Month: August 2018

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August Morning

August morning

August Morning: Sunrise and Hummingbirds

August morning: the smoke from the fires west of us was bad for two days, and it still remains. But, the skies are a little clearer and the temperatures cooler. Autumn is not quite palpable, but is just around the corner. The smoke adds color to the clouds. Most of the male hummingbirds have already left for winter homes. The females and juveniles will be here for a week or two, filling up in preparation for the long trip. This is a beautiful time in New Mexico.

August morning
Note just a hint of crepuscular rays. The smoke has cleared significantly from the prior two days, but is still producing especially colorful skies.
August morning
Female rufous hummingbird eyeing breakfast of cosmos
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Garden Delights

garden cosmos

Garden Delights

Garden delights are plentiful and varied at this time of year. These are a few images from this past week.

First, Spunk Price surveying his garden and activity in it from the deck:

garden delights cat
Spunk

Next, a few flowers from my garden:

Cosmos, loved by butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and goldfinches, among others:

garden delights cosmos
Cosmos

Mermaid, an Old Garden Rose and favorite of many pollinators:

garden delights rose mermaid
Old Garden Rose, Mermaid

Floribunda rose, Fabulous!

garden delights rose floribunda
Fabulous!

Finally, Spunk Price, “OK enough for this Sunday. Time for a nap…”

garden delights cat
Spunk
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Crepuscular Rays: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

crepuscular rays

Crepuscular Rays

Crepuscular rays, as many readers of this blog know, are common in Albuquerque. The jagged edges of the Sandia Mountains combined with frequent clouds over the mountains provide an ideal setting for their development. However, I rarely show images of anything taken from my front yard. That view will always contain driveways and vehicles. But, every now and then, I find something especially interesting or beautiful from that view point. Sometimes something can override the driveways and cars. For that reason, every now and then I will show an image taken in the front yard. On a recent weekend, the color of early sunrise was already gone. But I found this a remarkable display of these rays. I hope you enjoy the image, looking up the street, driveways and all.

crepuscular rays
Crepuscular Rays as the Sun Rises in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A beautiful day in the neighborhood…
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Monsoon Sunrise in Five Minutes

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise: Five Minutes of Fire in the Sky

Monsoon sunrise was spectacular this morning. Here in New Mexico we look forward to the monsoon season for the rain but also the skies. Color like this is common at sunrise and sunset. But the color does not last long. This series was photographed over five minutes. There are some advantages to being an early riser. 🙂

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

Monsoon Sunrise

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Mammatus Clouds in 2018 Monsoon Season

mammatus monsoon clouds

Monsoon Mammatus Clouds

Monsoon mammatus clouds do not happen all that frequently here. This week had two storms with mammatus clouds. I could not resist a few photos before the storms hit. Each storm produced hail and, at my house, 0.75 inches of rain. In the past week I have received 5.5 inches of rain. The plants are happy, and I’m even going to have a lawn to mow. 🙂

What are mammatus clouds? “A cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud…” Those of you who read Tim’s Off Center and Not Even have seen his view from Corrales. These are from my yard. The first three are from July 31 and the fourth from August 1.

monsoon mammatus clouds
Mammatus Clouds. This storm produced hail, as well as 0.75 inches of rain in a short time.
monsoon clouds
Monsoon Storm Rolling in Over Sandias. This storm produced hail and rain. The light you see in the cloud is lightning; there were relatively few ground strikes that night.
mammatus monsoon clouds
More Mammatus Clouds
mammatus monsoon clouds
Leading Edge of Storm August 1. The following night we again saw mammatus clouds at the edge of the storm. This storm also produced hail, but not as much as the previous night.
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