Balloons, Boats & Buzzards

October 6, 2019 Timothy Price29 Comments

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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.

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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.

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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.

Painted Sky

September 26, 2019 Timothy Price23 Comments

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My green red car got the best average yet at 43.7 mpg driving 358.4 miles. I thought I was going to squeeze an average of 44 mpg out of it this tank, but one day of really heavy stop and go traffic nixed the 44 mpg average. When I filled the tank it took 8.2 gallons of gas, which when you divide 358.4 miles by 8.2 gallons you get 43.7073 mpg. Normally when I divide the miles by the gallons the mpg is a little lower than what the car’s computer calculates because of the variation on where the pump kicks off. This time the car’s computer and the pump synced.

Parched River

ImageSeptember 6, 2019September 6, 2019 Timothy Price22 Comments

Warp Speed

September 1, 2019 Timothy Price22 Comments

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Cooper’s Cry

August 1, 2019 Timothy Price18 Comments

We where walking on the levee well after sundown, when we heard a cry that sounded somewhat like a monkey. We looked in the trees, but could not see who was crying. Then we saw a bird jump from branch to branch. Finally a Copper’s Hawk settled on a branch where we had a better view, and I was able to get photos of it through the branches and leaves. It jumped to another branch where it was mostly hidden, but then a much larger bird, flapped it’s wings closer to the Cooper’s Hawk; but it remained hidden behind branches and leaves. The Cooper’s Hawk flew back to another branch where I was able to get another photo of it before it took off into the bosque. A Great Horned Owl (possibly Virginia) flew out from behind the branches and leaves into the bosque a few moments later. I presume the owl was after the Cooper’s Hawk’s chicks and the Cooper’s Hawk was trying to distract the owl with it’s crying. Great horned owls are three to four times larger than Cooper’s Hawks, and could easily make a meal of an adult Cooper’s Hawk, which is probably why the Copper’s Hawk was not attacking the owl.

0A6A0730 — Checking out the paparazzo or the owl or both of us.

Owlet Update

April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 Timothy Price41 Comments

0A6A3356 — I think I get get out of this hole.

At first we thought that there was only one owlet in the cottonwood in the neighbor’s yard just south of us. Turns out there are three owlets again this year. One of the oldest owlets was trying to get out of the nest last night.

0A6A3374 — The runt popped its head up when the other owl took a break from its attempt to get out of the nest.

0A6A3376 — The third owl getting a wing in edgewise.

0A6A3377 — There is something interesting in the branches above.

0A6A3436 — Only one owl popped its head up this morning.

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Moving on north to Virginia. You can refresh your memory about who Virginia is at https://wp.me/p1yQyy-4dG. Another resident owler said she had seen a second owlet with Virginia, but we have not seen the second owlet. Virginia is older than the three owlets down south, and she has been getting out of the nest for a couple of weeks (she was out of the nest the next day after the photos I did of her on the 14th). This morning she and Mama owl were sitting on a branch outside the nest. Virginia is developing horns.

0A6A3446 — Virginia is adorable. She looks small next to Mama owl, but when she’s by herself she looks big.

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0A6A3474 — A view from the back side of the tree.

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More Red & Green

April 23, 2019 Timothy Price23 Comments

0A6A2951 — Cottonwood leaves bursting out.

Come Out Virginia

April 14, 2019 Timothy Price43 Comments

0A6A2524 — Great Horned Owl (**Bubo virginianus**)

The first line of Only The Good Dye Young, by Billy Joel, is “Come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait”. When I checked on this mama owl that has a nest in a cottonwood about a 3/4 of a mile north of us last week, it was cold and the owlet was trying to get under its Mama; therefore, all I got were photos of its fluffy tail end. This afternoon Mama was sitting on the edge of the nest, and I could see the tip top of the owlet’s fuzzy head. Since the binomial name for Great Horned Owls is Bubo virginianus, I borrowed the line from Billy Joel and said “Come out, Virginia, don’t make me wait.” As I changed my position under the cottonwood, I saw an eye peak out from one side of the “V” at the edge of the nest. From there, the owlet and Mama got into a variety of cute poses for me. They we quite animated in the bright, hot sun.

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Sitting

March 28, 2019 Timothy Price10 Comments

010O8366 — Female owl sitting on her eggs.

I didn’t think Great Horned Owls used the same nesting spot two years in a row, but this pair of owls proved me wrong.

Owl Season’s Underway

March 26, 2019 Timothy Price24 Comments

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A couple we often see in the bosque, told me they had just discovered the nesting place of a pair of owls last night. When I got to the nesting area a few minutes later, there were two owls to be seen — a larger owl in a cottonwood, and another, smaller owl, in an elm tree next to the cottonwood. The larger female was out taking a break, I presumed. She was hooting up a storm on her perch in the cottonwood. The smaller owl was perched on a limb, a silent sentry, very alert, guarding the area. The sun had been down for fifteen minutes or so, forcing me to bump up my ISO to 3200 to get a somewhat sensible shutter speed. As I was photographing the owls, a chorus of coyotes started howling from the undergrowth all around where I was standing beneath the owls. The scene became surreal as I was standing in a small clearing, darkness falling all around, the owl hooting from above, and coyotes yipping and howling in surround sound.