The other day I had some time so I ventured off to north Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center to get some nature time. I wibbled and wobbled for about two miles slowly and saw a few critters.

From the porch at the visitor center overlooking the pond I found this bale of turtles swimming about. I googled what a group of turtles is called and it said that a group of turtles is called a “bale.” I love the names for groups of animals. My favorite is a “murder” of crows.

After the visitor center one enters a meadow where I found this black swallowtail butterfly getting something to eat. I saw lots of these critters in the park but they are really hard (for me) to photograph in the woods with the alternating shadow and sunlight. The meadow was a lot easier.

I saw lots of deer including this young one who didn’t like me and headed off across the mud in the creek behind him. I didn’t mean to stress him out.

There were lots of deer about. I’ve heard tell that the staff at Oxley think they are overpopulated with deer. It wouldn’t surprise me since every once in a while standing in a spot with good visibility I sometimes spot two or three widely separated groups.

I saw this deer on one of the trails. At first, due to its muddy feet, I thought it was the deer I saw earlier in the creek mud. Turns out that was a male, you could see the horns beginning to grow, and this one doesn’t have them.

I stalked this great blue heron for several minutes. It was fishing and didn’t want its photo taken so it kept moving away from me.

I finally got a photo of it out in the open.

There were lots of birds out there but I had trouble spotting them. I used my handy dandy Merlin bird ID app to identify them. Still couldn’t see them through all the tree foliage and brush.

I did spot this bird and got a photo of everything but its head. I think it is a downy woodpecker.

I also found this waddling of ducks in my wandering. Ms. Google tells me that a group of ducks on the ground is called a “waddling.” A “badelyng” or “badling” are also acceptable terms.

I had a great time. You know one species I didn’t see once I got away from the parking lot? Humans. Not a single one was sighted out on the trail. I love being retired and getting to do outdoors stuff during the week. I still feel like I am playing hooky after all these years.

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