Peregrine Falcon

This guy has a broken wing and was brought in to Game & Fish. I only had my cell phone for a camera, so not the best images......

Penitente Canyon

A few pictures from my trip to Penitente Canyon last weekend. I went up to meet little bro and Mandy and do some climbing. It ended up raining after we got 3 climbs in.

It's a dry heat.....

 

Driving home from Idaho

Here's a few shots from my 872 mile day driving home from Idaho.

Gramma's car

Arden in the rearview cam.

Lewis Falls

Yellowstone National Park

Lewis Falls, Yellowstone National Park from MarkB on Vimeo.

Scenes from the far East

Mostly shot video. I'll have to edit some and post it.....

Polyphemus Moth

Found this guy at work this morning. Polyphemus moth (Giant Silkworm Moth)

A trip to Texas

The wife and I drove to Texas and back this week. The mission was to see a well-loved dying uncle one last time.
15 hours of driving puts you in Dallas/Ft. Worth if you don't get distracted on the way by interesting abandoned buildings, ranches, towns, and mansions......

Happy Birthday

 

Bikers

Biker Trip from MarkB on Vimeo.

Another 8760 hours older.....

For a grand total of 350,400 hours..... or 21,024,000 minutes.

Pictures from the bike trip

We've been planing a motorcycle trip through NM and CO for over a year. After months of anticipation, we finally got rolling on Wednesday. Roger, Garett, and Kevin drove across country in about a day and a half and the rest of the crew flew in on Tues. I rode down to Espanola to meet them and then we rode north to Chama and on to Pagosa Springs for the night. Lots of good times and I did about 875 miles and the rest did over 1000.

Be watching

Our big motorcycle trip is over. 875 miles and a lot of good times behind us.
Watch for some video in the days to come.....

Behind the waterfall

Behind the Waterfall from MarkB on Vimeo.

Ducky takes a bath

Duck 2 from MarkB on Vimeo.

Colorado Moose

On our way home from Lake City last night we saw this momma and her calf. Never seen one in Colorado before!

Cow Moose and calf from MarkB on Vimeo.

I can't take it anymore....

Goodbye Cruel World from MarkB on Vimeo.

A fine day in June

We woke this morning wondering if it was June or December. Snow on the cars and mountains. Life at 8000 ft. I guess.....

Owww

Talon to the nose from MarkB on Vimeo.

Just ducky.....

Click on the link (the title) to go to the Vimeo page if you want to watch in High Def.


Ducky from MarkB on Vimeo.

Duck in a cup

Mommy's new baby.

Piedra River hike

Scenes from our hike on the Piedra River trail today.

Crow Canyon

We drove over to Crow Canyon today. Really nice Navajo petroglyph panels at the end of a moderate hike.

New videos

Opening day from MarkB on Vimeo.

Plaza Blanca, NM from MarkB on Vimeo.

A good day

We started the day chasing the train up the pass through the snow. It was opening day and there was a big crowd to see off the first train of the season. When we got to the top of the pass there was about 3ft. of fresh snow on the tracks so we weren't sure if the train would make it up and over to the other side.










From train chasing we headed south to Plaza Blanca to take Nana & Grampy to do some exploring. Mom stayed home and painted the bathroom floor. We had a nice adventure and got back home at 10pm. A good day......

Hummingbird

At the feeder:

Hummingbird from MarkB on Vimeo.

May day

Mason and Grampy this morning.

Quinn's Visit (pix)

Quinn came over for the weekend and we set off on an adventure this morning. We spent most of the day "Turkey Hunting" as the season ends tomorrow and I still don't have a bird. We did a lot of other things and never even saw any birds until the end of the day. I spotted 4 at about a 1/2 mile away and shortly afterward Quinn saw 4 more that were all hens. No bird for the table, but we had a lot of fun.

Eagle Banding 2008

Buzztail

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a rattlesnake:

Rattlesnake 1 from MarkB on Vimeo.

If you visit the Vimeo website, I've got a bunch of other video up too.

Eagle banding

Here's a video of eagle banding. I decided to embed it.

Banding Golden Eagle chicks from MarkB on Vimeo.

Bush vs. Stone

A little video from eagle banding. (more to follow)

Mt. Mohogany VS. Sandstone from MarkB on Vimeo.

Farm scenes

We stopped by some friends ranch today. The kids are farmers in the making.....

Farm scenes

New Neighbors

Here's a little video of Scott & Holly's new neighbors. They seem really nice, probably would make some good babysitters........

Bums from MarkB on Vimeo.

Rocket Science

A vignette from Quinn's birthday celebration.

Rocket Science from MarkB on Vimeo.

Some good looking kids

From Quinn Reed Simmon's birthday party this weekend.
His mom has some pictures and videos HERE

Our darling daughter

It had been a long day for everyone so we sent the kids to bed a little early. Arden wouldn't settle down so mom told her she could read books on the bean bag for a while. It got quiet upstairs after a bit so I went up to investigate......

"On" the bean bag, "in" the bean bag, what's the difference?

Fox video

Sorry, the quality isn't what I'd hoped for...

A mother fox and her kits from MarkB on Vimeo.

A little more video

On the Chama

Early season kayaking from MarkB on Vimeo.

Climbing Hamster

Climbing Hamster from MarkB on Vimeo.

HOT CHICKS !!!

Glossy Ibis

We were in Pagosa Springs recently and saw these birds that looked very "out of place" in Colorado. I believe they are Glossy Ibis (or is that Ibi?) Plegadis falcinellus.

When Mom went away

Here's some pictures (all off my cell phone) of our time without mommy. Most are at the Albuquerque Museum of Science.

A day's work

 
 
 
 
So I was headed to Lumberton to the water plant when I saw a lot of smoke in the sky. Turns out this Chevy Blazer took it's name litterally and decided to self immolate. I called 911 since no one was around and then helped shovel dirt on it to slow down the blaze until the Dulce FD showed up. It got so hot at one point that the side of the house in the background melted off.

Momma fox

 
 
The neighborhood fox set up house under the old shed across the street. 6 kits later, she is looking a little worn out. These guys are a riot to watch, the jump all over her and their siblings. Video in a bit.

A drive in the country

It was a nice enough spring day after the 3 inches of snow we got yesterday. We decided to go for a drive in the country. We had lunch at our favorite local resturant, Cookin' Books and then headed south to El Vado Reservoir. We drove all the way around the lake and then on to the Reservation and up through Thompson Gap. When we got to the intersection I turned left on a whim and headed for a place I've always wanted to visit but never have, Ross Springs. Here's some pictures:

Mean looking zoo animals

 
 
 

The kids and I sent mom away for a little "get away" trip to NH for 4 days this weekend. She had fun and we did too. The first day we went to the Albuquerque Museum of Science and took in an IMAX movie about dinosaurs. We spent about 4 hours walking around the museum and then went to the mall. The next day, we got the Combo-pass for the Zoo and the Aquarium. 6 1/2 hours later, we stumbled out and drove the 3 hours back home. Saturday we were at home and Sunday was 8 hours in the van driving back to Albuquerque, picking up mom, and back home again. Fun times.

Trouble in The Box

Here's some footage from last weekend in the Taos Box. She was in Powerline Rapid and ALMOST made it....

First day of the season

We all went over to Taos with Craig & Mandy and our friend Jim for the first day of the 2008 kayaking season. It was a rushed affair, they didn't show up until 9 on Saturday and had to be back to Pagosa Springs that night. We did the Taos Box @ about 1400 cfs. Sara and Mandy watched the kids and went to the park (thank you ladies!)
Here's some pictures:

Easter Eggs

Here's the kids hunting Easter Eggs:

Untitled from MarkB on Vimeo.

How do you like it?

So I've got some new video from the camera. I think that when I actually embed the video on here it makes the page load slower. I can either embed it like I have before (Eagle Video below) or post the link, like this:
CLICK HERE

Which do you like better?

Arden's afro

Arden has had her hair in tight pony tails for a few days. This is the result when it came out.

We're in trouble

when these things can start manufacturing themselves.....

Dad, PLEASE......?

So we went to Farmington to get our taxes done on Friday. Relatively painless and we get a little of our own money back.

Afterward, we ran some errands and then, for a treat, stopped by the PetCo store to look at all the cool animals. We saw a tank with some "feeder" gold fish that were going for $0.12 each and started talking about getting some. Aquariums were only $11.00 so we figured that each kid could get 5 fish and we would still only be into it for less than $15.00.....
Well, one thing lead to another and the kids decided they would like something they could "Take out of the cage" and play with. Mason sugguested the Burmese Python ($125.00) would make a nice pet, but was shot down in a hurry. I started thinking about the $7.00 hamsters that were up in the front of the store. Wife and I had a hushed discussion about whether or not she could stand one and she went off to look them over again and see if they triggered the same feelings of revulsion she experienced with the white rats in the cage next to them. She returned shortly and thought one might be 'alright'. I was thinking "$7.00 hamster, $11.00 aquarium.... maybe a couple bucks for food.... still under $25.00, not bad for a bit of entertainment for the kids."
By the time we left the store, the total was more like this:


$7.00 Hamster
$11.00 Aquarium
$5.00 food
$6.00 waterbottle
$3.50 waterbottle holder
$6.00 exercise wheel
$5.00 bedding material
$10.00 little house to live in
$8.00 hamster book
$10.00 exercise ball to run around the house
Total.......... $77.00

We left the store and headed for home with CHEWIE in his cardboard box temporary home. During the two hour drive, he began to gnaw on the box to the point that Sara refused to hold it and we had to pull over to put him in the aquarium for the remainder of the trip. We are hoping he outlasts the 3 weeks that Freddy (the guinea pig) lasted.

Indian attack on the beach

More video from Florida:

Indian Attack on the 'Explorers' from M Blakemore on Vimeo.

Bald Eagle

Here's a little video I shot on Wednesday.

Bald Eagle from M Blakemore on Vimeo.