Cloud Formations and Predator Birds

Usually we see a cloudless, deep blue sky over us.

Blue sky over lead lettuce fields

On a rare occasion, when very humid air moves in 

on a cold night we get thick fog

Fog over the desert landscape

 and when those clouds show up it warns us about 

windy days are ahead

Fibratus clouds

A few days ago the sky looked like this: 

Cirrus and Cirrostratus drawn out into long, fine filaments called 

"Fibratus" I read on a page called "Cloud Appreciation Society" 

that that they are high, ice-crystal clouds.

Ominous dark clouds rolled in during my morning walk. 

A weather front moving in

Dixie seems to watch the clouds too

Dixie on alert

Most interesting, for a short while there were 

so called "Mammatus clouds" forming overhead.

Mammatus clouds

The clouds form hanging pouches.

They seemed to let go rain which never reached the ground.

Mammatus clouds over the irrigation canal

The drama lasted only for a short while. 

An hour later the front

had moved on and the sun was shining partially, albeit the wind had picked up quite a bit.

****

Some photos of birds I recently saw in the area.

High up on a power pole sat a Turkey Vulture sunning itself.

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture 

Nearby two Red-tailed Hawks were doing the same.

A pair of Red-tailed Hawks

Red-tailed Hawk

On my way to town I spotted Burrowing Owls enjoying the sun as well.

Burrowing Owls

Since there was no traffic on the road I dared to stop,

roll down the window and take

a closer look.

Burrowing Owl, close up

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German translation

Meistens ist der Himmel hier in Kalifornien tiefblau.

.

Doch manchmal schlägt das Wetter um und wir haben dichten Nebel. 

Fibratus Wolken kündigen windige Tage an. 

Heute morgen aber zog eine Wetterfront durch und es sah für eine Weile ziemlich dramatisch aus.

Mammatuswolken bildeten sich über dem Bewässerungskanal. 

Doch der Regen verdunstete bevor er die Erdoberfläche erreichen konnte. 

(Seit Oktober haben wir hier keinen Tropfen Regen gesehen)

Nach etwa einer Stunde hatten sich dann die Wolken teilweise aufgelöst, doch es soll 

für die nächsten 36 Stunden ziemlich windig bleiben.

Zum Schluß noch ein paar Vogelbilder. Diese Raubvögel sieht man hier regelmäßig.

Ein Truthahngeier der sich auf einem Hochspannungsmast sonnt.

In der Nähe auf einem anderen Mast sitzen ein Paar Rotschwanzbussarde.

Auch die Kaninchenkäuze genießen die warmen Sonnenstrahlen.

Thunderstorms, Cold air and Sunshine

 This year is pretty different from our last years stay at Quartzsite. 

So far, we had never experienced cold or rain in this area. 

JP taking a photo of a dead Saguaro Cactus

Not so this time. Grey days arrived and several layers of clothes was asked for.

Showers are moving in

We got a torrential rainfall 

with the occasional thunder and then much colder air moved in. 

Water droplets splashing on the ground

Mid-day temperatures crashed from balmy 75F (25C) down to 57F (14C). 

Water accumulation on the desert floor

Puddles were everywhere.

A bit of a rainbow over the mountains at sunset

This morning the desert was a sea of water droplets.

Millions of droplets on everything

Saguaro Cacti

Balancing cactus act

Those thorns not for the faint of heart

Yellow-rumped Warbler, after the downpour

  _____________________________________

Translation for my German readers

Dieses Mal war das Wetter doch ganz anders als in the vorherigen Jahren. 

Es gab ein paar graue Tage mit heftigen Regenschauer, 

kurze Gewitter und nachfolgend die Kälte. 

Die Temperaturen sanken von 25Grad auf nur 14Grad. 

Überall sammelte sich das Wasser auf dem harten Wüstenboden. 

Am nächsten Morgen waren die Wüstenpflanzen noch 

mit Millionen von Wassertropfen bedeckt. 

Doch die Sonne schien wieder und es wird auch langsam wieder wärmer. 

Ein Gelbbüschelrohrsänger sieht noch ziemlich naß aus.

January update

January 2023

January was a somewhat cooler than normal, especially at night.

Several storm systems that moved along the coast line brought

a few rain drops to our area, no flooding, though.

The desert gets very little precipitation, located as it is on the 

east side, in the rain shade of the coastal mountains.

But the sky looked ominous at times with 

big black clouds drifting overhead.

Now and then we saw "sun dogs" a halo phenomenon 

made up by ice crystals in the clouds.

The precipitation the area had got in Sept/October 

and the sprinkles recently brought some

flowers to the desert. Mainly along the highways 

were the runoff accumulates 

the most of the rainwater.

Yellow Brittle Bush

Purple Desert Verbena

Yellow "Brown Eyes" Primroses

A small Ground Dove is not much bigger 

than a White-crowned Sparrow (front)

A pair of House Finches 

watching us walking by. 

A Black-tailed Gnatcatcher flitting 

through the twigs in search of insects.

We even saw the first Monarch Butterfly the other day, but 

I did not have my camera around to document the sighting.

Translation

______________________________________

Der Januar war etwas kühler als normal. Schlechtwettersysteme, 

die an der Küste entlang zogen, 

brachten aber auch ein paar Regentropfen in die Wüste. 

Eiskristalle in den Wolken brechen das Licht der Sonne zu

"Sonnenhunde" oder Nebensonnen. 

Einige wenige Blume blühen nun, meistens entlang der Straße 

wo genug Wasser vom Asphalt abläuft. 

Gelbe Encelia farinosa, lila Verbena (Eisenkraut), 

und gelbe Brown-eyed Primroses (Chylismia claviformis)

Gegen Ende Januar, wenn die Tage deutlich langer wurden,

 begannen auch die Vögel wieder zu singen.

Photos in dieser Reihenfolge zeigen:

Sperlingstäubchen und Dachsammer,

Ein Paar Hausgimpel

und ein Kalifornien Mückenfänger.

 

A Wild Dash Out Of The Snow

 We escaped the Texas winter storm!

We did, because, when we checked on the weather early in the morning, we discovered there was a two hours window to get out ... 

The weather radar when we started out

 and away before the storm pounced on the area with heavy snow and wind.

The weather radar when we were out of the area

Within half an hour we were packed and on the road. 

Sleet was coming down already and within 15 minutes it was snowing heavily. 

Despite temperatures of +2 C (36F) 

 wet snow accumulated on the road to a nasty slush.

 

The window wishers got caked with frozen snow. 

Should we take the next exit and return to Balmorhea TX? 

Peter decided not to, because the road cameras showed bare roads (green) 

just an hour ahead of us.

Checking back on the area around Balmorhea 

we saw the roads were “orange” (difficult driving) and the weather forecast said +1 C, (33F), 90% snow accumulating 10-30cm (8 to 10 inch).

 Fortunately we got some help. 

Two semi-trailers, driving ahead of us,

squished the the slush out of the way with their big tires.

The weather forecast and road map were right.

The bad driving took about a hour until Van Horn, TX ...

then the snow went over into rain. After that we had only sleet, in El Paso, TX it still rained 

El Paso, TX skyline

El Paso, TX, overpasses

snow was only visible on the mountain tops.

Reaching Las Cruces NM the weather was partly cloudy, dry and + 12C (53.6 F) mild. 

We had made it!

Clouds over the high plateau along I-10 west of Las Cruces, NM

When we looked around at the familiar scenery, driving I-10 west, we smiled. 

That's what we had been looking forward to!

Blue sky, fluffy clouds and wide open spaces.

We drove on until an hour before sunset.

Rest area along I-10 wb, near Portal, AZ

There is a nice rest area near Portal, AZ where 

we ended up for the night. 

Sculpture , Roadrunner with its prey -a lizard.