Saturday. Last of the yellow aspen leaves on North Peak and way up Del Agua. Just whisps of clouds with no forecast for rain. Most I’ve seen of Cabezon in a couple of weeks, with wildfire smoke from other states clearing slightly.
Drought, smoke and pandemic make some critters grumpy.
Others stay busy, looking for berries and bugs.
First mountain bluebird I’ve seen at my elevation this morning. Been seeing plenty of Western bluebirds with the turn of the season but this was the first visit of their taller, sleeker, more thoroughly blue male cousins. Yesterday and today, the dark-eyed juncos started showing up. And the robins have been coming in growing numbers for the water and last of the juniper berries.
As usual, wildlife knows far better than I what’s going on up and down the mountain, weather and food-wise. For anyone interested, though, I’ll note that there have been more reports of deer sightings on this north side of the Sandias than I’ve heard or seen in 30-some years here. PS: Some deer seen on 165, along with free-roaming horses, so careful driving.
I had hope for a clearer day when I saw a streak of golden light from bed but was reminded how dry the ground was as I rose. I absorbed various facts as I put water out for the birds, made coffee, fed Cowboy, read the news.
It’s still smoky to the west, over the Rio Grande. I cannot see much of Santa Ana Pueblo, Cabezon, the Rio Puerco or the end of the Pajarito Plateau.
It’s clearer to the south and the Western bluebirds and robins are out in gentle force, calling for others, waiting with house finches for a bath, drying off outside the kitchen window.
I get a water memo, reminding me of shortfalls in our knowledge. A titmouse peers out from fence poles. I guess they always look worried.
I keep wondering about survivors.
I am reading the new @LauraPaskus book on climate change and New Mexico, “At the Precipice.” This morning the environment and climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck tweeted: Jonathan Overpeck@GreatLakesPeck· It was a bust monsoon most everywhere. Souls are extra dry headed into a La Niña winter – these tend to drier than normal in the SW. So, the SW megadrought will undoubtedly continue…”
I have been worried by the oxygen saturation levels of the COVID-suffering president being reported higher than the ones for COPD-enduring I. Even so, it’s time for a walk.
Wildfire smoke from Colorado and Wyoming cleared some Sunday morning and more birds stopped by, including this Williamson’s sapsucker, the guy with the red throat and yellow chest. I wonder why he evolved with such colors, why God made him the way he did. I don’t see the questions as mutually exclusive.
They come to the water mostly grouped by size: Small, medium and large. Juniper berries linger on trees nearby. The finches and bluebirds share with everybody. The little guys are wary. Everyone scrams when the scrub jays arrive. Maybe unkindly, I call them the bully boys.
PS: Here’s a good story about the Williamson’s sapsucker and its namesake. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-people-behind-the-birds-named-for-people-williamsons-sapsucker/
Cooler weather. Fall traffic picking up. Non-migratory robins seem to have moved down the mountain. Still trying to get good focus and identify what I think is a very colorful sapsucker. I can’t tell whether it actually has some yellow on its breast, like a Williamson’s sapsucker, or whether that is morning light reflecting off green juniper branches to white breast.
Blue sky in the morning Wednesday and for my evening walk, wildfire smoke gray gone in three directions at least for a day.
Camera exaggerating in 6:30 p.m. light but still picking up smoke to the west.
I turned 71 last month and decided it was time to grow up. My Dream Ranch blog suddenly seemed immature.
Weighted down by COVID-19, wildfire smoke and political gloom — and some wild criticism to boot — I stopped blogging on June 30. I’ve been searching for other ways to channel my morning words and photos. I haven’t landed on anything firm but this morning’s bird visitors got me going again.
So, for lack of another plan, here I am with some vague sense of Dream Ranch Phase 2. Maybe things will just be shorter. I don’t know. Most of the older stuff is still linked in the tag cloud to the right, including Beans of Fame from 2017.
MTK, as we used to write in the news biz.
Sunset and Cabezon through wildfire smoke from Arizona, New Mexico and Navajo Nation. Photographed across the Rio Grande from Placitas, June 30, 2020. Had to use my little Canon Powershot SX740 HS. I seldom use anything but my iPhone, except for birds, but the iPhone couldn’t seem to handle all the smoke.
