We left for MVNWR at 5:45am and by the time we got there, a lot of birds were in the sky. There were five other vehicles at the big lake, so chances to get great photos of the cranes in the water weren't that good. At the south end of the refuge, we could hear cranes but not see them.

It was a clear sky with just a few clouds at the horizon. Before sunrise the birds were leaving the lake and I loved taking photos with the pink sky behind them. But I think the best pictures of all, were from an odd glitch that made a series of "high key" images of the birds in flight.

Thanks for the challenge. This wasn't so easy for me. I finally decided I had good photos if only I changed the color of the water. :p

On our second time around the loop, we weren't in a hurry to get to the south end of the refuge, and I wanted to watch the geese.They were tuned in to each other and mostly moved in unison. Then they faced each other and I was pretty sure this was all part of their mating ritual.

Thanks for the challenge. I know you said it wouldn't work, but I wanted to try it and I liked it. ;) The only big tree on the refuge I think.

There was a lot of ice on the water, and there were quite a few birds besides the cranes. We saw Canada geese in pairs doing their rituals, ruddy ducks, canvasbacks and other ducks, blackbirds and bunnies.

With 23-35 mph winds & higher gusts it was a tough trip on the interstate. So I thought surely sandhill cranes would lay low. We drove the extra 30 miles over to MVNWR, and I was happy I had guessed correctly. There were hundreds of cranes in fields north of the refuge road at mid-morning.

Thanks for the challenge. I also made a 2-page version for my journal and my gallery, but had to move the border to get some of it out of the gutter. :p

The dawn was pretty and I saved a photo from our deck before we left. We expected snow and were happy we had dry roads for the trip home. It would be rainy but we could relax, so we decided to simplify the rest of our morning a little bit by stopping again at Notchtop.

I love to get lost in Jenn's fields of flowers.

I guess it's just a bunny thing.

Thanks for the challenge. I picked row 3: script paint & artistic paper

In the news, they mentioned a record 28,000 sandhill cranes in Nebraska this year. We had seen unseasonably warm days, but when I checked the weather at Alamosa, they were still having some very cold nights. I wasn't crazy about morning temps in the teens at the refuge for the coming week.

I couldn't go to the gallery, so I brought the gallery to us. I wasn't sure what the old people thought of the art, but the man reading the flyer was trying to understand what it was about. It was the art someone would make if they loved color and didn't have the patience for quilting.

Thanks for the challenge. I had already been working on a clock page. :p

For the first time, we watched two bunnies facing off. They would stare at each other and not move, then suddenly jump in the air and flip. We knew this was one of our first signs of spring and maybe pretty soon we'd be seeing those tiny bunnies again and cutting the tall green grass.

Thanks for the challenge. Photo is from 1981.

She's in the care of the Universe, and I believe everything happens for a reason. There were years and years of letting go. I loved the greenhouse window, the stainless steel sink, and how she would enjoy the running water while I was making supper in our small galley kitchen. If you already...

MARCH 2024 Challenge Layouts Links: Challenge 1: Creative Techniques https://oscraps.com/community/media/1-grunge-tree.389727/ Challenge 2: Heritage https://oscraps.com/community/media/2-kate-in-the-sink.389582/ Challenge 3: Border Only Challenge...