Today’s Photo from Ted Grussing Photography: Happy Valentine’s Day

… every Valentines Day I send out a photograph of Sunset Crater … from the air and looking from the west to the east, the crater top appears to be a big beautiful valentine. So to you and yours from Mother Nature, One and myself, a very Happy Valentines Day and we’re wishing you every joy and blessing it is possible to have.

The photo below I call “Fish Hooks” and it shows the talons of an Osprey that we got close to whilst at Theodore Roosevelt Lake, NE of Phoenix last Friday … many great shots and worth the long trip for sure! The Osprey is the only raptor besides owls that has the ability to rotate one of its forward pointing toes backwards … this gives it the ability to grasp and realign the fish head forwards in flight (gets rid of the parasitic drag … more streamlined) and the pads on the feet are like a cats tongue which assists in gripping slippery fish.

Back to Lake Pleasant this week. a little more manageable at 11+ square miles of surface area compared to 31+ square miles for Roosevelt and about two hours less driving. Theodore Roosevelt Lake is the first lake of four formed by dams on the Salt River, next is Apache, Canyon and Saguaro; below Saguaro, The Verde River joins the Salt River after passing through two dams which form Bartlett Lake and Horseshoe Lake. Collectively these two watersheds provide Phoenix metro with most of its water supply. Lake Pleasant gets its water from the Agua Fria river (intermittent flow) and the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project canals and most of the water release goes to agriculture.

Into a new and beautiful week … still breathing and still enjoying the life that has been given to me and the joy of family and friends. Smile, and have a delightful day and week 🙂

Cheers,

Ted