I sorely missed the photos when I was too tired to set up the camera, and we started into the second week of April with it on again. There were lots of spring stories to note, especially about the broken glass, the check engine light, and the flowering crab sending out red leaves.

The camera was pointed more towards the sky than normal, so I captured a lot of bunny ears and squirrel tails, but hey! It doesn’t normally do well for the selfie shots. • The truck wouldn’t start. • Day #2 w my steps at the grocery store • You locked your keys in the truck • We...

On Thursday, our last day of the trip, it was snowing hard and there was black ice. We remembered how dangerous our trip home last year in this weather was, as a car went off the road. We waited for daylight. There was no snow at the refuge, and by afternoon there was sunshine.

We saw quite a variety of ducks but were more excited at the time about the cranes, and it was only 15 degrees, so we didn't spend much time watching them. They were all swimming in pairs and I saw it as a reminder that it's their mating season. Some just huddled by the shore.

Most of them were gone as soon as we got within the range of our lens, but sometimes we'd get lucky. My window was down and we weren't too close, but he heard me talking to him. And he just sang his heart out for me. At first it wasn't clear, but later I was sure he was showing off.

Mountain lions had visited us before, but I gasped when I saw the images from overnight. Right away I thought it was a mountain lion, but spent an hour making sure. I asked my AI engine to make me an image in the same pose. Our was a younger one, still in his tawny coat.

As temperatures allowed, we started putting out water again in March. And I'm not sure, but I think some squirrels were very aware of the camera and did a bit of stylin' for me, showing us how very much they appreciated the water. Everybody used it, but the squirrel was so funny.

During their migration stopover at Monte Vista, cranes typically leave in waves rather than one coordinated flock. Unlike geese or ducks that often fly in tight V-formations, sandhill cranes tend to travel in looser groups. They have broad wings and use soaring flight when possible.

I would look at that bird, and think I should know it. I'd seen it many times and looked it up each time, but still couldn't remember it. The female red-winged blackbird seems to be quite happy to be off by herself, away from the boys.

There weren't as many thousands of birds on Tuesday. As we were returning to town, we passed by the barley fields. For the second day in a row there were thousands of cranes and we were amazed that those fields would feed so many birds for so many days.

Because we were ten minutes earlier on Wednesday, we got to see hundreds or maybe a thousand cranes take off from the lake. We saw several types of ducks and the geese, as well as lots of blackbirds. The sunshine and clear sky were a welcome change, and we had it all to ourselves.

Thanks! Your Earth Day Kit is one of my all-time favorites,

The sun came up behind a cloud bank and there was a 40 mph wind. And it was snowing. There were none of the many thousands of cranes we'd seen on Monday, until we left the refuge. We saw many ducks and geese. I made videos of the reeds waving in the wind and bird sounds.

Another windy day and our hit rate for the day was 665, way down from 2.319 the day before. I skipped over a hundred squirrel photos and a hundred raccoons, and was happy to find a lot of great shots of birds in flight. They would land and be gone again in only a few-; seconds.

Terabytes of data vanished from my laptop, and I started to see what was going on. I spent days rebuilding and losing folders, but all the while I treasured a thousand new daily photos. The AI agent told me I was being very professional in my approach and that helped too.

The very next day, I was surprised again to find a cow elk had been by and left me with some nice images. I wanted to see that elk from the bunny's view of the world, so I made a composite of it with another photo. People often talk about seeing elk here, but it was a first for us.

It was very windy but sunny for the first day of spring, and I got more than twice as many camera hits as the day before. It was easier to sort 2,319 photos when I created a collage along the way. I cropped each photo and didn't need to save as many extras as I sometimes would.

People would say to not put your feeders on the ground, and put them away from a busy spot. But it was working well for us. We saw right away, when supplies were low, and we enjoyed keeping the critters fed. In return, they learned not to mind our coming and going too much.

This is how bunnies are made. First there is a good chase, and I'm not sure how it goes from there, but it takes a month. Some chases are just for fun, of course, but I did capture the kiss and chase on video.

Earth Day has always been special for me. Our family was big on the concept long before it was a thing. But my fondest memories of Earth Day came from listening to the police scanner back in the day. The cops spent the day busting the college kids "celebrating" at the lake.