Category Archives: Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – Tortured Poets and Pomeranians Edition

I was on a hike here in Tulsa and scared up a group of about three deer. We had a little faceoff for a while. All I had was my phone camera so you have to really look hard to see the deer. I love seeing deer on a hike!!

I captured a squirrel and some birds on my backyard trailcam a few weeks ago.

My sister Ellen, her husband Irv, and my son Logan took a little trip to Woolaroc’s Museum and Wildlife Preserve about an hour or so from Tulsa. We saw lots of critters including some bison.

They had some juveniles, “red dogs” but they wouldn’t group up. Come on guys, how about some cooperation. Move together. Look at the camera.

I have no idea what they are looking at.

And a group of deer at a Preserve Lake.

They had an animal barn and with this sad little donkeys. All donkeys look a bit sad don’t they.

And a sad little pony.

And maybe the saddest story. This guy was a longhorn cow that lived at Woolaroc and got moved to southeast Oklahoma for a time. His proud horns drooped because the grass didn’t have the minerals needed to keep them up. He’s immortalized now.

Taylor Swift dropped her new double album “Tortured Poets Department” the other day. Kodi and I listened to most of it on the back patio. Kodi loves catching rays and grooving to new tunes. I think he may be a Swifty.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out.

Saturday’s Critters – Pelicans and More on the Arkansas River

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I went on a bike ride along Tulsa’s RiverParks trails the other day. I took my SuperZoom camera with me hoping that I would see something. It turns out that American White Pelicans were on the river that day. This is a group I spotted near where I started at 71st street. They were on a sandbar near the other side of the river.

Here is a closeup of them. I find them kind of comical on land. They are very graceful in the water and flying.

And here is five miles north at the newly reconstructed Zink Lake Dam. They were paddling around fishing.

Another closeup.

And maybe 50 yards downstream of the dam this group of pelicans and great blue herons were trying their luck in the shallows.

The pelicans and herons seemed to tolerate each other’s presence pretty well.

In the calm waters up stream of the dam a flotilla of geese were cruising.

I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out.

Suburban Backyard Critters

The wind blows here in Oklahoma and with a motion sensitive trailcam I can get hundreds of photos of nothing really fast if I point it to a hanging bird feeder or trees. Wind the wind blows I point it at our bird bath or a stationary feeder.

We get a lot of robins showing up for a drink.

And doves

At the stationary feeder we offer whole peanuts and sunflowers seeds. Those are popular with squirrels, grackles,

and blue jays.

Not in our backyard but from the Tulsa Botanic Garden a monochromatic lego lion!!

I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters

Tulsa Area Critters

A momma goose sitting on a nest on a sandbar in a creek flowing the through the grounds of Philbrook Museum of Art. Her mate was busy chasing people away, including us.

A little chubby squirrel snacking on the grounds of Philbrook.

Another squirrel perturbed by us sitting out on our patio.

Kodi the Pomeranian loves laying out in the sun.

A grackle getting a drink.

Kodi loves finding sticks. He exchanges them for a treat. Is that a spoiled brat looking face or what!

Lizzy the Cat gets kind of talkative every now and then. Critters are a hoot.

Another Lego critter from our trip to the Tulsa Botanic Garden. This one is a dodo bird. Which is extinct.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Check it out!!

Saturday’s Critters – Late March 2024 Edition

My wife and I were taking our dog for a walk the other day and we came upon this guy/gal. INaturalist says it is a Ruddy Shelduck. It had three friends nearby and they had a very cool vocalization that I did not capture. I come to find out that a neighboring subdivision owns them and they escape quite frequently.

My wife put up bird feeders and the grackles really appreciate it. Talk about loud and noisy though.

Lizzy gave me a big yawn when I was trying to get a portrait.

Here is a sculpture at a nearby park of a dog flushing some bobwhite quail.

We visited Tulsa’s Botanic Gardens today and in addition to the beautiful flowers, shrubs, and other plantings they had an exhibit of animals made out of Legos by an artist. This is a spiny anteater.

That’s a wrap for this week. I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out.

Geese, a Turtle, and Other Critters

A wedge of Geese at Tulsa’s Woodward Park. (I just love the various collective nouns for the different kinds of birds.)

Also at Woodward Park, an equestrian sculpture, “Appeal to the Great Spirit.” It used to be at high school in Tulsa that got torn down. Fortunately it was saved. The original was by Cyrus Dallin in 1909 and is on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Art.

A bison mural I found while working an Adventure Lab Geocache.

And I was in a creek bottom in south Tulsa replacing a geocache that went missing when this guy showed up to see what was going on. Usually I see snakes in this area, never any venomous snakes just rat snakes but no snakes today. I would rather see turtles.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out!!

Tulsa Weekend Critters – 9 March 2024 Edition

I was at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center and came across this bee hive in a downed tree and the bees were active. So I stood off a ways with my camera and took a bunch of photos but I couldn’t tell at the time if they were any good. I got home and I got this bee coming in for a landing. I was pretty happy with the photo.

More backyard bunnies at the house.

Lizzie chilling at home

At Lafortune Park I found this guy and his girl testing out the pond.

And the moose is loose!!

A squirrel getting a snack

A couple of geese getting their feet wet.

A sure sign of spring.

And another great blue heron. They are all over town this spring.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – 2 March 2024 Edition

Heather, my wife, was gone for an evening and our little pomeranian Kodi got so lonely he decided he would sit with me. That hardly ever happens. He loves to play with me but gets grumpy if I try and do anything else like pick him up.

We had a really nice, warm, sunny day. Kodi went outside and just basked in the sunshine. He’s generally here, there, and everywhere but he was happy in the moment in the sun.

A walk in the neighborhood park gave us this great blue heron fishing in the creek.

On my walk around Lafortune Park found this guy and his girlfriend.

Also came across Mother Goose. Behind her you can see Alice and Peter Rabbit.

Here is a closeup of them.

I also found these feeding geese in a backwater of the Arkansas River on a recent bike ride.

I put my trailcam in the backyard again. I activated video. Stills are fine and are easier to edit but I like seeing the critters move. Here is a bird in the middle of the night.

That’s all my recent critter sitings. I’m linking with Saturday’s Critter s. Go check it out.

Saturday’s Critters – Geese and More

I took a bike ride along the Arkansas River and found these geese swimming in a backwater of the river.

I took a walk at Tulsa’s Lafortune Park and found these two geese grazing.

And on the other side of the park I saw these geese resting.

And this mallard duck paddling around.

A dove sitting on a fence at the park. Dove are the ideal critter models. They generally stay put if you don’t get too close.

And a moose sculpture near a pond.

And not too far away, this sculpture of a mother bison with a red dog (bison calf) stay on her heels.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – Squirrels, Bugs, and a Dog

My wife and I went to Philbrook Museum on Valentine’s Day and found this valentine’s squirrel out and about.

I took my “good” camera to Ray Harral Nature Center. I saw all sorts of birds and squirrels but the brush was so thick I couldn’t get a decent photo of anything, but I got this body shot of a squirrel with no head.

And they had a nice bug hotel. Does that count?

Kodi the Pomeranian and I are getting along a little bit better.

He had the zoomies the other day in the back yard and was quite playful.