Too Warm, Too Dry

Not many signs of spring yet, which is as it should be.  It's been so abnormally warm (58 F today) here in these mountains, though, I'm sure spring will be here lots sooner than normal.

There were a few clouds around today at Lake Gregory...

along with various birds.   Mr. and Mrs. Mallard

Ms. Mallard.

A seagull and, down in the left corner, a cormorant.  I didn't see the cormorant until I uploaded the photo, so I missed the opportunity to get a close-up.   

Far above the lake, a bald eagle soared...

while the selfish clouds hurried away to somewhere else without sharing any much needed rain. 

 Linking to  Skywatch Friday      Wednesday Around the World     Through My Lens     Our World Tuesday   Life Thru the Lens 

Alpenglow

I was down in Redlands (a small town in the San Bernardino valley) last week and caught this beautiful sunset.  This is looking west...

Looking behind me to the east, I realized one of my favorite things was happening...

Alpenglow!

I love it when the sunset colors the snow on the high peaks.  It only lasts for a couple of minutes, at best.  I
looked back to the west...

and snapped a quick (I thought) shot, but by the time I turned back to the east the mountains and the sky had faded into the blue of dusk...

I felt really lucky that I was there to not only see, but get photos of, one of my favorite natural things.

I'm linking with Our World Tuesday   and   Blue Monday  and   Through My Lens Monday

and    Life Thru the Lens     and   Pink Saturday

Shadow Shot Sunday

Shadows and sun on a path around Lake Arrowhead.  Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Sunday Light and Shadow

Sun and wind flowing down a hillside,   

drew my attention to this old stump, and made me notice it's beauty. 

Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Pink Saturday

Little flowers of Fremont's Bush Mallow (Malacothamus fremontii) that I found growing down around Cleghorn Canyon.  It's a liminal sort of place, not really a part of the mountains but not really desert.  It's so quiet there, especially winter afternoons. 

Linking with Pink Saturday

Skywatch Friday

Sitting on the top of a 200 foot Ponderosa Pine on a windy and cold January day in the San Bernardino mountains, 

this Red Tailed Hawk was carefully watching the land below. 

These photos aren't the best, 

But I was pretty far away, and I didn't use a tripod.  I guess I'm always too afraid the bird is going to fly away before I can take a photo.

This is where the photos were taken from and the red dot marks the tree she was sitting in.

Click to see more Skywatch Friday

Outdoor Wednesday

Overlooking Lake Gregory in the San Bernardino mountain range of Southern California.  The San Gabriel mountain range is in the back with the lower layer of clouds floating right on top of them.  A beautiful day full of light and shadow and cold, fresh, pine-scented air.

To see more photos of the outdoors around the world, go to  Outdoor Wednesday

Thin and Brittle

We got a thin dusting of snow last night, about a half inch, which started to melt, but then the temperature dropped again, leaving ice on some things and a brittle, thin blanket of snow on others.

Just enough snow to make the logs look picturesque...

And allow the raccoons to leave their footprints on the path! 

Linking to:  Macro Monday 2      Through My Lens  I Heart Macro   Our World Tuesday