Dawn At Work

7:00 am (formerly known as 6:00 am) at the office. The sky was wild.

5:00 pm (formerly known as 4:00 pm) when I got home from work. The sky was wild.

6:20 pm (formerly known as 5:20 pm), the almost full March Moon, AKA Worm Moon, would have been rising over the mountains. No moon, but the sky was wild.

Tangle Heart Tree pinching March Clouds.

A wild sky over the Rio Grande and Sandias. The cranes are gone.

When I walked out to Fourth of July Point where I took the above photo, I didn’t see or hear D Wowl. On my way back I heard D Wowl hoot from one of his trees between the clearwater ditch and the irrigation ditch. I couldn’t see him in the darkness, so I called out “Where are you Daddy Owl?” He flew out of the tree and landed on a branch next to me. He didn’t say a word, simply posed. I told him that I had posted photos of him two nights in a row and that everyone was going to get tired of seeing him. I don’t think he believed me.

I continued walking north, and I made a side trip to Beaver Point. D Wowl flew to one of his favorite perches near Beaver Point as I walked by.

D Wowl

Daddy Owl (Wowls as Shey’s grandson calls them) might be a little lonely with Mama Owl in her nest. I got home late again, went out at dusk, and Daddy Owl was sitting in a cottonwood looking at the levee. I tried to get his attention, but we gave me a side glance Like “Don’t bother me, Boy!” He flew down onto the lower bank of the levee. I thought he might have pounced on gopher, so was looking for him on the bank with the Bazooka through the tangle of twigs. While I was looking for him I heard a very loud and insistent hoot right in front of me. I looked up and he was perched on a branch above me with a look like “Are you looking for me? Well, here I am!” I moved around to see if he had a gopher, but as you can see in the first photo above, his talons are empty. He hooted at me, fluffed up, shook himself, then he took off and flew to another cottonwood in the cover of darkness.

Almost full

Crows & Sparrows

Crows and Sparrows sound like it could be a game, but they were hanging out in Susan’s cottonwood just before sundown.

Sparrows taking flight

another group of sparrows

Mama Owl was doing some routine maintenance on her nest tonight.

Venus at Dawn

Crow highway at dusk

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.

Gone To The Dogs

Meet Buddy. He’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and he’s our newest staff member. We have not been able to find sufficient staff, so we’ve gone to the dogs for new hires. Buddy is young and impressionable, therefore, we can train him in his office doggie duties.

Being so young, he’s not quite up to full-time work and fell asleep on the job. Buddy is Ailene’s dog. Her husband died last month after battling cancer for a year. She got a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel because they are easygoing, people-oriented dogs. Buddy spent the morning in my office while Ailene was at a meeting.

I took a walk around the long block (about a mile to get all the way around) at the office today. The clouds were excellent from the east and the west.

Daddy Owl at dusk.

Purple Dawn

Dusk

Cold Color

9ºF (-12.8ºC) at Dawn

Tommy Towhee puffed at 17ºF (-8.3ºC)

Crow and Clouds

Sunset at 17ºF (-8.3ºC) looking north on the levee

A bit of cold color through the trees looking west

Sliver moon at dusk