Category Archives: Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – Hochatown Deer, Snakes and Sasquatch

This past week the family spent some time at Hochatown, Oklahoma near Beavers Bend State Park for a little R&R. Since I am retired we can take a weekend getaway during the middle of the week and avoid the crowds! We are not big on crowds.

We rented a very nice cabin with all sorts of amenities. The best thing was all the deer that came by to visit early in the morning.

Deer are really graceful but very wary. As well they should be.

So we sat still on the porch as they came by.

We went hiking a few days in the park. We found this little armadillo on our first hike. They really are intriguing creatures.

But then we come across this snake that Heather almost stepped on. She thought it was a copperhead which is of course venomous. I kept telling her to get close enough to see the shape of the eyes to make sure. She refused. INaturalist confirmed it was a copperhead. It was laying right on the edge of the trail and refused to move so we just edged around him best we could. It was one of the biggest copperheads I have ever seen.

Later on during a walk around our cabin neighborhood we come across Bigfoot. Neither Heather or Kodi were afraid of him one bit.

Kodi loved our getaway. We didn’t take him on any hikes but we did lots of walks around the cabin and took him to a dog friendly brewery. He had a great time. As did we.

We went kayaking while down there, here is an action shot of Logan. We didn’t see any critters on the water except for birds.

Speaking of birds, have you tried the Merlin app. A free app and you download a bird song library and then you turn it on and it ID’s the birds by their songs. It’s amazing. The only thing is that it doesn’t locate the little buggers for you. So now I’m just taking screen shots of what it is hearing. It is truly amazing.

I’m linking to Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – A Karen Squirrel

My trailcam picked up an apparently disgusted squirrel wondering just when we are going to refill the bird feeders. I think it wants to talk to the manager.

Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – Trailcam Madness

I had the trailcam out for quite a while. I have hundreds of videos and stills showing the feeder blowing back and forth in the wind. Here is a mob of birds.

And a couple of doves swooping in to an empty feeder.

And some old retired guy with a funny hat mowing his yard.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!!

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

Pelicans on the Arkansas River

I took a bike ride on Tulsa’s RiverParks trails alongside the Arkansas River. There were lots of pelicans out and about that day.

Some standing on a sandbar preening themselves.

Others jostling for position just downstream of Zink Dam.

They are such funny looking creatures except when they fly. Then they are very graceful.

Sorry for the fuzzy closeup.

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

Critter Photowalk Around Lafortune Park

I posted earlier this week about a photowalk I took around Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. I saved my animal pics I captured on the walk for Saturday’s Crittes.

One Goose by Land

Two Geese by uh well, pond.

A squirrel sniffing the dirt

A Yellow Crowned Night Heron (I think, feel free to correct if I am wrong).

And a lonely duck.

I’m linking with 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

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.

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