Just a page from my daily journal. I try to use everything as soon as I get it, discovering what I'm drawn to in each kit can be relaxing and always a surprise. Equally interesting, is what I skip over (like flowers), often because I don't connect with them or don't know yet how to use them to...

I tossed some oats on the sidewalk. They disappeared day after day, and finally I saw a robin in the sunshine, but he was gone by the time I grabbed my camera. Then two at once. Still too slow, but I think I am waiting for the perfect moment and enjoying the ones until then.

I loved the tree outside our 3rd floor window. The birds would stage on the hotel's roof and swoop in for some catkins. I didn't know all the birds, but lots of chickadees that were too fast for me, and the sparrows that stayed much longer. There were four at a time just before sunset.

With all of the unexpected sandhill cranes, it was our best trip ever for cold weather photography. Our usual room wasn't ready and the one we got had a tree in front of the window. We told the desk we liked it and they said they'd add that to our profile.

Thursday was our last day to visit the refuge, and it was much easier to count the 25 sandhill cranes that remained. We had a clear sky without a single cloud. With fewer birds, I was able to study the way the would lean forward, take a running step and lift off. I took dozens of photos.

Thanks for the challenge. I thought of how I made Stone stop at the tiniest pond on the refuge because I liked the fog lifting off the water. :p

Thanks Esther for this challenge! ;)

I'm just happy we're seeing cranes again this month, they're supposed to be farther north by now, but we feel very lucky to enjoy them. And inspired by Jen's Seeds of Love paper.

Thank you for the challenge! It was fun.

There were no avocets, but we parked facing the avocet island. And right away we noticed two white Leucistic Canada geese on the west point. Then a dusky Canada goose also caught our eye. This was the first time we spotted these, and there is only one in 30,000 birds.

Thanks for the challenge. The words to the poem I picked, brought up a lot of feels, which of course had to come out in my page. ;)

On two very windy days, we saw very few birds. Then on Tuesday it was calm weather again, and there were at least a thousand red-winged blackbirds on the reeds. They flew off when we stopped too close, and we were back to finding just one here and there singing for a mate.

Just found this.Thank you so much!

Thanks for the challenge. Twice a year we drive to the refuge. It's over 6 hours drive each way. ;)

On Tuesday I knew you were happy the instant you saw the cranes, and it was the start of a wonderful day. We saw about fifty birds, and we wondered what kept them weeks behind the main part of the northern migration. There were quite a few more birds there than on Monday.

We ran through a little bit of weather over La Veta Pass and then it was just windy but we had sun. So when I saw the low cloud over Green Ridge, I kept studying it. I didn't know what to think but that it was interesting and something I hadn't seen before at mid-morning on a windy day.

This was fun! Thanks Madi for the challenge.

The first thing we noticed when we got to the Alamosa refuge was a vast prescribed burn. There was plenty of flooding in the canals for the new growth. The highlight of our morning, besides a stroll along the Rio Grande River, was a meadowlark, our state bird, singing his heart out.

I like trying new things, and I couldn't make the frost sparkle on the sign but it was fun to see what I could do. Thanks, Susanne, for the challenge.