn’t able to get the blowing cotton to show up well in still photos.

Under A Freezing Midday Sun

We got about an inch of snow last night, and while the sun tried to peek through the clouds, the temperature never got about 25ºF (-3.9ºC). A couple of walks in the bosque and out on the beaches along the Rio Grande resulted in new birds and some exciting owl news.

Sandias and the Rio Grande from North Beach.

Canadian Geese.

Five Thrushes.

These Thrushes looked really iridescent in the snow on the riverbank under the cold, filtered sun.

Red-Tailed Hawk way off in the distance.

Sparrow up north scavaging in the snow and pebbles.

Red-Tailed Hawk in profile.

This poor calf has lost its herd. It’s all alone and has been sadly mooing for someone to keep it company.

Can you spot the northern mama owl sitting on her eggs?

She didn’t use this nest last year because the raccoons had ransacked it. She is in it again this year. The year before, 2018, she had Virginia in this nest: https://wp.me/p1yQyy-4dG

Thrush

Blondy the blonde porcupine sleeping way up in a cottonwood.

Thrush getting a drink.

The acequia madre

Robin

Snowy Bosque

Mama Owl and Daddy Owl in their usual spot with snow all around.

Happy Valentine’s Day From The Birds

 The pTerodactyl posed perfectly in the Tangle Heart Tree for Valentine’s Day.

Miss Stripy Sparrow

Mama Owl

Sparky Sparrow

Daddy Owl snoozing at sunrise.

A congregation of cranes at dawn.

Tommee Towhee

Cranes celebrating the frosty sunrise.

The other side of Miss Stripy Sparrow.

A pTerodactyl takeoff.

A silly duck on takeoff.

“¡Hasta la huego you silly goose!”

As a thunderstorm blew in this evening lots of crows were flying all around us.

On The Eve Of Conjunction

Our neighbor’s star reflecting on conjunction.

Mia’s tree (center), clouds moon, large cottonwood.

Susan’s Tree, Teagan’s Trees, Gabriela’s Tree, and Tiffany’s Tree from the levee looking northwest.

Shey’s Tree with the moon above.

Tangle Heart Tree embracing the moon.

Saturn and Jupiter. 6:15 pm, December 20, 2020.

 

Crows, Moon, Mia’s Tree, Tangle Heart Tree

Crows over cranes at dusk.

Crows, crane, Sliver Moon over Mia’s Tree.

Intermission: Daddy owl hooted at me in the dark and got my attention. +2 stops made for an interesting exposure.

Crows and Sliver Moon.

An alignment of Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity, a plane, and the Sliver Moon under the Tangle Heart Tree. Saturn is trying to shine through the clouds above Jupiter.

 

Bathing Under Blue Skies

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