The morning of the snow, this little loggerhead shrike was calling from a bare tree just outside Spring Creek Basin (the dark band in the background is the rimrock that forms the basin’s western boundary). The cold didn’t seem to bother him/her much, and s/he allowed me to approach fairly closely to capture his/her lovely portrait.
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Happy Earth Day! More than ever, we need to cherish, protect and honor our planet.
I *adore* kestrels.
These pix all are significantly cropped, and as previously mentioned, I am no bird photographer! But wow. I’m extremely grateful to this extraordinarily handsome gentleman for perching close enough and giving me enough time to get several sharp shots before he took off (he dodged off to the (my) right, despite the fact that he launched first to the left).
I mean … I *ADORE* kestrels!
Just ask Kestrel. 🙂
Looking in the opposite direction of Thursday’s post (and with a peek of sunshine), Terra ambles after the band, grazing along the way. That background is dramatic in its own, very different way!
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Can’t believe I forgot in the busy-ness of the past week and scheduling posts, but happy Easter, everyone! And particular congratulations to mama Savanna (not a mustang, not in the basin) on her own beautiful new precious baby girl. 🙂
Tenaz may look surprised by the sudden snow blanketing his previously very brown world … but really, he was looking down the ridge at another stallion.
We got about an inch and a half of the good, white wet stuff before it all soaked into the ground, leaving it as brown as before … but nicely more damp. 🙂
Mariah does the mosey-graze along the edge of a hill that drops down to the Spring Creek arroyo. That’s Knife Edge looking dramatic in the background.
This was two evenings ago.
Last night, we had a couple of waves of over-too-soon rain (I’m not kidding; the first wave lasted about three minutes, and the second lasted about eight minutes). At least the top layer of dust was dampened.
More, please!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhh. Another golden-glorious evening in Spring Creek Basin. Peace brought to you courtesy of Shane and Odin.
No height is unachievable by Spring Creek Basin’s mustangs. 🙂 This is Buckeye, and he and the band weren’t actually too high up the base of Knife Edge. But the steepness of the slope still gave him reason to carefully pick his way down among the little rocks as he searched out green goodness.
It’s been about a week and a half now since I took this (and many more) pic of Winona with a storm clearing and swirling above Utah’s La Sal Mountains on the northwestern horizon. The day was *gorgeous*.
It’s a good thing those mountains and Colorado’s have snow … but it’s not a lot. It’s less day by day. And none of that snow reaches Spring Creek Basin. Not even Disappointment Creek, which has had only sporadically running water so far this year, is doing very well (and it doesn’t run through Spring Creek Basin at all).
The view is gorgeous, but the outlook for this summer is grim.
Magical Maiku.
