this morning at Fish Lake.
This juvenile owl...
is really going to enjoy the water sprayer I’ve configured in the trees today, having watched it hopping around in the sprinkler yesterday like a little kid, wings spread wide. It was 100° F with similar temperatures forecast for today and tomorrow, and what youngster wouldn’t enjoy the water?
Juvenile Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) in the direct morning light, patiently waiting to play in the sprinkler.
Now nearly noon with rapidly warming temperatures, this youngster took refuge in a deeply shaded corner of my shed roof, wondering what time the pool opens.
Success! Happy owls enjoying a cool shower. They’ve both lingered within the spray for several hours throughout the hot afternoon.
Washed, dried and fluffed at the end of another hot day.
My marmot friends...
are increasingly habituated to my morning visits and are consequently pretty relaxed, this one clearly enjoying basking in the early sun despite my close proximity.
Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris).
Mid-day bonus: A pair of well-camouflaged owls, an adult (L) and a juvenile (R), lurking in the ponderosas near the birdbath on a hot afternoon.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).
Laser focused on my position...
there’s no sneaking closer to this big bird hanging out in the ponderosa pine trees around my house.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). (Click on image to enlarge.)
More marmot mugshots...
Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris).
Elsewhere in the wetlands this morning…
Yellow-pine chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus).
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).
Fifty-three years ago today...
humans first landed on the Moon, with Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin being the first men to walk on another body in the solar system. It was only 66 years from Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base, and now, sadly, 50 years since man last walked on the Moon with Apollo 17.
Apollo 11 Hasselblad photo AS11-40-5875 showing astronaut Buzz Aldrin at Tranquility Base.
Ripply reflection...
on Minnie Creek this morning, plus a bonus macro shot of monkeyflower, both captured in the soft light of dawn.
Common yellow monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata, formerly Mimulus guttatus).
Marmot motel...
with a balcony view in the basalt outcrops along the Fish Lake Trail.
Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris).
A pod of preening pelicans...
in the wetlands early this morning, huddled together in a sunny spot.
American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos).
A mysterious rock stacker...
has been creatively at work along the Fish Lake Trail, assembling towers of carefully balanced basalt blocks.
Time to pump up...
the stand-up paddleboard and hit the lakes as temperatures rise.
Calm conditions on Fish Lake in the early evening.
Cosmic cliffs visualized...
in a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, among the first images released by NASA from the newly commissioned James Webb Space Telescope. Breathtaking.
Image by NASA/JWST.
Comparative image of same region from the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA).
A citrusy explosion...
in both form and scent can be found in the shaded parts of the wetlands where mock-orange is resplendent right now.
Mock-orange (Philadelphus coronarius).
An extraordinary life...
was celebrated yesterday, in memory of William Bond, who passed away in December 2021 in Spokane. Family and friends gathered at Luna restaurant in a festive remembrance of his remarkable life, summarized in this obituary written by his grandchildren.
William Charles Bond, 1940 - 2021, RIP.
William called the Dean of the College of Science at Eastern Washington University in the summer of 1998 asking to meet and have lunch with a member of the geology faculty to satisfy his interest and curiosity in earth science. He subsequently enrolled in a number of geology classes and various week-long regional field trips, and we became close friends ever since. I shall miss this fellow and feel richer for having known him.
I brake for turtles...
crossing the trail, even providing them some assistance getting to their destination. What a remarkably different environment this is in eastern Washington compared to where I was just days ago on the Colorado Plateau.
Western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) taking its sweet time crossing the Fish Lake trail.
A view of the verdant wetlands south of Cheney, Washington.
The early biker...
gets to enjoy the cool and calm morning air in Castle Valley. This is my last ride for a while as I flee northward from the coming heat of summer.
Duking it out...
with a dinosaur at the Bull Canyon Overlook and therapod track site high in the La Sal Mountains.
Local rock art guru Rory Tyler vs. Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Independence Day in Castle Valley...
is celebrated this year by a parade of fire engines, classic vehicles and personal tractors, followed by a community barbeque where 120+ residents attended the event. Small town USA at its best. Happy 246th birthday, America!
Self portrait...
at the end of a stormy afternoon with clearing skies, out on the trail, getting inspired.
More monsoonal moisture...
is falling in Castle Valley this afternoon. Glad I got in an early morning ride, though these storms don’t last long.
UPDATE 3 July 2022: Hardly a flash flood, but the arroyos in the upper part of Castle Valley have some water flowing in them the morning after the rainfall.
