the sun chased the moon away

Woke up early 5 am and watched the end of mostly Marta, This great german film about a chef, her niece and a little romance with another chef. I watch it every time I come down here.

I fell asleep last night before it was over.

I was out the door by 6 and the sun was just coming up by the time I hit the hill.

The moon was so full and lovely that I just had to try and get a few shots until it faded into the horizon.

I passed the big rocks where the honey bees have their hive and saw three honeycombs. No bees yet. so tomorrow morning am going to get a few pictures of the combs hanging down in their rock crevice before the bees wake up.

(Maybe get a tiny piece

of honey comb too).

The dove gave a gift of a shot in silhouette with the sunrise in the background. Thank you Dove. Thank you sun.

I went over the hill and saw the Great Horned owl. He/she (How does one know how to tell the sex of an owl) looked as if he/she were settling in for the day in a tree. It is really amazing how well they blend in so that you could walk right by them and not see them.

I got lucky and worked my way around until I could get a clear shot with no branches in the way.

It gave me a look of "You had better have brought me coffee if you plan on waking me up" I had to laugh. It was a good shot I think.

Then while hunting some small twitterings in the bush I looked up and saw

the

Phainopepla.

I tried to follow

it for

awhile. It is fast and shy and is hard to photograph.

I love its black hood and red eyes and its wings have a white fan underneath when

it flies. I persisted until, once again, I got lucky

and got a shot. (for every picture that you see I took ten to get a good shot)

The fence was easy as it doesn't run/fly away when you get close to it. Only part of the fence/wall is wood. (one shot only)

where it crosses the wash so that the water during the rains can pass

through unhindered.

I saw a feather in the ground

and wondered

what bird it came from

the doves are everywhere and

their wings whistle when they fly by. they make a lovely cooing sound if a little sad.