We got to missing our little bunnies and wondered where they were so I put the trailcam on their favorite yarrow patch and one showed up the other day.
We are worried about our puppy Kodi getting them but so far he just half heartedly chases them.
Every once in a while he goes on the hunt for them and gets one to run but like I said his heart is not in it. WHICH IS FINE BY ME!!
I captured myself cutting the grass the other day. I am about the only person on the street that still mows their own yard.
And here is Lizzie. She never goes out in the back yard but she likes to check out the action through the window when she is not napping. She naps a lot.
I went on a bike ride earlier this week along the RiverParks Trails here in Tulsa and took along my superzoom camera. I captured this flock of great blue herons egrets fishing along a channel in the Arkansas River.
I always like catching birds in flight.
Another mixed flock of birds fishing in a different spot.
This heron was all by himself.
Upriver were some geese.
A couple of egrets checking out the action.
Another shot of an egret with a heron.
And a butterfly flitting around our backyard.
Lizzy the cat checking on the cicada action on the back porch. She likes to watch them. Our pom Kodi likes to eat them. Yuck!!
Hoof prints found during a hike on Turkey Mountain. They have asked for people not to ride horseback on the new trails but some people insist on doing their own thing.
Our backyard trailcam caught this cat wandering into the bed of yarrow where our resident little cottontail kit hangs out.
It came out a few minutes later. Fortunately the kit is still around as well.
Here is Kodi our chocolate colored fur ball taking a break on his walk.
We try and walk him daily in our neighborhood green belt. It backs up to several backyards with dogs and sometimes they are out and they can bark at each other.
A summer heat dome has settled in over Tulsa. Very hot and humid but I am kind of used to it so instead of exercising at a gym I am spending a lot more time outside. I mean you know, it is summer in Oklahoma and that is just the way it is. So I’ve been out in the woods a lot more lately and I am not seeing much in the way of critters. I am sure they are resting during the heat of the day. Well, I came across a little turtle hiding in plain sight.
Our Pomeranian, Kodi on the other hand is a fluff ball so we only walk him early in the mornings otherwise he gets a little overhead. So we play endless games of fetch in the house. Him being the prince of the house decided to jump over to our coffee table the other day. We tried telling him that it is a coffee table and a dog table but he wasn’t going for it.
That’s it for this week. I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters, go check it out.
I visited Springerville, Arizona for a high school reunion. I had some free time so I went on a hike on a trail built and maintained by the Arizona Wildlife Department along the Little Colorado River as part of the Becker Wildlife Area. I saw lots of birds who were too active and in too much cover for me to get photographs.
I did capture this fuzzy photo of what might be a swallow of some sort. I got it posted on iNaturalist and they are pretty good about figuring out what the various critters are. Update! The consensus from iNaturalist is that this is a Northern Rough Winged Swallow.
There was some private land adjacent to the trail. I got this far off shot of what might a longhorn cow. It was in a pasture with some angus cows.
This section of the Little Colorado River is managed for trout fishing and they have done a lot of work to stabilize the banks. Here is a weir put up to divert some of the water for irrigation. Downstream of the weir was a deep pool and it seemed a very popular spot for trout fishing.
The river also has several beaver dams so there are pools above the dams and running water below.
Our family lived in this area back in the late 60’s early 70’s. My brother and I liked to go fishing in the river upstream of this area. We didn’t catch any fish but the ice cold water felt good on our feet on hot summer days.
They didn’t have these cool riverside trails and bridges back then.
The trail out and back was only about a mile long but it was an enjoyable walk. A fellow hiker I encountered said that a rattlesnake was seen on the part of the trail I was headed towards. I thanked him for the information and went on my way. This part of Arizona is thick with rattlesnakes. We saw several on our property when we lived here and my brother and I felt duty bound to kill them all. I leave all snakes alone now. This is where they live and they have their role in nature. Anyway, I didn’t see it. I’m sure it saw me!
I find Swallowtail Butterflies a challenge to photograph. Unlike monarchs, swallowtails are here there and everywhere. We had one in the front yard the other day that wasn’t so active so I was able to capture an image with my phone camera.
And a short video, even though I lost it for a second.
And here is Lizzie, she sits still.
Our little pomeranian, Kodi never sits still, he is here there and everywhere.
We just got back from a short trip down to southeast Oklahoma. We rented a cabin and packed a lot of stuff, including relaxation time, in just a few days.
We saw lots of deer. This one we spotted close to an automatic feeder. That is a great way to get deer to show up, or me for that matter. Just feed me and the deer on a regular basis.
The cabin we rented had a deer feeder.
The feeder went off at 6 am every morning for just a few seconds.
The deer hang out eating until about 6:45 and then they wandered off. I guess a neighbor’s feeder came on a 7?
They are very beautiful to look at and graceful in their movements.
You can tell they are used to people but still watchful.
All sorts of grey squirrels showed up to feast from the feeder.
And this critter showed up and stood stone still for many minutes. Just inside the hadows I didn’t get a decent photo of it. I don’t think I have ever seen such a critter. Google Lens says that it might be a swamp rabbit. Inaturalist is still pondering the results of my crappy photo.
Our little seven pound pomeranian puppy Kodi is getting swimming lessons from Heather on the Mountain Fork River. The little dog a trooper on the trail, straining his leash out ahead of us.
We came across this charred wooden bear on one of the walks in our cabin neighborhood. I’m guessing that it was done on purpose. Why, I don’t know.
Our cabin had a baby sasquatch inside. I love the big feet!!
I went on a bike ride the other day. I saw this bald eagle. Very far away almost past the limit of my camera. Two years ago I was quite sure that I had never seen a bald eagle in the wild. Since then I have seen lots of them.
And nearby a brief of White Pelicans. They are beautiful and comical at the same time.
And one of the big loners of the world, a Great Blue Heron. In some places, like on a beach, they are almost social with people but usually they keep their distance.
And I focused on a random pile of rocks and sure enough there were some basking turtles. They use up all the rocks and dead trees in the river.
And switching gears, our little Kodi, the Pomeranian graduated from puppy school!!
Here is what he was best at, the thirty foot treat run. He’s really been a good dog and we love him.
