His shadow waned with the moon As Sasquatch surveyed changes from yesterday’s yawn He pitied the sorry state of the scoop shovel Alone and cold on unscoopable sand, cursed by old Jack Frost A portal opened, and he walked through to the other side To his land unknown by humans stuck in 3D Leaving the scoop shovel to its fate Meanwhile, Osric courted Nora Hooting sweet nothings in her feathery ear Time to work on this year’s brood Love at twilight. Dawn blushed!
Marble: “Can I lick sweet nothings in your ear, Spunk?”
Black laced trees under a wintery sky
Through the looking glass, Sasha dreams of going down a rabbit hole
While it was too dark to see in the nest with the naked eye, my iPhone’s LiDAR was able to see Nora Owl in the nest giving me the eye. I assume she was feeding the owlettes that we have not seen yet.
Jake and I walked down to check on Nora and Oseric Owl.
The first thing I noticed is the tree had broken off at a foot above the nest.
All the sawed-up logs from the foreground to the background are from the parts of the tree that broke off.
I could not tell if Nora was sitting on her eggs with the naked eye; however, after processing the image, I can see her back feathers.
I looked around and found Oseric sitting in his favorite lookout spot, watching over Nora.
I used this photo last May to illustrate where the owlets were in the tree. Approximately 50 feet of the tree broke off just above the nest and crashed into the alpacas’ pen below. The owlets will have little shade and no branches to explore until they are old enough to fly to other trees this year.
I hope none of the alpacas were injured when the tree broke off and fell into their pen.
While Nora Owl and Willa were having a beak-to-beak in a corral, Walter flew in.
“Banzai!”
Nora Owl: “We don’t want to see your willy Walter! Cut it out.” Walter: “But Mama!”
Willa: “Mama! He’s still doing it.” Nora Owl: “WALTER! How many times do I have to tell you?”
Walter sneaked up on Nora Owl and Willa.
“SURPRIZE! Ahahahaha!
Nora Owl: “WALTER! YOU JERK! You kids are impossible. I’m out of here!” Willa: “NO! Mama! Don’t leave me with Walter!” Walter: “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Take a good look, Willa!”
We ran in David, one of our ditch bank buddies, on the way down to check on the owls. We saw him again on our way back, and he mentioned that he saw Madge the Badge and attempted to talk to her, but she slipped into her hole. When we got to Madge’s mound, we said, “Hey, Madge! It’s us. Are you coming out?” She popped her head up immediately, crawled out of her hole, and posed. Laurie asked her if she was a model, and she was like, “Duh! Isn’t it obvious?” She recognized our voices and came out to visit. She’s very intelligent. If you are wondering how I know Madge is a female. I don’t know what her sex is. I’m gendering her as a female because I like the name Madge the Badge.
“You called?”
I thought Madge was talking to us without making noise. But when I processed the photos, I could see she was chewing on something.
A Black Headed Grosbeak (top) and a female Western Tanager (bottom)
Black Headed Grosbeak
Female Western Tanager
Western Bluebird
I’m not sure what Osric Owl had in his talons, but it could be the tail feather of a Cooper’s Hawk.
Nora Owl was on her favorite perch.
Willa looked disgusted that Water was nowhere to be seen.
Spunk has been watching Vintage SNL Shorts with Justin Timberlake on YouTube and got the idea to put his tail in a box.
Our guard hummingbird is vigilant.
Søren: “I handled the drive into town better than you did, stupid, impatient, cranky paparazzo!”
Søren went to the vet today. He had an irritated and swollen eye last Wednesday, but after I got the appointment and paid the deposit for the appointment, his eye was normal by Friday and is still normal today. The vet could see where he had scratched it. She gave us some ointment to put on his eyelid. That will be fun.
Since he is neurotic and doesn’t like change, we thought the drive into town would stress him out. Turns out I was more stressed out with all the stupid, slow drivers than Søren was with the car ride. He was saying, “Hello!”, making noises, and then laughing at me getting after the other drivers. My original plan was to take him to work with me when I normally go early and then take him to the vet. Since we had decided it was best for both of us to take him to the vet, I didn’t mention my idea of taking him to work with me until we were in the car and I was yelling at traffic. Laurie asked Søren if he would like to go to work with me, and he said, “No!” He was much more entertained by my getting mad at other drivers.
Søren was proud of himself after we got back from the vet. He did good.
Nora was in her favorite spot tonight before taking off to find food for Walter and Willa. We did not see or hear Osric tonight.
Willa on a branch far away, peeking over a twig at us.
Walter on a branch about six feet below where Willa was perched.
Walter
Willa flapping and hopping her way down to Walter.
Willa eagerly looking for Nora to bring her dinner. Walter just looking.
Walter’s tail among the tatones in a different tree from yesterday.
We couldn’t find Walter and Willa in their cottonwood tree this afternoon. And for good reason. They were not in it. They had both flown to the tree to the west of their tree. It will be very hard to see them at dusk from now on.
Nora napping way up high in the cottonwood west of the tree she nested in.
Willa sacked out after making the flight to the new tree.
Western Tanager
Swallow, House Finch, Robin
Mother’s Day Flowers
Silver napping
Marina’s Incognito Pear tree has become rather sculptural.
Off Center & Not Even 