Category Archives: Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – On the River

Egrets and great blue herons sharing the prime fishing spot downstream of the Zink Lake Dam.

More sharing downstream of the dam.

A closeup of a great blue heron.

Here is one fishing with one leg. Or maybe sleeping. I don’t know, its eyes are open.

And a human fishing from the rocks at the dam.

Headed back to the car on the bike path I come upon this gaggle of geese.

These pics are from my bike ride early this week. My knee has been feeling much better. I woke Wednesday and I had some bad back spasms. My wife drove me to the Urgent Care and the on duty Nurse Practioner, prescribed me some muscle relaxers, and she gave me the old man side to side hug telling me that I should take a week off from my bicycling, hiking, weight training, and yoga. My wife was in there and thought it was a hoot that I am officially elderly and harmless in the medical world’s eyes. I’m good with it, I will never say no to hug from somebody nice. So this morning (Saturday) I woke up and I think I might live for a little while longer. Yesterday I wasn’t so sure. Tell you what though, the medication makes me not want to drink alcohol. I’m afraid my stash might be getting out of date.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters

35th Anniversary Celebration at the Zoo

Earlier this week, Heather and I had our 35th year anniversary. It doesn’t seem that long in some ways but we have been through a lot together.

We decided to celebrate by grabbing our son and heading off to the Tulsa Zoo.

A highlight for me is that there new cubs, just born. They had a video feed into the nursery where momma tiger was giving her cubs a bath. Pretty cool.

Dad was close by, resting.

Lots of cats were resting, like these cheetahs.

And a jaguar.

An Aldabra Tortoise was on the move.

And these giraffe’s were not sleeping either.

These red and yellow barbets were sitting at attention.

And the red panda was up in their lair snoozing away.

The African penguins were getting ready for a dip.

The scarlet macaw was showing off.

The kanagaroo was frozen in place.

The gator was dreaming gator dreams.

A bald eagle was surveying the landscape.

The long tail finches were lunching.

The blue iguana was smiling at everybody.

The pink flamingoes were carefully guarding their new chick. I found out that a group of flamingoes is called a Flamboyance. I love it.

We had a great time!!

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

“Saturday’s Dam Critters”

Last Tuesday I loaded up my bike and went for a ride on the RiverParks trails here in Tulsa mainly to check on the brand spanking new pedestrian bridge and dam across the Arkansas River. I purposely missed the “Big Dam Party” that RiverParks put on for the opening over the Labor Day weekend.

So here is the new bridge, 1000 feet long from bank to bank. The dam is just on the other side of the bridge.

After big crowds during the party, I had the bridge to myself.

Down below the dam I saw this Great Blue Heron.

And a great egret.

And at one spot there were a bunch of egrets and blue herons together.

And three cats resting on the riverbank. Actually one cat and two Komatsu’s.

And a human critter jogging.

And two other human critters walking their dog.

And some oil and oil product storage tanks for the nearby refinery. A human critter on the bridge asked another human critter what they were for and the person said that President Biden outlawed oil storage in city limits and they were pretty sure that the City of Tulsa took them over to store water in case of a drought. Okay then. (Not true by the way).

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – Birds of a Feather

This sight greeted me the other morning. A red shouldered hawk squatting on my trailcam in our backyard. I think he was looking for a mouse. We have bird feeders in the backyard which attracts a few birds and a whole bunch of squirrels and a few mice.

The trailcam captured this cat in our backyard a while back. I’m thinking he might be carrying a mouse in his mouth.

I went to Philbrook Museum of Art the other day. I saw this squirrel resting for the intense midday heat.

And this big ole hippo sculpture made out of car bumpers.

I rode my bike on the Arkansas River the other day and found this egret fishing in the Arkansas River.

And this group of geese hanging out.

And this cross species collection of egrets and great blue herons sharing their fishing grounds.

After years of construction Tulsa is opening up the new pedestrian bridge and putting the new Zink Lake Dam into service this weekend. I’m going to wait until the hubbub has died down a little bit before I go check it out.

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

Saturday’s Critters – Wild Mustangs of Tulsa

Through my geocaching hobby I found out about a herd of wild mustangs that formally roamed the American west that are now pastured in a field northeast of Tulsa. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to find the geocache and take photos of the horses.

There is a viewing area right off the road where one can see some of the 2000 horses in the herd on private land. The area is next to a busy turnpike but that doesn’t seem to bother the animals.

They are originally from the western states and the BLM manages the population via adoption and relocation. You can read about the program here.

And here is an interesting blog post about the herd. The horses are feral and will live out their lives on this land. There is plenty of grass for them in the spring and summer and they get hay in the winter. The cost is subsidized by the federal government.

And hey look, there looks to be another herd on the other side of the turnpike!

So I got to see the horses and I found the geocache. I had to wait about 30 minutes because there was a Highway Patrol trooper parked there waiting to catch speeders coming off the turnpike I guess. So when he left I walked up to where he was parked and found the cache quickly. So win/win for that day.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

A Home Where the Deer Roam

Red River, New Mexico, high in the mountains was home to a bunch of deer.

This guy was watching me closely as I hunted for geocaches in the local cemetery.

Near the ski areas we saw lots of deer.

Near our condo we saw deer close to the river.

Walking the short hop to town we would see deer in the neighborhood.

Ducks liked the area as well. They seemed very acclimated to humans.

This one was ready for her closeup.

I loved seeing the duck convoys patrolling the river.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – On the Trail and at Home

I was hiking on Turkey Mountain and came across this black stick. Only it wasn’t a stick.

It was a friendly rat snake. We looked at each other for a little bit and then keeping his eyes on me he folded back along side his body and headed into the woods. I wish I had a video of it.

I was on a bike ride and while crossing the Arkansas River I spotted this big bird on a tall tree spreading his wings out. I don’t think it was an eagle but maybe a Turkey Vulture. The only birds I have seen do this were Anhinga’s down in New Orleans a few years ago. Sorry for the photo but all I had was my cell phone. Thank you to the dear readers who suggested that this bird is cormorant. I do believe that is right.

We are getting lots of rabbits in our back yard. Thankfully our dog Kodi ignores them.

And a blast of birds from one of our bird feeders.

That’s all for this week. I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out. Lots of talented photographers post there.

Backyard Critters and More

A possum skulking about at 3 in the morning.

A bunny checking out the trailcam

Another sighting of the black and white cat. I’ve seen a few mice in our yard so I’m guessing that the cat is here because of them.

And here is our cute little Pomeranian Kodi patrolling the back yard.

And a robin checking things out.

And a squirrel checking the camera out.

And the old guy that lives here mowing the yard finally after a prolonged rainy hot period.

And a squirrel rocking his tail in the sun making it look like a feather.

I went hiking at Oxley Nature Center and brought my superzoom camera. It had a depleted battery and this is the only shot I got but I liked it.

Went on a bike ride and met these ladies. A little on the heavy side but they carry their weight well.

Went walking at Lafortune Park and checked out “The Herd.” I still love that little red dog trying to keep up with its mom.

Also on my walk at Lafortune I had to check out the Golfapottamus at the golf course driving range.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters: In the River and the Backyard

A scoop of American White Pelicans in the Arkansas River that I saw earlier this week.

A lone great blue heron fishing by himself.

A small colony of great blue herons along with a single egret in the river.

This cardinal looks like he is attacking my trailcam. My wife laughs when birds land on the camera and then poop on it.

And a cardinal behaving himself at the feeder.

And a female getting a bite to eat.

I’m linking to Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – RiverParks Ride

I went for a bike ride on the trails alongside the Arkansas River July 5. The weather broke and the temperature was quite nice for a change. I took one of “good cameras” with me and this is part of what I saw.

A slider turtle basking on a rock.

I saw a bunch of great blue herons. Lonesome sentries all up and down the river.

And several white egrets.

And one of each in the same frame.

So this blurry photo was at the far end of my camera’s range. iNaturalist thinks it might be a golden eagle. I think it might be a young bald eagle. Any suggestions?

And here is a plump of geese. I love collective nouns for wildlife and geese seem to have more than any other animal. “Plump” is new to me and I love it.

And here is a group of people fishing just below Zink Dam. I get nervous when I see this because you have to wade out there through some fast moving water.

And another group below the dam. Note the guy in the middle has a dog on a leash.

The dam and nearby trails is not open to the public yet but I guess that doesn’t apply to this couple who showed up so the guy could take photos of the woman.

And this guy, far from the dam, in a legal spot chilling, listen to music maybe while pondering the river.

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

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