With A Little Help From His Friends

Sasha trying to wake up at dawn

Mama Owl was giving me the tail while feeding The Lone Owlet this morning.

Jetties in the glow of the almost rising sun

A dragon over Resa’s Wolf Tree

Spunk and Jake

Snapping turtle on the irrigation ditch bank

When Jake and I went out for our afternoon walk, my neighbor, Sara, and a cyclist were pondering the snapping turtle on the irrigation ditch bank, headed away from the Clearwater ditch and river. Sara got an old horse feed bag, we got the snapping turtle in the sack, and I carried him to the river. 

He was looking very dry, but still had a lot of snap in him.

He was still upset over being bagged and carried to the river, so he gave me a menacing look.

Sunset

After he got into the river, he stretched out and soaked under sunset clouds.

Jake watching the turtle soak in the shallows.

The turtles view of the sunset

Spunk

On The Wildlife Side

Snowy Egret at Dawn

Wood Duck

This might be a Yellow-breasted Chat

Coyotes on the run

Mama owl and owlet sleeping and sunrise

Guard Hummingbird and sunset

One owlet at sunset

Wynona Beaver hanging out with us at sunset

Can you find Wynona in the above photo?

Can you find six coyotes in the above photo?

Owlets at dusk

Hummingbird at dusk

Mystery Kitty Says Hi!

Dawn

Can you find the owlette?

Sunrise

Gwendolyn

Glenda

Sliver sleeping

Cat 5

Spunk

Loki

Mystery Kitty

The mystery kitty started hanging around last summer, fighting with our cats through the wire in the catio. You can read more about that at https://wp.me/p1yQyy-cr8. He has always run away from us whenever he sees us, but Laurie noticed he’d been looking thin, so she started leaving food and water out for him. He was meowing at the Sally port door this afternoon, and our cats were not fighting with him through the wire. I walked out the door and he ran. I sat down on the step and called him. He slowly came back, sniffed me, got up on the step next to me, and let me pet him for a few seconds before he ran off again. I went back inside and in a few minutes he was meowing at the door again. I took a can of cat food out and put it in his food bowl, and he really appreciated the canned food. I sat on the step with him eating at my feet and took a few photos. He definitely looks rougher than he did when we first started seeing him last summer.

The humming bird that was buzzing aroung us while the mystery kitty was eating.

If you didn’t find the owlet in the long shot, here’s a closer view.

Sunset

Happy Growlloween!

Jake turns into a Werejake on Halloween

Holy Jakamole! That’s impressive! And the rest of you cats think I’m silly to be wary of Jake! I rest my kitty case.

The President of UNM’s yard

Sandias under the half moon. The Pleiades rising on the left.

Hard Frost

When Jake and I left for our walk at 6:45 a.m., the temperature was 25º F (-3.9º C). When we got back home 55 minutes later, the temperature had dropped to 24º F (-4.4º C). We had been getting light frost for the past two weeks. This morning was the first hard frost.

Marble trying to warm herself in the cold sunrise

Our Burning Bush

Jake under half moon at sunset

Spunk lying on my lap in front of the fireplace in the library

Box Hugger

The river was up about two feet at dawn

Glenda

Spunk hugging boxes I broke down trying to keep me from taking them out.

The box hugger was holding his cardboard

Loki

A shot of Sandhill Cranes on a fly-by

Pssst! Hey you! Yeah, you, Paparazzo! Have any wire cutters you could spare?

Sunset