Yesterday we had clouds running amok through the skies with our painter scrambling to keep her colors from blowing away with the winds. Today ¡Nada! Not a cloud in the sky. However, our ever clever painter brushed the Sandias with pink, then she threw a spray of ocher that turned into lavender, purples, and blues as it spread from the horizon into the sky.
Our painter picks her colors from sunbursts.
Mama Owl watches as our painter makes her magic.
Looking west @ 5:31 pm February 10, 2021
Mama Owl @ 4:23 pm February 10, 2021
Looking south @ 5:42 pm February 10, 2021
Cranes @ 5:44 pm February 10, 2021
Looking east @ 5:45 pm February 10, 2021
pTerodactyl with ducks doing vespers prayers. 5:53 pm February 10, 2021
Looking west @ 6:01 pm February 10, 2021
The second to the last moon before the new moon.
18% waning crescent moon 6:25 am February 8, 2021.
X marks the spot
View from South Bend at 5:20 pm tonight.
Owls with their ear tufts blowing in the wind this afternoon.
Splash landing at dusk
“Non che male! Almost as good as ‘Diving @ Dusk’!”
35.1% waning crescent moon 6:15 am February 5, 2021.
Wishful thinking for Downtown Albuquerque.
No moon this morning. It was hiding behind the clouds at dawn.
I attended a meeting about a conservation project in north Corrales where runoff and treated wastewater from Rio Rancho dumps into the Rio Grande. The Nature Conservancy is working with various agencies to use the runoff and wastewater to retore the area into a wetland. Therefore, I did not get out to say hi to the owls and cranes tonight.
The clouds over the Sandias this morning made beautiful cloudscapes, some with rainbow colors made by the rising sun reflecting off ice crystals in the thin clouds. Other clouds cast shadows as the sun rose above them.
Sasha
Silver
Loki
Spunk
Gwendolyn
Intermission
Marble
Ice crystals reflecting colors in the clouds.
Glenda
Moon in the western sky before sunrise.
Moon behind Mama Owl before sunrise
Mama Owl at sundown
Daddy Owl watching the birds flit around below him at sunset.
Mama Owl hopped over to another branch so I could get a shot of her from the levee after sunset.
We got about an inch of snow last night. The sun came out and melted most of the snow even though the high temp was only around 35ºF. The clouds broke up for a very short time this evening, allowing me to get a shot of the moon through the lavender mist†.
†Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) is a masterpiece by Jackson Pollock: https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/pollock-number-1-1950-lavender-mist.html
A dusting of snow on the Sandias
Following in someone’s footsteps
Snow on trees. Towers in the clouds.
Southwestern sky
Not so lonely dove
Snow is forecast
Owls were well hidden tonight
The moon is starting to get full of itself
Dawn this morning
The morning started off mostly cloudy, and clouds blew around overhead all day long producing some interesting skies. In the late afternoon, we had dramatic pre-storm light. It’s overcast and raining this evening, so no moonshot tonight.
“¡Hola! Buenos Días. Me llamo Cara de Calavera (Skull Face).”
Blanca: “¿Qúe pasa? Cara de Calavera.” Cara de Calavera: “Hay un paparazzo en el dique.”
Blanca: “Oye paparazzo, ¿qué pasa?” Me: “¡Disparándote con mi Bazooka!”
Wild morning sky
Susan Hunter identified this bird as a Song Sparrow. It was foraging on the river’s edge.
Pre-storm dramatic light on the cottonwoods.
Robin
Another Robin
And yet another Robin.
How many robins can you find in this tree?
Pre-storming
The many faces of Tommee Towhee.
The Lonesome Dove
Mama Owl and Daddy Owl trying to get some rest after a night of really hooting it up.
Helicopter flying among the crows.
The snow that was forecast for today ended up only cloud cover with a lot of cold wind.
Sandias after sunset.
Daddy Owl after dark.
Off Center & Not Even 