Just as I reached the top of the hill, Buckeye’s band was approaching the trail, about to head down to water. Rowan was waiting for Aiyanna and Buckeye to catch up, and Dundee already had gone ahead.
Mustangs are mostly on the same page, but there are always the ones who lag. 🙂
You don’t mind more eagle pix, do you?? 🙂
I saw TWO bald eagles that day (about a week ago now), as well as two golden eagles or juvenile bald eagles; I didn’t have my binoculars then, and I couldn’t tell from a distance. When I went back much later with my big gun (as opposed to my wimpy phone), one bald eagle was in that tree, which seems to be the favorite tree (and why not, with that perfect stick, err, branch?).
Non-moisture-bearing clouds were overhead, but in the distance, a bit of sunlight was shining on Utah’s La Sal Mountains. Bit of a messy cottonwood foreground, but you get the idea. 🙂 (Who spotted the raven doing a photobomb flyby in the middle background?)
This is a strange image, I know, but I was zoomed in as I initially scrolled through the pix on the computer (culling out-of-focus ones), and when this pic came up, it was cropped like that, and I liked it. 🙂 To each, their own, eh?
A more typical eagle-launch image. Too bad s/he flew away from me, but it was warm-ish, critters were out, and eagle had other fish to fry (not in dry Disappointment Creek, though) and things to do!
Wow, do I love seeing them. 🙂
(The title is a reference to a phrase I sometimes see about “bird-on-a-stick” pix: portrait shots of birds perched on branches. As a non-bird photographer, I figure I haven’t yet gotten bored with shooting birds or raptors of any kind on sticks or branches of any kind!)
Pretty Aiyanna stopped in just the right place to show off the big, complementarily colored (!) boulders at the base of Filly Peak on New Year’s Day. … Notice the piñon tree growing between the two boulders behind her. It doesn’t look super healthy, but that’s probably more the ongoing drought than having sprouted up between two giant sandstones. Still, pretty cool … and it makes you (OK, at least me) wonder about the eons of history there.
I tell Chipeta all the time (well, when I’m with her) that she really can’t hide. She’s too much of a standout!
Plus, she’s the only pinto in her band of greys. 🙂
It doesn’t stop her from trying (to hide) … and it doesn’t stop me from trying to get creative in “finding” her!
Oh, I just adore this little guy.
None of the pintos are very big (even in comparison to the other not-so-big mustangs), but they all have big personalities (and not just the pintos!).
A deep blue dry winter sky highlights both Temple and Temple Butte and McKenna Peak behind her. All in alignment as we kick off the new year.
Speaking of “alignments,” if you haven’t seen somewhere that the Year of the Fire Horse is upon us in the Chinese calendar, you might not be up to date on all the data that’s data to be seen, according to your phones and/or social media and/or whatever algorithms are at work (!). It starts Feb. 17, and according to Google’s AI feature, it symbolizes “intense energy, passion, and transformation, following the previous Wood Horse in 2014. People born in Horse years are often seen as independent, adventurous, strong, and enthusiastic, embodying the animal’s spirit of freedom, vitality, and perseverance, making these years auspicious for bold action and new growth.”
I’m pretty sure I was born in the wrong year; sorry, Mom and Dad. 🙂 That said, I think one of my grandmothers (the horsey one) WAS born in a year of the horse, so I’ll blame her – err, claim her – for my incredibly horse-like traits!
I’ll try to find more information about this exciting development for horse lovers as the start of that zodiac calendar begins. We sure have a lot of models to illustrate all the ways mustangs embody the above!
Kind-eyed Seneca indulges me with a look while her band mates browse back (way back!) at the end of last year and way back deep in Spring Creek Basin.
Miss Bia, looking lovely in the layers and snow. 🙂
(Note: At this point, the snow has been gone for several days, but I wanted to post a few mustang images taking advantage of the little snow we had! After this morning, though, the blog will return to current conditions, which is to say, NO snow.)
Odin. Odalicious. Oh-delicious!
Get it? 🙂
What a handsome youngster.
Kestrel is ready for the snow, but she’s giving me a look that seems to wonder whether *I* am ready for the snow. In fairness, she lives there, but I had a bit of a distance to cover to get out to the main county road.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 