Venus and Sliver Moon at Dawn
Owlet
I pulled out the Bazooka lens to get some close-up and clear shots of the owlets.
Nora Owl waiting for Osric Owl to bring dinner
Osric Owl
Owlet shivering with anticipation, waiting for dinner.
Sunset
Venus and the Crescent Moon
Bat Bat Go
Beaver
Can you find the owlet? We saw two owlets tonight.
Dawn
Sunset
Can you find the beavers?
Spunk intermission
More Sunset
Can you find the owlet?
Rio Grande and Sandia’s in dusk’s light
Dawn
Mama Dove
Osric Owl in the dark
Can you find the owlette?
Dog in the clowds at sunset
Dusk on the way to check on the owls
Sandias at sunset
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.
We hadn’t seen Wile E. in a while.
Irrigation ditch has water again.
Vultures
Owlet napping
Flowers
Wisteria, Lady Banks rose, tulip
Lady Banks rose, daffodil
Silver
Jupiter and Venus were sitting side by side as they rose a little after 5:00 am. Mars and Saturn were in line with Venus spread out at almost equidistance between each. The sky was smokey from forest fires, and Saturn was in the smoke lit up by the light pollution from the city.
Jupiter with two moons showing. Venus to the right.
Mars is a red point of light.
I was able to get the rings of Saturn through the light pollution and smoke. Saturn does not have good visibility right now. In June it will have excellent visibility, so I should get much better photos of the rings in June.
The early morning sky viewed directly above me.
I swept the floors this morning. Glenda thought I was making room for her to bring in more loads of dirt, which she did.
Mama Owl was perched on the edge of the nest at 4:30 this afternoon before she flew off in search of food. An owlet waited patiently.
Jupiter, Neptune, Venus, Mars, and Saturn lined up early this morning. Uranus was not visible from Albuquerque, which is just fine. Mercury rises too late to be seen in the morning.
Smoke and Ice at a medieval dinner last night.
Butterfly on the bank in the late afternoon
Mama Owl, a Wowlet, and Daddy Owl late this afternoon.
While Mama Owl was up in the tree shootin’ the breeze, the little wowls were bobbing around in the nest. One of the wowlets tried to peek over the edge of the nest giving us a little beak peek.
Flowers are blooming despite the drought and freezing mornings.
Mama Owl through a tangle of limbs.
Sun setting behind bare trees and a smokey veil.
Moonrise
A look into the night sky.
I got water for my first irrigation tonight. It’s so dry the land soaks up the water for a long time before it keeps flowing. Furthermore, the water level in the acequia madre keeps fluctuating, which changes the water pressure. Between bone dry land and changing water pressure, it’s going to take a long time to get everything watered tonight. I may not get everything watered tonight.
That little fuzzy head in the darkness is Mama Owl’s and Daddy Owl’s new owlet sticking its head up for the first time to say “Hello world!” I was talking to Jim between calling the owlet and taking photos, and Jim asked “Why don’t they stick their heads up when it’s light?” I told him that owls like darkness.
Mama Owl and Daddy Owl in a cottonwood in the bosque looking for Junior’s dinner.
If anyone has suggestions for names for Junior, I’m open.
“¡Hola Mundo!”
The left fork in the Y in my irrigation ditch flows through a culvert where Scrappy Skunk was sleeping. Poor Scrappy was rudely awakened by the water and he came out one end of the pipe but got offended that I was videotaping him. He crawled back in the culvert, came out the other side, went back in, and stayed in the culvert until the water got too high and finally forced him out. He was an embarrassed wet skunk when he finally climbed out of the ditch and ran off. You can watch Scrappy Skunk in all his wet glory in the video below.
Tonight’s flowers, bunny and moon follow.
Beatrice Bunny
Off Center & Not Even 