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(Ictarius pyrrhopterus) B28I8242 Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina
Guide : Marcos Eugênio
marcos.birds@gmail.com
Today's forecast - winds light and variable, tending north-south-east by westerly!
Happy Telegraph Tuesday!
♫ Ambiece ♫
The winter of 1873, Colorado Territory.
The cold morning air was deathly still and it cut to the bone as Millie stood with her back against the warmth of the camp fire. She'd woken early, restless and shivering. The three of four hours of sleep she'd gotten hadn't helped cease the anticipation and dread she felt last night. "Why in the hell couldn't this have waited til summer," she thought as she watched the untouched morning snow glisten like diamonds. It was spring time in the Rocky Mountains and the sun's glowing rays crept through the aspens like lights from heaven. The beauty of it all, along with the warmth of the sun on her face reassured Millie just a bit, but not enough, as she reached for the steaming coffee pot.
Bass was already awake. Honestly she wondered if he ever slept. He'd gotten the coffee ready well before sunrise and saddled his horse and gone. He'd told them last night he would ride out to check on the choke point at Rockwood Cut and work on the barricade first light. Bass Wheeler was efficient, and he always took care of business first. It was no wonder she loved the man as she did. With all the danger that loomed around them she'd never felt safer in her life.
Millie and Bass had taken up with the ruffian Charles 'Dick' Miller better known as Charlie Dick. Charlie headed up a gang of cutthroats and thieves that raided all the way from Central City, Colorado near the Moffat Pass to Buena Vista along the Arkansas River. They had met the man one night when his companion, Jane Kirkham had made a play for Bass at the Dickens Opera house in Longmont. Needless to say, Millie nor Charlie Dick were very happy about the encounter at first. However, they'd all partaken in copious amounts of liquor and opium that night, so a compromise was struck between the couples. Millie soon found out that Dick wasn't Charlie's middle name but the nickname he'd been pinned with due to that enormous size of his phallus. Over the next few weeks they'd all grown rather close, on the whole, and after a couple of very lucrative stage coach holdups along the Arkansas River, one might say the gang were in high cotton. And with all that money burning holes in their pockets and with all their good fortune, there was only one thing to do. Go for broke. And robbing the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad was just audacious enough.
An hour or so later they joined Bass in the valley between the rock faces. They all threw in, helping Bass build up the barricade with railroad ties and logs then doused the pile with coal oil. Past that, there was nothing to do but wait. Millie checked her weapons again and shared a smoke with Homer Dobson, one of the gang members. Homer was from Texas like her and about her age. He was a good looking kid, just nineteen and since they'd met she'd grown fond of the boy, even thinking of him as sort of a younger brother. That still hadn't kept her from sneaking in his bed a couple of times over the last few weeks however, and as they talked passing the cigarette between them Homer repeated the line Charlie had been using since they'd left Denver, "It's a simple plan." They both chuckled a bit and shook their heads for they knew there was no simple to it. Too many variables were involved. Besides, the Railroad was starting to get mighty tired of losing their cargo, not to mention their passenger's personables to a bunch of ne'er do well scoundrels.
Just then Jane Kirkham and Joe Pritchard galloped back down the tracks toward them waving their arms. Millie could hear the locomotive's whistle blow a warning before it came around the bend and quickly spun her horse around, along with Homer to get in position. She backed her horse under the trees, big globs of snow falling on top of her. As she grimaced, sinking into her poncho she gazed out from under the branches and watched Bass light the barricade. She smiled at him when he looked up, and he smiled back, giving her a wink. She loved him and no matter who else either of them may have shared a bed with, she belonged to Bass Wheeler and everyone knew it.
Watching the massive locomotive barrel it's way along the tracks toward the blockade she heard the first shot from Bass' colt. The rest of them rushed out, guns at the ready as the sound of iron grinding against iron echoed up the rock face. If everything had gone as planned Charlie Dick had already jumped off a ledge onto the train and now had his gun on the conductor. Millie got them both in her sights just in time to hear the blast and watched to railroad man's legs buckle. She could see Charlie laughing as the train came to a stop. Looking to her right she watched Bass gallop around the front, his horse leaping over the railroad tracks, a terrible expression on his face.
The snow had just begun to fall again. The gentle snowflakes brushed against her skin as she watched Charlie and Bass scream at each other, each pointing their guns at the other. It all happened so fast.
Days later Homer would tell her who fired first and who shot who. But it would all be a blur to her and only her nightmares would reveal the whole truth. She'd drink heavily, and during her drunken states she'd consider it all, thinking to herself, it was a simple plan and there were many variables.
🌲 Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Today 🌲
Thank you so much, Anyka Aiséirà for being so kind to me and helping out with this shot. Anyka put her outfit together and came ready to go to work on very short notice. She is such a pro and a delight to work with.♥
And to my wonderful friend Morgan Talbot. What can I say? Morgan literally put this backdrop together for me and welcomed me to his gorgeous sim to shoot this. He even saddled my horse!
Good friends are hard to find and Morgan definiitely is a gem in my life. Thank you so much!♥
Yesterday we went for a 6 and a half hour guided tour of Farewell Spit at the top western end of Golden Bay. It is a protected area with some 32km of sand dunes and some marram grass. The wind was relatively strong leading to lots of lines of drift. The area is home to many birds including Bartailed Godwits. They were however outside the reach of my zoom lens. But these juvenile Variable Oystercatchers were relatively common. An excellent tour to do if you ever get to this part of NZ.HWW.
While all acclimation days were perfect, when it arrived the summit day the weather changed. A big storm with strong winds stoped our hopes. Then, we were to remain in our shelter during one day more with a lot of nerves on edge. Maybe, the next day would be better.
Top of the Month Gallery (June'17) - Into Your Heart Level 1
FrÃo, viento y una nitidez que permitÃa ver las cumbres nevadas de Gredos. Las nubes amenazaban con mandarlo todo al traste, pero esta vez el talgo consiguió dejar atrás las sombras y posar de esta manera.
Mosquito Ridge Road, southeast of Foresthill / Placer County, California
I decided to check an area that I used to take for birding and happened to find a number of these Variable Checkerspots, a lifer for me, visiting these yellow composite flowers growing alongside the road.
Seemed rather common along the trail in Montana de Oro State Park, but don't know the name.
Thought it shown well against the white morning glory.