Venus, Mars, and the Moon at Dawn
Three cranes on the Rio Grande at sunset.
Working on his silly walks
Coyote crossing the bridge.
A single crow is pushed along by the wind.
The pTerodactyl wades in pink.
Three Cranes @ Sunset
Tag: ducks
A Leg Up Walk On Water
The little Coot that Couldn’t. I’ve never seen this Coot fly. He’s good at walking on water.
Jake getting a leg up doing doggie yoga in the great outdoors.
Free
Icy wind picks up
Pulls leaf free from snowbound hold
Underfoot no more
Today’s wind was favorable for the leaf that was snowbound last night. The leaf was blown free of its icy hold, left lying peacefully off to the side of the trail no longer underfoot. Below is The Who’s “I’m Free” live in 1977 to celebrate the leaf’s luck of the draw.
Daddy owl eyeing me through a tangle of twigs.
This American Coot was foraging on the sandbar. Then it started to take flight and decided against it.
pTerodactyl trying to hide behind a tumbleweed.
Venus at dawn under clear skies.
After having cloud cover for most of the day, these were the last few clouds hanging around at sunset.
Birds @ Sunset
Bottoms Up!
The Mallards are happy to have water in the clearwater ditch again.
Taking flight.
Jake was having a ball running and shaking on the beach.
The Sandias from the beach. Clouds over the Rio Grande. Beaver Dam in the clearwater ditch
Cranes grazing in the orchard.
Ducks In A Row
The conservancy is let more water into the Rio Grande from upstream. That has brought the water level up in the Clearwater ditch. the black speckles in the sky are crows flying on the crow highway that follows the Rio Grande.
The ducks are happy to be in the clearwater ditch again.
Burning through the sky.
Birthday & Balloons
Today is Laurie’s birthday and the second day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with a mass ascension.
Lots To Look At
Bazooka’s fist Dragonfly
Major Tom Peepers, Sleepy and Mona Lisa.
Finch
We finally got Laurie’s new MacBook Air M1 so I could have my MacBook Pro that I use for recording back. The first thing I did after I got Laurie’s new M1 set up yesterday was to go into the studio and re-record the lead guitar parts and cleaned up some parts with the bass and rhythm guitar where I was out of compás in Wood Duck Daze. Then I put the new track with the video. I think there are still one or to rough spots, but overall it’s much improved and the lead guitars are really wild like those crazy Wood Ducks.
Tabatha Towhee gave us her rendition of Habanera from Carmen by Bizet.
Bravo! Bravo! Tabatha Towhee.
On the flip side.
Well done Tabatha.
Major Tom Peepers and Mona Lisa.
Lizards looking for love. The male, above, was chasing the female, below. He was doing a bobbing lizard dance for her.
Larry Lizard
Lorena Lizard
All three owlets snoozing.
Altisimo in profile.
America
Mama Owl
Lady Banks in her massive Glory.
Honeysuckle
Mona Lisa and Major Tom Peepers. Sleepy is, you guessed it, sleeping.
Lilac
A pearlet on Marina’s Incognito Pear Tree.
Mona Lisa and Major Tom Peepers posing.
“Hey Mona. I think we need to get that stupid Paparazzo to build us a shade structure.”
The Sacrifice
I buried a raccoon pup at dawn
Found him by the steps
Heartless and emptied
Secretly sacrificed
Under half-moon? Rose at two
Such a mystery
With last rites fitting any innocent soul
Tucked in under spadefuls of sandy soil
Laid to rest, secured for eternity
A spark of life lit
Snuffed, sacrificed
So much misery
The poem above was inspired by a poor baby raccoon, gutted and left near our doorstep. I don’t know what killed it, but it seemed very sacrificial. I’m packing several day’s worths of photos into this post because of the possibility that other things will come up, and many of the photos not get posted.
Click on the galleries below to see a slideshow of the photos in their correct aspect ratios.
Grosbeaks, Hummer, and Towhee the Line
I am Wood Duck hear me roar!
Got Your Goose and Goslings with Cormorant
Cooper’s Hawks’ Hanky Panky
Fuzzette, Major Tom Peppers out of the nest with Mona Lisa and Sleeping still in the nest, Mama Owl, Daddy Owl, Daddy Owl, Mama Owl, Daddy Owl
Critter Daze and a Few Flowers
Major Tom Peepers and Mona Lisa wearily watching a flock of crows fly overhead.
Larry Lizard “posting”.
Drumstick Allium. There are a pair of Wood Ducks hanging out in Gabriela’s Cottonwood.
Lady Banks.
I can’t resist dandelions. The bats were being batty again.
Off Center & Not Even 