A native of southern Eurasia, the Chukar was introduced into the United States from Pakistan to be a game bird. It lives in arid, rocky terrain across the western United States and southern Canada.
This beautiful bird is in the pheasant family Phasianidae.
It has been considered to form a superspecies complex along with the rock partridge, Philby’s partridge and Przevalski’s partridge and treated in the past as conspecific particularly with the first. This partridge has well marked black and white bars on the flanks and a black band running from the forehead across the eye and running down the head to form a necklace that encloses a white throat. The species has been introduced into many other places and feral populations have established themselves in parts of North America and New Zealand.
The one seen in Los Alamos New Mexico is thought to have been released into the State from a breeding farm.
Yes this is another departure from Circumnavigation of Australia, but I decided to post this picture taken just a few miles from home. Coopers Hawks build a nest in this tree every year. Last year there were 5 babies, and this year there are four. The tree doesn’t look very healthy, so I don’t know what will happen next year. While I was taking pictures the Mother flew in to feed the babies, so we got to see them eat. We have seen last years Coopers hawk babies in our yard, one time one was trying to carry off a bird! He dropped it at first but I think came back to get it.
Since we have lots of bird feeders in our yard we aren’t always happy to see a hawk in the yard.
THe Hummingbirds can’t get to the feeders because the bees are taking over! Only two pictured here, sometimes they are stacked several bees thick!! I have numerous hummingbird feeders hanging in my backyard, and the bees seem to gather on them at this time of year.
The bees are also on the sunflowers.
Pictures taken with my Nikon 1 V1, never seem to get it to focus on what I want it to!!
Did you miss viewing the Solar Eclipse?
May 20, 2012 there was a Solar Eclipse that was visible from NM. What an exciting event! The Albuquerque area was rated as one of the best Urban area in which to observe it. I was positioned on a hill in Rio Rancho and had perfect visibility.
Here are samples of that exciting event.
I hope you enjoy my slide show of the pictures that I took of the entire Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012-
I got these pictures with a Nikon1 V1 before the rain turned to snow!
The apricot trees are blooming as well as the Nectarine, Cherries, Plums and some Apple trees. With a snow storm at this late date the blossoms are often frozen, which means another year of no fruit. That is life in the high desert at 7000 ft, in New Mexico! BUT it is a wonderful place to live, and a very popular place to visit as we are only 35 miles from Santa Fe, once voted the most desirable place to visit in the world by Conde Nast. Happy Spring to you, and very soon Happy Easter!
I like to find time in my day to stop and smell the roses in my own back yard, and of course I have to take pictures of them and the other flowers blooming at this time. Gladioli (Gladiolus sp..
The roadrunner was designated the official state bird of New Mexico in 1949. Also called the chaparral bird, the roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) meaning “Californian Earth-cuckoo,” is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. and inhabits desert and shrubby country in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Although a roadrunner is capable of flight, it spends most of the time on the ground, running at speeds of 15 miles per hour (or more) to catch its prey (insects, small reptiles, rodents, tarantulas, scorpions and small birds). The Hopi and Pueblo Indian tribes believed that the roadrunner provided protection against evil spirits.
The name roadrunner comes from the bird’s habit of racing down roads in front of moving vehicles and then darting to safety in the brush.
Habitat
The Greater Roadrunner nests on a platform of sticks low in a cactus or a bush and lays 3–6 eggs, which hatch in 20 days. The chicks fledge in another 18 days. Pairs may occasionally rear a second brood.
Greater Roadrunners measure 61 cm (2 feet) in length, about half of which is tail. They have long, wobbly legs and a slender, pointed bill. The upper body is mostly brown with black streaks and sometimes pink spots. The neck and upper breast are white or pale brown with dark brown streaks, and the belly is white. A crest of brown feathers sticks up on the head, and a bare patch of orange and blue skin lies behind each eye; the blue is replaced by white in adult males (except the blue adjacent to the eye), and the orange (to the rear) is often hidden by feathers.
This bird walks around rapidly, running down prey. It mainly feeds on insects, fruit and seeds with the addition of small reptiles, including snakes, small mammals, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, small birds, their eggs, and carrion, including roadkills. It kills larger prey with a blow from the beak—hitting the base of the neck of small mammals—or by holding it in the beak and beating it against a rock. Two roadrunners sometimes attack a relatively big snake cooperatively.
Although capable of weak flight, it spends most of its time on the ground, and can run at speeds of up to 26 miles per hour (42 km/h). This is the fastest running speed ever clocked for flying birds, although it is not nearly as fast as the flightless Ostrich.
Today in Los Alamos. The areas shown behind the houses, the High School and the UNM Branch Campus were burned in the 2000 fire, but are now burning again. The Fire Chief said that this is an unusual fire! Smoke from these areas increased the amount of smoke in Los Alamos –Will we have to leave again?
The Las Conchas Fire was a wildfire in New Mexico, USA, in 2011. The fire started in Santa Fe National Forest and burned more than 150,000 acres… Whikipedia
Have any of you ever had to evacuate your home? It is a scary proposition, and not fully understood until one has to do it. Many thoughts come to you when you can’t return to your home;
-Did I get all my pictures, my Grandmother’s Quilt?, Did I get all my jewelry? Do I have enough clothes since I don’t know how long I will have to stay away from home? etc., etc.
Meanwhile we watch the TV news and check out the internet for the latest news on the internet.
It is great living in the mountains, but the threat of forest fires is something we have to live with just like others live with the threat of floods and /or tornadoes, or anything Mother Nature throws at us.
!Smoke over my house from the fire Sunday evening
Las Conchas Wildfire – June 27 11:30 am – New Acreage Figures
Posted on June 27, 2011 by lmlujan
June 27, 2011 at 11 a.m.
LAS CONCHAS WILDFIRE UPDATE
Fire Name: Las Conchas
Time/Date Started: 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, 2011
Location: Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest; approximately 3 miles south of Los Alamos. The fire started on private land off of NM 4 at mile marker 35.
Legal Description: T18N, R4E, SEC 4
Cause: Unknown, under investigation
Fuels: Mixed Conifer, Ponderosa Pine
Size: 43,624 acres (a map of the fire is attached).
The increase in size is due to extreme fire behavior associated with prolonged drought, red flag conditions and better mapping. Last night’s infrared flight confirmed the acreage this morning. The data from the infrared flight detects heat on the ground and that is how we determine fire size. Although the fire has moved through the area, the severity of the fire area has not been determined. Some areas may have burned hotter than others. Fires often have areas that lightly burn as well as areas where the fire burns more severely. The fire also moved east toward old fire scars.
% Contained: 0
Resources Committed: Joe S. Reinarz’ Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered. Seven Hotshot crews (Type 1 crews), 12 Type 2 Crews, 7 engines, and 20 aircraft (12 air tankers and 8 helicopters). Numerous resources on-scene and more are en route. In fire management we all work together. We are working with local, state and federal agencies.
Weather: Today’s weather: mostly sunny in the morning then partly cloudy with a slight chance of dry thunderstorms in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation: 10 percent. Max temperatures: 80-84 degrees. Relative humidity: 10-15 percent. North winds 6 to 10 mph with gusts up to 16 mph diminishing through sunrise. Winds will shift to the southwest by late morning and increase to 12 to 18 mph with gusts up to 25 mph by late afternoon. Gusty and erratic winds expected near thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Structures/threats: Structures, powerlines, natural gas lines, Bandelier National Monument and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The fire has not entered lab property.
Evacuations: Cochiti Mesa, Las Conchas, Bandelier National Monument, and campgrounds near the fire were evacuated yesterday.
Playing with HDR
The new Photoshop CS5 includes a great update to HDR imaging the new HDR Pro feature.
Training in using all the new updates available from NAPP, http://www.photoshopuser.com
and Kelby Training. http://www.kelbytraining.com/online/classes.html
NIK Software also has a new HDR Efex Pro.
NIK also has great training to get one up to date with all of their software. www.niksoftware.com
Yes! New Mexico is Enchanted
Click on Black Mesa to see more NM scenes.
Welcome To
The Land of Enchantment
New Mexico is truly an enchanted place. Explore everything our state has to offer – from breathtaking sunsets to fabulous local cuisine, New Mexico has it all. Whether you are a citizen, visitor or have a business in our state, you can find the information you need in the state’s official online portal – NewMexico.Gov
