Biggest joy dot today so far: playing with Golden Retriever puppies

On Saturday, I had a wonderful morning. I volunteer on a project monitoring hawk and owl nests in Albuquerque, in the forest, called the Bosque, that is along the Rio Grande. I usually go out early in February, before our season officially begins, to look for nesting Great Horned owls. Two weeks ago, my husband and I found a female on a nest, and we found another owl perched in a tree that has old hawk nests in it. (The owls don't build nests - they use old Cooper's Hawk nests.) So Saturday I went back to see if there was an owl nesting where we had seen one perched, and there was. I will get to watch two nests full of fluffy owl chicks grow up. Then, after I checked the owls, I saw a Bald Eagle on a mud flat in the river. I also saw a male ruby crowned kinglet showing off his ruby crown. Usually the red feathers are hidden, but once in a while you will see a male flash his red feathers.

So now I can think about my owls on their nests whenever I need a mental lift.
Allison