There was a high wind warning but we went to MVNWR anyway. A lot of birds had taken cover during the high wind warning, and the sun climbed quickly into thick clouds. But we still saw a nice variety, including a coot nestled in reeds that I liked, even if a pretty strange bird. A haboob later.

Love this challenge. I stretch and learn things. :D For the photo frame, I made the journal prompt huge and clipped my photo to it, then under it a copy with some of the paper showing, and then original size on the left.

At the turn, a lot of ducks were gathered together on the ice, close together, and several kinds, sharing a warm spot. After a few cloudy mornings, the sun was a welcome change, but it was still too cold to spend much time in the wind. The water and my fingers were iced over.

Beautiful. I love the lighting.

Gorgeous page as always and the perfect font. Love your take on the lift.

Thanks for the challenge. My page fell together for me as if my whole day evolved so I could make it. Or maybe it's just that Lynn's products have the magic built in. :D

Seeing the elk on the refuge was kind of heart-stopping because in all the time we visited, we had never seen them before.

Thank you for the challenge. I thought a lot about how my process doesn't usually make me think of an approach like I used here for the fonts. ;) Fonts are Pretty Garden Trio

He pushed her completely under and we thought she was dead. Then we saw maybe she dove and surfaced a few yards away. We hoped it was her. I had always been interested in the males fighting during spring mating season, but now we both knew we could never unsee this event.

Thanks for the challenge.

Wednesday was much nicer at the refuge without the fierce winds we'd been having, although only 8º F. The geese were scolding while I took photos of the sun coming up. I was in my happy place, and seeing that some sandhill cranes had not yet migrated north was a special treat.

Thanks for the challenge. Maya inspired me to mix some colorful and playful stuff with my photo. Michelle inspired me to go with as much white space as possible.

On Tuesday we stayed inside. The wind was fierce and it was cold. I thought it was a lot more like early March than early April. You commented on how much you enjoyed working on your photos in Photoshop, and were just so appreciative about all you had learned.

:cool: Wow! Thanks everyone. I so appreciate the encouragement.

Really got me thinking and digging through the old stuff. Thanks for the challenge. :D

The dry waterway at Alamosa gave me flashbacks to the time we hauled the RV all the way to Brown's Park only to find the NWR we'd visited in 2010 and 2011 was gone. A trailer jack came loose and broke, so no camping. A fourteen hour drive for one night of camping. No birds. Just lots of history.

We'll be back in June and July, and hoping it's all back to normal by then. It's been colder, more snow, and the gates might open any day. But I don't follow the court fights, so of course I'll worry a bit because I've seen other refuges have to quit taking their share, and so different from...

Thanks Claire for the challenge. ;)

The text block wouldn't work with this sketch for the challenge, so I've abbreviated my thought into a design element.

Thanks for the challenge. Has to be fantasy thinking with the snow we've had, to be putting flowers on my pages. :D