Professional killers: you know you love them (3 avian, 1 mammal)

From today at the Arizon-Sonora Desert Museum (in Tucson, AZ)

And yes, it's the COOLEST PLACE EVER (& less than $15!).

Gray hawk (Buteo nitidus) 

All raptor shots taken during the Raptor Free Flight show.

Barn owl (Tyto alba) 

Harris's hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus),

blooming ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) in background.

Apparently Harris's hawks frequently hunt in packs (2 or 3 family members).

By the way, on sheer looks alone, I decided years ago this was my favorite hawk. 

Now that I know they hunt cooperatively, they're not just another pretty face. =)

Mountain lion (Puma concolor).

It was about 10 minutes after we saw this individual

move to its more cave-like location

that I realized that during its entire route,

it didn't make a single sound.

None.

Professional killers--

SO good at what they do.

=)

And anything that can survive Homo sapiens impresses me.

What you don't want to see, stumbling in the dark toward the bathroom at 3 a.m.:

Nice kitty.

=)

These were all exciting, beautiful, complex, amazing creatures.

I feel SO privileged that I got to see them so closely.

Today was a fabulous day!

xoxobb

office: summer 2007, wordless

snow art emergency

I can't not post these, even though I want more photo quiz guesses (see last post).

But, it SNOWED last night. And I want to share these NOW:

 snow + asphalt = art

bunny + tire tracks

Birdy photo quiz: 2 pretty easy, 1 goofy

In the spirit of "listing" wildlife I've seen this year, a quiz

from the photos I took at Merced NWR (California) last month:

Bird #1: who am I?

(western) bluebird of happiness + deer buns

Western bluebird, chillin'.

steller's jay wow; to list, or not to list -- do tell

Steller's Jay, handsoming.

Can you imagine being that gorgeous all the time?!?

Much less first thing in the morning. Woah.

Here, you can barely see the gorgeous & totally unnecessary glowing-blue eyebrow.

An embarrassment of riches.

Am considering tracking (and posting, natch) all the bird species

I photograph this year, since I have a telephoto lens, now.

Maybe birds & mammals. hm...

FYI, Birdchick is doing a digiscoping Big Half Year

as a fund raiser (track her progress on flickr--awesome shots!).

However, I'm so not a lister. Super easily bored. Tedium terrifies.

Maybe I could post a shot now and then, label it,

then count them all up at the end of the year.

Yeah, I can probably do that.

To list, or not to list:

are YOU a lister of any sort?

If you are not, do you feel you should be?

Please share.

I have list-less guilt.

But, I'll get over it. Probably.

xoxobb

nice buns! gorgeous bobcat strolls past

I am such a nerd, I tweeted this photo

to Jillian Michaels and her podcast producer, Janice Ungaro,

Silent Sunday

pretending it's spring

Read a blog post recently that recommended growing things indoors,

from kitchen scraps, just to brighten things up while we wait for spring.

So, I planted a few cloves of garlic.

And today, saw THIS!!!

Woo-hoo! So, my 1st garlic plant is coming up.

 It worked: I'm now stoked.

So, I highly recommend it.

Even if you never end up eating anything that you grow.

Tho' I bet you'll eat some of it.

=)

xobb

You can take the girl out of the field...

Grace Kelly would never do this.

A year ago I got a lagniappe (gift-with-purchase):

a small, black sequined purse.

Having no idea what to do w/it,

I flung it into my closet.

6 months later, at an REI sidewalk sale,

I got a fabulous deal on some bomber boots. 

And when I got home, flung those pups into the closet.

I only just noticed today, another 6 months later,

that I'd CRUSHED this tiny, delicate, evening clutch

with my gigantic, lug soled, all-leather (not light) boots.

*sigh*

Conclusions

Phriday photo, photo quiz answer, & bird ID CORRECTION

Winter wall, Yosemite Falls.

1. 'Cause I just want to look at something else.

2. The photo quiz (shot in Joshua Tree NP):

male