Thursday, February 21, 2008

Still More Birding Images.

Circus Cyaneus. What a great name for our old friend the Northern Harrier, (formerly Marsh Hawk.) We've gotten lots and lots of images of Harriers in New Mexico because they're probably the most numerous of the birds of prey here. Big birds anyway. They're always around every field we take the dogs to. We kind of caught this one by surprise when we were out east of the Floridas looking at property. I saw her- females are brown, and larger than the mostly blue/grey males- in the distance, moving our way, so I stopped the car and waited. The top image was at the instant she noticed us and veered away.


This image was taken a second later, and really shows the aerodynamics of the body. The Peterson Guide describes Harriers as "slim hawks with slim wings, long tails.... flight low, languid, gliding..." I enjoy watching them, as they're always hunting, watching the ground for voles, which is their main prey. You can always tell the Harrier by the large white rump patch, clearly visible above.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this particular trip to New Mexico has been particularly rich in viewing birds of prey, both large and small. Just from memory:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Golden Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Ferruginous Hawk
  • Red Tailed Hawk
  • Zone Tailed Hawk... (maybe; briefly over the car, and I remember it was dark, with a black and white tail)
  • Cooper's Hawk and Sharpshinned Hawk
  • Peregrine Falcon, and
  • Kestrel.

..and probably more, but it's hard, sometimes, to get a positive ID on a bird sitting on a yucca when you're driving by on the interstate at 75mph ;-)

Someday, I'll write about how I got so into amateur birding.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

No, They Mean the Pecans.

The MLBPA was getting nervous. (That will require a little bit of thought) ;-)

Subliminal Bleg.

Lotta stuff gotta happen, before this can happen. Jackrabbits everywhere. Buy stuff!
Posted by Picasa

Good Veterinarians, Good Eats.

Rally, I mean Money Pit, is recovering down in El Paso at Crossroads Animal Clinic. We took her in this afternoon, and met Dr. Jim Koschmann, who's the closest thing we've met to Jim Radcliffe, the wonder vet, back in the East. He explained the procedure he would use to re-attach the achilles tendon to the heel bone. We like being treated like we're not stupid.

Dr. Koschmann called later this evening to tell us that the surgery was complete and Rally was resting, and that she'd "done quite a job in there". There was more damage than just the tendon, but he got it all together and stitched it up, although to hear him describe the procedure it sounded more like he was making a rug on a loom! And she'll have an external fixator holding everything steady for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Robodog.


The best part about the timing of this little errand to El Paso was that we were able to stop in La Mesa, NM and have lunch at a place that had been highly recommended by local friends- HT Val Koeppler- and also by the Sterns, of Road Food fame. Chope's Bar and Cafe is a true "hole-in-the-wall" gem. Chiles rule there, and their rellenos are their specialty. Very lightly breaded, and deepfried, in a combination plate with enchiladas, beans, and the best taco I think I've ever had. Magnifique! And, as always in this part of the country... lots of green chiles. Rumor has it that former Dallas Cowboys head coach, Tom Landry, used to fly to El Paso so he could eat at Chope's. The cheerleaders, too. They swear it's true. It's on my keepers list.

British Invasion

In the last couple of hours we've had blog visitors from England, Scotland, and Ireland. They arrived from a message board on this very cool British website. Not being a member, I don't have access to the message that linked to our blog, but they seemed to spend time looking at the Desert Hare Classic posts and picture.

Interesting website, covering all things "hunting" in the UK.. of particular interest: Lurchers, and Lamping. Return the favor, and check it out.

UPDATE: The Hunting Life website has been added to our link list.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Buteo Regalis

As the last vehicle.. (us).. left the field on Sunday, we were buzzed by this magnificent Ferruginous Hawk. It was as if it were saying, "It's about time you people left... I'm hungry!".
Birding on this trip, especially as regards birds of prey, has been most impressive. Today, for instance, we saw a Peregrine Falcon. Too far away for a picture, unfortunately.
NOTE: Yes, I know I need to clean the filter ;-)
Posted by Picasa

After the Classic.

Sandia gets rewarded for walking 10 miles in the gallery over two days...

...and grows a goatee. :-)

Posted by Picasa

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Honey... Where's the Piggy Bank?

We're gonna be rich!

Dutch Salmon's Desert Hare Classic Results.

We have a winner. If you don't remember where to get the details, re-read the previous post. Here's a little dig at the folks that went to the so-called Grand Course... Saturday: 11 jackrabbits run; done by 12:30. Sunday: 9 jackrabbits run; done by Noon. And nobody here is going to tell you where we were. Forget it. Nope.
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Dutch Salmon's "Pack Hunt", 2008 Results.

A tie. Details in a future Performance Sighthound Journal.

OK.. a little teaser: The weather was perfect, and everyone got their money's worth.

Friday, February 15, 2008

The Doors Are Open. A Crack.

It will be a while before we have a "Grand Opening", but the Shot On Site store is now open at Cafe Press. The storefront needs some work, but the page you all will be interested in is the linked page.

We're starting with a bumper sticker,
an old favorite in fact, but updated. Eventually there will be so much more. Apparel, ceramics, totes, notecards, etc, etc, etc.


All images on the work are by Dan, and all the designs spring from Margaret's fertile imagination.

Currently we have the bumper stickers in Salukis, Longdogs, Galgos, Greyhounds, Borzois, Whippets, Ridgebacks, and Basenjis, with more to come. Each is available in several color schemes as well. We're looking forward to seeing them on a lot of cars in the coming months' trials. Enjoy!! And Pass it on!!!

(The copyright watermark will not be on the product you buy).
UPDATE: We've added the storefront link to the linklist on the sidebar.

Fun House.

While I babysat five dogs and a cat, Margaret was having fun in the Big Apple with her grown kids. They did all the touristy stuff, including attending this very weird off-Broadway show:

Looks like fun, in a kind of disorienting way. Looks like more fun to be in the cast!

Even DeMille Had to Start Somewhere.

OK, Dan gets a little out of control with Windows Movie Maker. Don't do what you do when you go out to the movies and rush out as soon as the movie is over. Sit there while the credits roll!

We may have to invest in a real video camera... this is too much fun.

Get ready... the dogs move out in a hurry, but don't miss Randir's "cameo"! And watch how smart Sandia (pink blanket) runs; doesn't use it all up on the runup, but starts to move up through the pack as the course gets longer. Smart dog. In this case, when the hare came back toward our postition, he had a huge lead and we were able to call the dogs off. We'll do more of this.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Coming Soon.

Margaret's getting fairly competent shooting movies with the little Fuji camera. We'll post some live coursing videos as soon as she gets them on a stick so I can load them on this computer. She also shot some ah... interesting... footage at a Broadway show when she was in New York. I think it's worth sharing.

On a commercial note: we're about to launch a storefront at Cafe Press. Margaret's been very busy this week working on some designs that you are going to want. Seriously. Stay tuned, and I'll post a sample and details before the weekend.

Money Pit.

That's the new name for the greyhound formally known as Rally.

After checking with friends in the Las Cruces, El Paso, and Albuquerque area for advice about vets, we decided to just take her to the local (and only) vet in Deming. Since she's shown a propensity for not staying sound for more than 6 months at a time, we were just going to get the most basic (read: cheap) repair, and retire her from running competitions.

Unfortunately, the local guy admitted he had little experience in repairing this type of injury... which by the way, was that the achilles tendon had completely separated from the calcaneaous (heel) bone. He set up a referral for us to a vet in El Paso.... one whose name we already knew from our previous search, and came with a glowing, albeit expensive, reference.

Tuesday, we'll take Ral Money Pit to Crossroads Animal Clinic, where Dr. Koschmann will do his magic, and she will either come out the following day with a splint, or an external fixator. I'll post some before and after pictures at that time. Our wallets will be some $1200-$1500 lighter. Money Pit, indeed! At least this way she may be able to run in next year's Pack Hunt with Sandia!

Oh, that the local guy could have done it... the office call, exam, and referral were a whopping $31.00! And we walked in without an appointment.

Update: So I don't need to tell you, those Google ads around this site are more important than ever. Who wouldn't want to look at the Patriots' cheerleaders in bikinis.. huh? You know you would.



Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Lethal Weapon 4

I just wanted to post one more shot of this jackrabbit, since it was kind enough to give me lots of good close-ups this morning.. Look at those back feet; in fact look at the whole rear assembly. Like an athletic sighthound, that's the "engine" that makes this critter second only to the pronghorn in pure speed in North America. Add to that the agility to turn on a dime at that speed and you've got one formidable prey species.

Yeah... we got skunked again today. What of it?
Posted by Picasa

Double Suspension

Extended...
Contracted...
Ease on down, ease on down the ro-oad.

To say I managed to get myself into a good position today, would be an understatement.

Posted by Picasa

Monday, February 11, 2008

Unabashed Self-Promotion.

Tired of coming to these pages every day and seeing the same post you already read yesterday.. or the day before that? Wouldn't you like to know when the content has changed without looking at the website itself? Of course you would.

We've hooked up with Feedburner to give you the tools you need to know when something new is here. Up above, is the headline thingy.. it scrolls through the past 5 blogpost titles. The cool part is, you can grab it and put it on your own blog, your My Space, or Facebook page.. anywhere you can paste a little HTML.. even on your EMail signature. Just click the "Grab this..." line and Feedburner will walk you through the rest.

At the top of the sidebar on the right, is a link to set up EMail alerts whenever there is a change here. Simple.

If you want to subscribe to a reader, or your Yahoo, or Google, or AOL, or whatever homepage or reader you use, you can just click on the "subscribe to a reader" button on the sidebar near the SiteMeter counter. I was shocked to find, when I pasted in the subscriber counter, that this blog has..... ZERO... none, nada, zilch... subscribers. Get off your butts people!

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Meanwhile, On the Day Shift.

When it rains, it pours.

Yesterday, we drove out into the countryside to look at 40 acres that a friend has on the market. We took Sandia and Rally. When we parked, we let them out for a "potty break".. Sandia got leashed up, but Rally, who's been doing well of late on healing her partial torn achilles, slipped by. Well, she was staying close, so we figured we'd let her evacuate, and we'd leash her up then.

That was before the jackrabbit. And she was looking good for the first 150 yards or so. She even turned it, and was closing when...

Do I even need to finish the story?

Now we need a good orthopedic vet surgeon in southern New Mexico... and some means to pay them with.

Night Shift.

Whoa! What's this? It's night time.. this jackrabbit, being nocturnal, should be happily munching on vegetation... not running for his life! What could cause this non-standard behavior?

Well here's a clue. Scottish poacher uh, "entrepreneurial game harvester"*, Matthew, has the spotlight, and he knows how to use it!

And after a few trial runs the hounds, including Mona here, learn to follow the light, because that's where the jack is.

The biggest difference between day and night coursing is the course. Races are usually short, especially if the guy on the spot can't keep the hare in the light. From 7:30 to 10:30 last night we probably released the dogs on a dozen jacks.. maybe more, as I lost count. We drove only about 5 miles in that time, which brings up the other big difference: No Walking! (It does get a little tiring putting the car in neutral, hitting the parking brake, grabbing the camera, and jumping out the car over and over and over again.) The above is one of two that were caught.

Photographing this activity is just about impossible, so when I saw that image with Mona and the jack so close, and in the range of the flash, I was ecstatic, no matter that it's out of focus, and a little overexposed.. it's exactly what I was hoping to get on this little project.

By the way, for those who are interested, this activity is perfectly legal as long as no one is carrying a firearm. Dutch, being on the NM Fish and Game Commission made sure of that! And in this particular area, we'd be more likely to be confronted by the Border Patrol than the Game Warden.

*Thanks to Scottish native, Andrew at Regal Vizsla , for the politically correct terminology ;^)

Posted by Picasa

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Beaver Shots.



Another New Mexico "attraction"; big hair never looked so good.

Return With Us Now to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear...

Among the many reasons we love this part of the country.. the jacks, the green chiles, the dust.. we have to include these vestiges of the Wild, Wild West . Would this happen in Ann Arbor? Not on your life. (Watch the video if for no other reason than to check out news anchor, Nicole Brady. Hot!)

Yeah. So There!

...and yer mother wears army boots!

Super Tuesday "Humor"



Just a sidenote... the only part of me that would touch Ann Coulter's ass is the part at the end of my leg. No, the other end!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

And the Winner Is....

Unknown.. at least here in New Mexico. More than 24 hours after the polls closed, there's still no winner in the New Mexico Democratic primary. With only one precinct left to count, Clinton leads by a slim margin of 1092 votes. But.. there are still over 17000 provisional votes to be counted, so it could be weeks before a winner is determined. Kind of mirrors the national race.

Close enough that if we lived here we could have conceivably cast the winning ballots! Our South Dakota primary isn't until June. I originally figured it would all be settled by then. Now I'm sure we'll order up our absentee ballots. We, like you, can make a difference. But who will we make a difference for? Hmmmmmmmmmmm...


...I just don't know...

Weather Pic.

Did I mention the wind? Today, it finally diminished enough to slaughter a jackrabbit and get it into the crockpot... only about 20 mph today. When the above photo was taken, it was gusting over 50. View is facing south. The Florida Mountains are back there... somewhere. The dust is in the air.

When I said yesterday that I would give the dogs a break, I didn't mean it quite literally. Fanny has some kind of foot injury. Much pain, but no bruising, or swelling, or blood. Mysterious. Yesterday Buffy dropped her gracilis muscle- and - smashed a toenail. The sisters are out of commission for the rest of the season... Buffy probably for good. The good news is that the puppy is staying sound, as is Geezer-boy, Randir. Rally is an enigma. We'll test her achilles tendon this weekend up in Mountainair at a NOTRA "practice" race meet. She seems ready.

In other news... my 3 week bachelorhood ends tomorrow, as I go to El Paso to pick up Margaret. And not a moment too soon.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Mountain Blanket


Can't let the day go by without at least one post. This was about 7AM MST today. This solitary-but very large- cloud hung over my favorite little mountain range for hours. That's the Capitol Dome formation on the right. I need to get out and do more of this, and give the dogs a break. Tomorrow looks promising.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, February 04, 2008

Y'Oughta See the Giants Fan's Jaw!

That's a real fan! I only considered putting my fist through the wall...
Posted by Picasa

The Dark Side.

Absolutely last word on the Subpar Super Bowl... The Nueva York Giants were the recipients of some of the greatest luck in the history of sport. Or was it luck? Maybe there were dark forces at work that we can only wonder at, or dream of.

This was the kind of "luck" that Notre Dame used to have before their god deserted them after the hiring of Charlie Weis. There must be supernatural forces in play here... but not benign forces. These are dark forces. These are Faustian- Robert Johnson down-to-the-crossroads kind of sinister forces. I'm convinced of it. What other explanation could there be for this...


So enjoy your brief notoriety, Eli. Down the road, the piper will still have to be paid.

Damn... I despise that whole hillbilly family ;^)

How About This Sport Fans??

Who's the Numero Uno Champion Factory in college sports? I bet you know.

HT Brian at MGoBlog . Yeah... big hint.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Freakish Dogs.

Airedale Terriers the size of Irish Wolfhounds! I'm told they're bred for wild hogs, and they're apparently not a mix. Sandia didn't really like them sniffing around.
Posted by Picasa

Buffy's Day. Looking Old School.

Like she used to do it back in the day. First jack of the day, and she led out like a young dog. Speaking of the young dog, yes, that's him running just behind Buffy.


And Buffy just enjoyed herself immensely. Still the prettiest dog on the planet.
Posted by Picasa

Is That All There Is?

Well, that pretty much sucked. You realize this means the world still hasn't made Mercury Morris shut the fu hell up. Y'know, 18-1 still looks one win better than 17-0 to me ;)

Is Eli Manning a better quarterback than..... Peyton Manning? Sure looks that way. Is he a better QB than Tom Brady? You must be joking.

So thanks boys... for the most boring 3 quarters of football. At least the 4th quarter was... um, interesting. And, with the exception of the T-Mobile ad with D-Wade and Charles Barkley, the commercials were lamer than any year in recent memory.

And I'm out of Tequila.

Stanley Cup, anyone? I like hockey better, any way. Go Wings!

Hey look! The Biggest Loser is on NBC!

Is This It?

2:42 left. Patriots 14, Giants 10. It's up to the Pats' defense. What a phenomenal drive by the Brady Bunch. Holding breath.

More Live Blogging...

4th Quarter starts. Still anybody's game. Giants have a very good defensive plan, but one that could... should burn them some time in this game. Eventually, Brady's going to find the open receiver for the BIG ONE. One hopes.

If Patriots win, my pick for MVP is Wes Welker... fastest white man in the NFL.

Ohhh no. A big play by the Giants! More later.

Tom Brady & the Heartbreakers?

Hey, this is almost like "live blogging" the Super Bowl! Except this is all you'll see here until the end of the game. Maybe.

I know it's only half time... (great show by Petty et al, by the way), and I know the Pats have the lead, but geez.... I don't like the way this game's going.

Fortunately, they have the human equivalent of the Cray Supercomputer as the head coach, so I assume the problems will be adjusted to during the halftime. History awaits.

As to the commercials? Worst I can remember. That Doritos ad with the giant rat? WTF??

Hey Sports Fans.

I know I snuck the above poll in there last night, but surely by now, with only 3 hours left to vote, there'd be more than Buddy Salmon's and my vote. Hop on it, OK??

Friday, February 01, 2008

Kin.

Got an email this morning from Steve Garth, who has Sandia's sister, Maya. He included pictures that he said I could share... so below, is Maya.
She looks very much like Sandia. Looking a little bit different, because he's smooth-coated, is brother Zuni...
He also seems to be not as long in the body as Sandia and Maya.
One trait they share in common, is the willingness to get it on after Mr. Jack! That's "trainer" Wiz, the Saluki, in the middle.
We're hoping to get together with all these guys in a couple of weeks. What fun!
Posted by Picasa

Life Comes At You Fast...

..at least here in New Mexico. And I like fast stuff, so was enthralled by this news of a new "land speed record" out of Holloman Air Force Base. (and not just because the puppy's name is mentioned in the article!)

No indication if Amtrak is looking into the technology for getting the trains to run on time.

Oh Good. It's Not Just Me.

(Gilkey-Detroit Free Press Photo)

I've told fellow football fan friends often.. I really don't remember this guy's career at Michigan. I'm not alone.