Musings

My biggest excitement today was finding this critter trying to check out the garage. S/he had already crawled up a 4-inch “cliff” to reach the door sill, quite a feat for having a carapace approximately the diameter of a basketball! Dad coaxed her/him (well, prodded her/him with a stick) into a small plastic garbage can and I carried her/him across the road to the neighbors, since we figured s/he was headed for their ponds.

Later, Dad saved a painted turtle that was crusing down the center line of the road. Not a smart move on the turkel’s part!

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »

I’ve never seen anything quite like this garden critter—loved especially the beak detail/accuracy.

I’ve long valued winsomeness in garden decor, but never achieved it. The closest we currently have is the grotesque (gargoyle to some, inaccurately) that lives in shady (not very visible) places in the back yard. The next closest is the bench under the tree in the front yard, I guess. See, short list. And not at all inspired.

Mom gave the Guru the grotesque, because she, like many people, hadn’t a clue what to give him one year for his birthday. He really really doesn’t like it, hence its near-hidden residence(s).

Posted at 10:22 PM | 5 Comments »

Really, this is truly a “one that got away” shot (courtesy JCB).

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Fishing reality

Somebody must be quite attentive to this feeder as the number of sparrow-raiders is high and constant, and I have yet to catch it empty. It’s outside Mom’s new place….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Sparrow restaurant

I scared up the turkeys today (yes, there’s one in the center of the frame), and as I looped about, kept scaring them up. This is the only photo I took, but provides only minimal proof of the flock. I actually quit my walk early ’cause I was concerned about bothering them.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Turkey sightings!

Balmy and overcast, and I saw the twitching tails of two deer and this little guy (gal? critter?), which I almost stepped on, since s/he was stretched out in the mowed path and resembled a weed stalk or dried grass stem.

Posted at 8:02 PM | Comments Off on No shoulders

The snow reveals all.

Not quite all, but much. Yesterday we spotted the pair of turkeys that accelerated my heart rate several weeks ago when they flew out of trees forty feet above my head—flushed them in the back meadow. Today we saw their tracks many places, so we know they’re busy doing their guajalote business.

Other track-leaving species: white-tails, mice, and bun-buns (or are they hares?).

Posted at 12:55 PM | Comments Off on Snow tracks

Another cousin’s house, another turkey dinner, this time over by North Lake (there’ve got to be quite a few “North Lake”s, but this one down by…Chelsea!—again!). Enjoyed our walk around the neighborhood, finally enjoying this terrific weather….

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The Canada geese have been on the move for weeks, but this is the first photo I’ve gotten, with overcast skies leaving the birds as mere dark outlines….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Vees above

Okay, here’s the scene: we’re driving on the river road upstream from Gila, checking out its condition for next time. Conclusion: just barely passable in the present condition with our wee rental car. Returning to town, and the highway to El Paso (via Silver City and Deming), we saw this guy (?), and a partner. By the time we got stopped and dug out the big camera with the long lens, they were down in the dry arroyo below the road, and I got this shot.

So, what is it? My first impression, when they ran across the road was “goat,” because the horns didn’t curl. Then I checked the web, and I revised: “sheep,” since all the mountain goats look totally different. And when I checked out this high-res photo, I also saw the radio collar. So, is it a bighorn sheep? Or, possibly an imported Barbary sheep? Or?

My final conclusion: bighorn mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis)….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »