With those you love, celebrate, today and all days.
******
Breaking news! Disappointment Valley got about FOUR INCHES of snow yesterday (less or more, depending on elevation)!
This was no little wave, and there was nothing light and fluffy about it – wet, heavy, snow-wo/man-building snow!
A second, bigger, longer-lasting wave is coming today through Wednesday, says the forecasters. Then coooollllldddd!
And just like that, it was time for the evening trek to water, which the horses found trickling sweetly though the bottom of an arroyo. The boys are always the last to know. 🙂
Realistically, we’re probably closer to the latter end of winter than the middle, but we’re optimistic for more snow! This is a current view of Spring Creek Basin and Disappointment Valley beyond to Utah’s La Sal Mountains. It’s fabulous to see the peaks capped in pristine white. Those nearby patches of snow are keeping the basin pretty soggy, which is valuable for the soil and vegetation … and we’re hoping for another dose of white stuff this coming week.
Kestrel is plump and fuzzy and ready for whatever Mother Nature brings.
… in all that white!
What a little pudge is Mr. Maiku! Bundled up and perfectly warm for little snowfalls.
Skywalker is almost camouflaged in all that white. … But isn’t it interesting how he also seems to stand out!
Winona soaks up the sunshine while the snow clouds linger over McKenna Peak and Temple Butte.
It felt much warmer than it looks!
All that lovely snow is gone now (well, most of it, and especially in the scene seen here), but it’s too hard and too damaging to try to get in Spring Creek Basin in the mud, so for the next few days, at least, enjoy these scenes of winter white!
Corazon and his band were grazing when I first saw them up a hill in the northwestern area of the basin. By the time I trundled up to them, that ol’ Colorado sunshine was starting to melt the snow (and the trees’ roots were slurping it up thirstily!), and the horses were napping in the bright warmth.
If Punxsutawney Phil lived in Colorado, I imagine he’d see his shadow on most Groundhog Days (and the marmots at our Groundhog reservoir (a few thousand feet higher than Spring Creek Basin and snowed in) surely see theirs!). With his still-fuzzy coat, Corazon is not at all worried about six more weeks of winter … and we’re still hoping for more snow!
Our tan world got very white again yesterday morning! It was a snowfall of about an inch, and much of it melted during the day, that liquid goodness seeping into the soil – and into the catchment tanks. The last time I was at the first new catchment, water from the melting snow was gurgling noisily from the roof to the gutter and down the pipes into the tanks. What an absolutely MARVELOUS sound!
Tenaz may have been watching the clouds swirl around McKenna Peak and Temple Butte and the far eastern and southeastern ridges, but he was the star of the show to me.
The most positive identification I can give for the raptors pictured above is that they are eagles. I *think* the top one might be a juvenile bald eagle, and I *think* the bottom bird might be a juvenile golden eagle. Adults of both species were present but had flown away before I stopped to photograph these individuals. They were perched on branches of a cottonwood tree above Disappointment Creek in Disappointment Valley. A dead deer wasn’t far away, and in addition to the eagles, magpies and ravens were johnny on the spot to clean it up (which they did in a day or less).
The sharpness definitely leaves a lot to be desired, but I wasn’t too close, and this is a heavy crop of the original image. In my own defense, I never claimed to be a bird photographer. 🙂
We have golden eagles here year-round, but the bald eagles are winter visitors. In the last several years, seeing the balds has become less frequent. They’re more frequently seen along the Dolores River and in the Norwood area.
** Particular thanks to the late Wilma Bankston for the title of this post, which is the title of her book, “Where Eagles Winter: History and Legend of the Disappointment Country,” about the early settler days of Disappointment Valley.
Doesn’t he look great? Hollywood is one of our elder stallions now – about 21 this year, if my original guess about his age when we first met was right. The last couple of years, he was looking a little lean. He doesn’t have a lieutenant, which probably contributes to his good condition. He and his band of lovely ladies do wander quite a lot. I may know relatively where to look for and find many of the other bands at any given time, but it’s always a wonder where Holls will be.
I’m really happy to see him looking so good. He may be the oldest band stallion in the basin now, but he also has one of the biggest bands!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 