more from Bosque del Apache NWR

Clouds at sunset. There were beautiful sunsets while we were down in New Mexico. The wind stirred up the clouds into interesting patterns. We have had snow in the past couple of days with some days in the 50's thrown in to give one hope that spring is coming! Went around the garden looking for signs of green shoots and did find some pansies trying to come back and a couple other hints of green.

Happy Valentine's

We have a pink flower for Valentine's Day, a hydrangea. A flower from the summer's bounty. It's always fun to make Valentine's, I was cutting out hearts for my grandaughters this morning. One site that is always fun to look at for any holiday is Marilyn Scott -Waters -The Toymaker. http://www.thetoymaker.com/Holidays/Valentines/1Valentines.html She always has wonderful quotes, too, here is one. "The secret of love is that it is a gift, and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away."~ Kent Nerburn

sandhill cranes at moon set

The moon was full January 22nd, this picture was taken early morning Jan 23rd. The full moon was setting as we watched the birds take off to go feed in the fields. It was neat to see the birds fly and the moon set. If you can't tell, I had fun taking pictures down in New Mexico! I keep waiting for things to warm up here in Colorado. It's supposed to be in the 50's today, but so far there is just a big cloud in the way of the sun. In Colorado, the saying goes "give it 10 minutes and the weather will change", I hope so!

goose, geese, cranes

In the shallow pond where the snow geese gather to take off in mass, the sandhill cranes make an almost perfect line across the back of the group. It reminded me of the kids game, duck, duck, goose, instead it is goose, geese, cranes!

A different take on the big blue marble

A straight forward shot of the marsh area at Bosque del Apache becomes a mandala of blue water in a sea of blue sky, with a touch of shore and trees on the edge and a dry plant in the forground creating the center patern. I'm still having fun with circles! and always on the lookout for circular things. Tonight I was watching a program on King Arthur - one of the items shown was the Round Table. Of course it wasn't the real one because Arthurian times were in the 6th century, the table carbon tested as 13th century and the picture of Arthur on the table had the face of Henry VIII! Perhaps he fancied himself as the re-awakened Arthur. The re-writing of history!

snow geese original

The snow geese gathered in a shallow pond prior to takeoff. The darker colored goose is a snow goose called a 'blue morph'.

more snow geese

Snowgeese gathering!