Meet Wilma Wasp, a Toltec Scoliid (Dielis tolteca) that is native to the southwest. I normally only see the butts of Toltec Scoliids sticking out of the trumpet-shaped flowers of the Chitalpa tree. However, this afternoon, Wilma Wasp was really working the Shasta Daisies totally ignoring my phone camera just inches away from her.
Sleepy was out with his siblings tonight. Mona Lisa, Major Tom Peepers, and Sleepy who is looking rather smug.
Kitten Party Lyrics by Timothy Price, Music by Rick Nelson
Since I worked for 10.5 hours moving stuff, building shelves and desks, and then another hour testing and troubleshooting the new VPN, I’m posting another parody. Lyrics are below the photo of a kitten party.
The kittens partying with Sasha.
Kitten Party
Lyrics by Timothy Price
Music by Rick Nelson
I went to a Kitten party to see my old cool cats
A chance to purr, meow and spray and chase some rats
When I got to the kitten party the black cats looked the same
Jumping and bouncing all around they were really quite insane
The kittens are uptight now, they’re rolling all around
You see, the old cats they growl and hiss, so the kittens want a kiss
Tomcats came from miles around, the kittens were in heat
Oh no there’s a bobcat, who we don’t want to meet
The kittens ran all over, pouncing on their treats
Taxidermied mice with silly eyes looking like mousie freaks
The kittens are uptight now, they’re energy abounds
You see, the old cats want pay to play because the kittens they are strays
Kittens-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow-meow
The kittens have some odd times, but they don’t really care
They attack one another, with tactics that seem unfair
Tried making up a kitty haiku, seven, five, and three
They knocked the syllables out like Spunk, quite hilariously
The kittens are uptight now, they’re jumping up and down
You see, the old cats they don’t want to see because the kittens won’t let them be
Kittens-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow
Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow, Meow-meow-meow
Someone opened up the side door and in stepped Bucky cat
Followed by Garfield, Odie, Satchel Pooch, and a great big spat!
If you’re going to a kitten party, you will get all scratched up
You think you’ll make it out alive, all I have to say is good luck
The kittens are uptight now, they pounce in one bound
You see, the old cats all they do is frown, and slap the kittens around
Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow
Kittens-meow-meow-meow
The kittens are uptight now, they’re meowing all around
You see, the old cats won’t play with anyone else, so the kittens play with themselves
By late afternoon there were no clouds, no owls, no Pteradactyl, no squadrons of fighter ducks. Simply blue skies, a little snow lining the crest of the Sandias, a ragged Cormorant, a lonely crane, and a time-lapse video.
Above is a time-lapse video Tristan took of the balloons and clouds this morning. This video really shows how the winds blow in different directions at different altitudes in Albuquerque, which makes it easy to navigate hot air balloons around the Albuquerque area.
Cormorant
A little bit of snow along the top of the Sandias with the towers.
The cormorant looked ragged under its wings.
Towers in focus.
A lonesome crane flying around looking for other cranes.
Looking west from the levee
Looking south from the levee
Looking south and west from the levee
Looking southeast from South Bend
When I was out at Beaver Point just before sunset last night, I could see the clouds were really wild looking to the southeast, and I would get much better photos from the south bend about a quarter-mile downriver. I hightailed it south and along the way heard the owlets peeping in the cottonwoods between 4th of July Point and South Bend, but I could not see them. I got down to South Bend in time for some spectacularly wild clouds with the half-moon hanging behind them. On my way backed I looked for the owlets, but could not find them in the trees. There was still a lot of color in the clouds when I got to the Tangle Heart Tree, but the color had pretty much subsided to the east when I got to Shehanne’s tree on my way back home.
Looking east over the Rio Grande a the Sandias from South Bend.
A half-moon peaking through the Tangle-Heart Tree.
The last of the color looking north from the Tangle Heart Tree. Can you see a face in the clouds?
Shehanne’s Tree in front of a fading eastern sky.
Tomorrow is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas. I wrote a version of the Twelve Days of Christmas using the bosque animals that starts with the 12th day of bosque Christmas. Special guest Suzette Presti was gracious enough to do the vocals. Enjoy.
The Twelfth Day of Bosque Christmas
Lyrics by Timothy Price
Vocals: Suzette Presti
Arrangement: Timothy Price
Guitar, bass, percussion: Timothy Price
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Twelve coyotes crooning
Eleven flickers flitting
Ten finches feeding
Nine seagulls sailing
Eight badgers burrowing
Seven cats a purring
Six crows a cawing
Five beaver slaps
Four geese honking
Three cranes in flight
Two owls to hoot and
A pterodactyl in the Tangle-Heart Tree.
For any of you who know Spunk Kitty, you will understand how Spunk will not be outdone by mice, birds, squirrels, and especially lizards and bullfrogs. Spunk was not very happy that I posted Froggyphunk, by Jeremiah and the Lizards, yesterday before he got a chance to pitch his song idea to me. When I got home this afternoon, I got an ear full from Spunk about me posting a song by a stupid bullfrog when he had a song in mind called Meowing at the Half Moon. He insisted I help him record his song that instant. I told him I was tired and that I would rather do it over the weekend. Spunk would have none of that “over the stupid weekend” talk, and told me he would “scratch my eyes out” if we did not record his song tonight. So Spunk and I went into my darkroom/music studio, played, meowed, mixed and produced Meowing at the Half Moon by Dumpsta-Spunk. Enjoy.
If you are old enough to remember Paul Harvey, you will know where the title comes from. While I was waiting for Virginia to come out on Sunday afternoon, I heard Daddy owl hooting in a cottonwood about 100 feet from the tree with the nest. Instead of the hoots we normally hear, that sound something like “whoooo whoo whoo whoooo” in the same volume, tone and intensity, he was doing three or four hoots cut short, followed by three longer more intense hoots — “wht wht wht whoooo whoo whoo”.
When I walked over to see what Daddy owl was up to, he was chewing on something, but I couldn’t see what it was. I walked around the tree trying to see if I could get in a position where I could see what he held in his claws, but I couldn’t see what he had because of how he was perched on the cottonwood. Finally I called out to him “Hey owl, what do you have?” He then proceeded to show me that he had a bird, and made the silliest faces in the process.
I also took a short video of him hooting and gnawing on the bird. I named it Great Horned Owl with Dinner. The video is posted after the last photo. You can hear him hoot, and watch him gnaw on his dinner. I assume he shared his bird with Virginia and Mama Owl, but I can’t say for sure, since I couldn’t stay around long enough to see the rest of that story.
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.
Off Center & Not Even 