At The Beach

Not a cloud in the sky

Cranes playing on the beach on the other side of the river.

Jake intermission

Downy Woodpecker

Mars bottom of the photo. The Pleiades in the upper middle. Kiss Flying V below the Pleiades.

The Mystery Bird Identified?

I went out to check on Venus and the moon this morning, but they were blocked by clouds. However, I got a clear view of Jupiter with four of its moons.

No one could I identify this bird I posted on July 5th. The bird is small and around 200 feet from me when I took the photo. Now I think it’s a juvenile Western Bluebird.

Juvenile Western Bluebirds up close and personal.

Buddy finally got de-coned. I was in the field this morning, so by the time I got to see Buddy, he had worn himself out. He may have to wear the cone again when he gets his eyelid fixed. But that’s a month away.

Half The Dog He Used To Be

Sunset

He thought he was off to school to be tutored
But off to the vet, he went, to get neutered
Now he’s sad, half the dog he used to be
They put on a cone, adding insult to injury
When Buddy recovers from this trauma
They will fix his third eyelid and end that drama
He will be a new dog, like a new day
Oh Buddy you have come a long way

Morning moons

Surprise! Daddy Owl dropped in for a visit.

Daddy Owl eyeing the hummer perched on the branch below him.

There Unseen

4:17 am in the falling rain. There’s a planetary alignment behind those clouds.

I looked to the west and saw Wile E. Coyote laughing at me.

4:45 am. I can see the moon, Mars and Jupiter.

The alignment if there were no mountains, trees or clouds.

Esatern sky at 4:51 am, 5:07 am, and 6:30 am.

A Shasta Daisy Galaxy

A bored Buddy in a meeting this morning.

Water like chocolate in the acequia madre.

Hello Hello Hello

My friendly computer screens

For my just-in-time delivery of today’s photos, I have a new office dog, flowers, roses, and the half-moon.

Baby

Spunk behind Petunias, Pillow Fight, and Iceberg

Rio Samba, Mermaid, and Altissimo

Iceberg

Mary and Paul. Mama Owl after she delivered a mouse to Peter.

Mama Owl flew back and forth with food for the owlets three times while we were out with them last night. It was dusk, and she was giving the owlets their meals behind a mess of leaves, so I couldn’t get the exchanges of food, but Peter was proud of his mouse and acted like he had a mouse cigar in his beak for quite a while before he finally ate it.

Sunset last night

Halfmoon at 54.8%

Bluebirds In Love

Western Bluebird taking off with a bug

Male and female Western Bluebirds. They seem to be a pair of lovebirds.

Matt & Leslie’s new Husky Cross they rescued. Her name is Sasha. She looks a little like our wolf, Mosby.

“Whatcha looking at?”

“Talk to the tail feathers, Paparazzo!”

While the crowd and owlets were waiting for Mama Owl to bring dinner, she was perched on a tree looking for something to catch for dinner.

Guess What’s 4 Dinner

Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn for breakfast.

Jupiter, Venus, and Mars

I wonder what we are having for dinner?

Oh boy! Mama brought us a gopher!

Mama got in the nest and started feeding the owlets bits of gopher.

The biggest owlet climbed out of the nest while Mama still fed gopher bits to the other owlets.

Buddy is Wowled out. But there is still more to go, Buddy!

The next owlet got out of the nest, Mama fed the littlest owlet a few more gopher bits then she got out of the nest.

All three watched the smallest owlet gnaw on the gopher before Mama flew off to look for another gopher.

The two older owlets hung out on the edge for a while before one jumped back into the nest. The third owlet pondered the nest. It was getting dark when the feeding frenzy started, is was dark while the third owlet pondered, so we left it looking at its sibling.

Afternoon clouds looking southeast.

Looking west just before sundown.

8-Track

Cary drove his Lincoln land barge to the house tonight. Laurie said “You know how your memories of most things are larger than what they really are? That Lincoln is larger than I remember!” Her grandmother drove Lincoln Continentals. Either way, it’s one big car, and what I found amazing is it has a working 8-track tape deck and, even more amazing, Cary has 8-track tapes. I had an 8-track tape deck in the first car I bought in 1975, a 1966 Rambler American. I hated 8-track tapes because if I forgot to eject the tape cartridge before I turned on to our rough dirt road, the tape deck would eat the tape. I had an 8-track recorder at home in the 70s, and I used to record my favorite songs onto 8-track tapes from records (playlists today) to play in the car. At least when a tape got eaten by the tape deck, I could record another one.