More than a month has gone by since my last entry, and while I was not paying attention, winter slipped in a few inches of snow today - actually, there was about 6 inches of snow.
The warmer weather has certainly rebounded in the last few days making morning temperatures acceptable (32°F) and afternoons most inviting (58°F). Little snow remains in the shadows and north-facing slopes - perhaps a foreshadowing of winter to come. A family of Red-winged Black Birds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were passing through on the very apropros morning of Halloween. These birds, somewhat unassuming, fly in a beautifully choreographed display of their black and orange wing patterns.
Trick or Treat was played out this week by an early storm that, accompanied by cold temperatures, dropped about five inches of snow locally, and up to ten inches at higher elevations. Walking up along the Forest Park trail, gently bending around snow covered boughs and over rocks that resemble white mushrooms, the dogs and I went as far as the shelter. Not a single set of tracks were revealed in the fresh snow, and only a few squaks of the Piñon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) gave any indication of life other than human and canine
The weather has changed direction, and now a distinct Fall coolness is in the air - an early morning rain storm at 7,000' MSL left a light dusting of snow along the crest-line of the Sandia Mountains.
An exciting morning with an unexpected meeting of dog and turkey. Wiley and Rennie (the dogs) and a flock of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) met head-to-head at the National Forest boudary along the Forest Park trail resulting in instaneous flight of 20 or more birds to the bottom of Lorenzo Canyon. A smaller group of trailing birds were herded through the forest by none other than MIss Rennie. Reunion occurred moments later in the few Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) that tower in the canyon bottom.
