Posts Tagged ‘La Cieneguilla’
Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up — February 17-20
Dunno what you two want; but, I’m waiting for lunch
Warmer temperatures and lack of snow in parts of North America are setting the stage for what could be a most intriguing 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count coming up Feb. 17-20.
Bird watchers across the United States and Canada are getting ready to tally millions of birds in the annual count coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.
In past counts, participants were most likely to report American robins in areas without snow. Will more robins be seen farther north this year? Will some birds, such as Eastern Phoebes, begin their migrations earlier? And where will the “Harry Potter” owl turn up next? Snowy owls have dazzled spectators as these Arctic birds have ventured south in unusual numbers this winter — an unpredictable occurrence that experts believe is related more to the availability of food than to weather…
Participants count birds at any location they wish for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, then enter their tallies at birdcount.org. Anyone can participate in the free event, and no registration is required.
Last year, participants submitted more than 92,000 checklists with more than 11 million bird observations. These data capture a picture of how bird populations are changing across the continent year after year — a feat that would be impossible without the help of tens of thousands of participants.
“This is a very detailed snapshot of continental bird distribution,” said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Imagine scientists 250 years from now being able to compare these data with their own..?
Visit birdcount.org to learn more about how to join the count, get bird ID tips, downloadable instructions and more. The count also includes a photo contest and a prize drawing for participants who enter at least one bird checklist online.
It’s fun to log back in a few days after all the info is online to compare changes, see what other folks in your region have posted. We now have redwing blackbirds wintering over, experienced the din of returning robins earlier than ever this week, saw Canadian geese heading north last week.
Winter sunset, Siberian elm
Sitting in the living room watching what passes for local news – and turned, looked out the courtyard doors to the sunset – and realized what a lovely crisp composition there was with the silhouette of a Siberian elm against the mackerel sky.
Took a number of photos – didn’t even take time to throw on a sweater – and this is our favorite.
Smile – you’re on candid camera!
Click on photo to enlarge
Spotted this little dude just as we set off for our first walk of the morning. Cold and crisp temperatures, daunting to folks who aren’t fur-bearing.
December sunrise
Click photo to enlarge.
One of the delights of living in high desert country is the frequency of beautiful sunsets and sunrises. This was this morning.
Dark valley, distant mountains
Click photo to enlarge
We were out for a walk just before sunrise, this morning, and turned along the bosque while the sunrise was catching the Ortiz mountains on the left – and Sandia Crest to the right about 50 miles away – while La Cieneguilla was still in late dawnlight.
My new pocket camera has a pretty solid 16X optical zoom – which would have been much sharper if I had my monopod along to shoot the Sandia photo at a slow speed.
In all, still a lovely autumn morning. Overnight rain here in the valley, snow on the mountains.
Test pic – again
Yes, I changed cameras, again.
Good old Amazon’s exchange/return policy comes to the rescue.
I was less and less happy with the Canon I bought a couple of weeks ago. One of the oldest truisms in photography still holds, e.g., the quality of the lens is most important. So, as pissed off as I am at Panasonic about their battery protocols, I still want a camera in my pocket that takes the best quality for the price.
I returned the Canon and bought a Panasonic ZS8. $70 lower price. 16X zoom. It fits fine in my pocket. And as far as I’m concerned, the image quality with the Leica lens is lightyears ahead of the Canon.
BTW – I wasn’t trying for depth of field. That was taken at a 500th/second.
Sunrise after a stormy night
Taken while experimenting with a new pocket camera – Canon Powershot SX230HS. My old reliable Panasonic became old and unreliable. And I refuse to buy another camera from a company that inserts matching chips into camera and batteries that only allow their own overpriced batteries to be used.
Software in the Canon seems OK, so far. I’ve only been using it a day or so. I think the Leica lens in the Panny was probably better.
A morning shot looking South – after a few days and nights of rain and scattered showers. Amazing how verdant our landscape looks after a bit of precipitation. We’re up to about 4.5″ YTD. Woo hoo!
Killer releases his son after SWAT standoff, kills himself
The scene at sunrise this morning – Soto’s SUV at the right
Update 5:10 a.m.: César Meléndez, the 5-year-old boy abducted by his father Tuesday after a shooting in southwest Santa Fe is safe and in the custody of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
His father, 39-year-old, José Meléndez-Trillo, was located shortly after midnight Wednesday morning and, after a short police pursuit in southwest Santa Fe, barricaded himself and the boy in a 1997 Ford Expedition off County Road 56 west of the Santa Fe Municipal Airport.
After about a four-hour standoff with police, Meléndez-Trillo released the boy and immediately turned a gun on himself around 4 a.m., according to Sheriff’s Office Lt. Adan Mendoza. Police fired no shots and Mendoza credited all local law-enforcement for their assistance with the case.
Update 12:54 a.m.: Lt. Adan Mendoza of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the suspect in Tuesday’s fatal shooting, José Meléndez-Trillo, has been found off County Road 56 west of the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, and officers are negotiating the release of his 5-year-old-son. Mendoza said the man and his son are in a vehicle, but could not elaborate.
The road toward La Cienega was blocked off at Huey Road, one mile west of N.M. 599. By 1 a.m. members of the Santa Fe Police Department’s SWAT team were beginning to assemble near the scene. One officer said Meléndez-Trillo was still armed and officers were in the process of moving the road block east to N.M. 599.
RTFA. This is why we didn’t get any sleep, last night. It all happened just beyond the bosque behind our home.
We were woken by the sirens of the cars chasing Soto down county road 56 just a tad before midnight. By the time I’d run out into the courtyard they were stopped – you could hear him shouting “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Yo soy an Americano.”
I went back into the house to get shoes on – and as I came back out the scene moved to the petroglyphs parking area a couple hundreds further south – on the west side of the road.
The coppers were superb, professional – especially whoever was in charge of trying to talk Soto out of his Ford Expedition over a loudspeaker. In very good Spanish with an Anglo accent.
He kept ask “Señor Soto” to release his niño – tried to get him to call a phone number which I presume was the officer’s cellphone so they might negotiate. I have no idea if that ever worked.
Around 4AM we heard the shot which must have been Soto killing himself – after releasing his little boy.
Cholla – just beginning to blossom
Click pic to enlarge
The first two blossoms on one of my favorite chollas out in the back meadow by the bosque.
After a long dry winter and a matching spring – courtesy of La Niña – our high desert flowers have been sparse and late. This cholla is several feet high and often has nests from a few pairs of prairie birds; so, I tend to leave it undisturbed except when I can’t resist capturing a few snaps of its brilliant flowers.
You can see another dozen or so buds in the same frame – ready to explode in the coming week.
Spring arrives in the bosque
We have been moving through the slowest arrival of springtime in decades here in La Cieneguilla. The trees and willow brush down in the bosque of the Santa Fe River are just turning to leaves and green.
