Tag Archives: Birds

Critters found on Turkey Mountain and More

I went on a hike on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness the other day. I found this deer back in the brush. By the time I turned manual focus on, this deer and their two companions were gone.

Got a mile or so further and came up on some birds. I think they were tufted titmice. They were also hard to focus on but I got a few shots. They are extremely grainy because the birds are extremely small and even with my 300 mm lens I had to crop them a lot.

Merlin told me that it heard a northern flicker and a cardinal in the area as well. I spotted a northern cardinal and its mate but they were moving around too much for me.

And later at the far northern end of Turkey Mountain at Pepsi Lake I found these mallard ducks. It looks like two males were romancing a female. Today is Valentines day so I wonder what they got her.

I also saw a great blue heron.

At home a male cardinal visited the efeeder.

A dark eyed junco. I love these guys.

A house finch. Such loud voices from very small birds.

A squirrel caught on the trailcam.

Inside the house, Lizzy the cat was snoozing.

Kodi the Pomeranian was being his cute self.

Sadie was cuddling up in a throw.

That’s all folks. I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – Last of January 2026

It has been very cold here in Tulsa after our snow. Sadie has finally adapted. She loves to go outside and run around in the snow.

It exhausts her though. So she falls asleep in my lap while I’m watching tv at night.

Snow doesn’t phase our little Pom Kodi at all. We put him on a diet and it seems to be working so now he’s wanting to play fetch with me and Sadie, and he and Sadie chase each other around the house. He’s livened up quite a bit.

I’ve been trying to keep the birds fed using suet balls and other high energy foods. This cardinal wasn’t complaining.

I think this is a Carolina Wren that came by for a bite.

We get dark eyed juncos both on the feeder and on the ground.

There is something special about juncos.

And the opposite for the quiet juncos at the bluejays. Squawk, squawk, they say whenever they visit,.

A through the window photo.

And we get lots of doves. This one is all puffed up against the cold.

We had a bunch of hawks one afternoon. Noisy and boistrous.

Lots of squirrels.

That’s it for this week.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out, lots of great photographers who love all sorts of animals.

Saturday’s Critters – Last Weekend of July

I went hiking with a friend on Friday, we came upon this family of deer. My friend is kind of a speed hiker so I didn’t even take time to move myself so the one deer occluded by the tree was free. Oh well.

Various native pollinators have really been at work on my wife’s pink hibiscus shrub in the back yard.

And squirrels, boy do have squirrels. Most of them ignore the habanero flavored bird food but interestingly there are a few that love it.

Lizzie the cat loves to nap but when I get close to get a shot of her napping she always wakes up.

Long lines at the camera feeder. It is very popular.

Scattered birds

A bluejay (I think) at the peanut feeder

A 22 second video of some of the birds that visited the feeder.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters .

Saturday’s Critters – On the Lake, at the Mountain, and Home

I went on a bike ride the other day. I saw this great blue heron and a turtle hanging out together on Zink Dam here in Tulsa.

Nearby was this egret fishing for their lunch.

An isolated American White Pelican was paddling around.

I rode my bike over to the other side of the river and saw these geese wandering around.

Slim pickings on the backyard trailcam except for a couple of dog pics. This is our pom, Kodi.

And our rescue terrier, Sadie. Her tail is always straight up in the air.

With my camera I captured this mourning dove on the camera feeder.

And a sparrow with a bit of fluff it found.

A squirrel checking everything out.

A brown thrasher

A house finch

Another sparrow, tiny enough to sit down on the flat part of the fence picket.

I went hiking on Turkey Mountain on Wednesday. I heard all sorts of birds and even spotted some but I wasn’t quick enough to take their photo. Oh well, I saw this guy though out in the open and it was polite enough to wait for me while I got my camera, focused and took a few shots. Merlin and google images tell me that it is a Western King Bird. I had never heard of such a thing but there it is. Number 19 on my recently started life list.

Here’s the Merlin screenshots on the smart aleck birds that I could hear and not see.

And here is a short 57 second video of some of birds showed up at the camera feeder the past few days.

That’s about it for this week. I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – Flag Day Critters

A collage of some of the birds visiting our camera feeder.

Clockwise from top left:

A house sparrow feeding a chick right on the feeder.

What google lens tells me is a northern mockingbird.

A brown thrasher.

A house finch

A great tailed grackle

A northern cardinal.

Literally 90% or more of the birds at the feeder are mourning doves. Sorry I didn’t include a photo of one of them.

I’m using habanero flavored bird food supplemented with dried meal worms. Squirrels do hate the habanero flavor but strangely enough there is the odd squirrel that just gobbles it up.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Saturday’s Critters – Around the House

Sadie the rescue dog got her first spa day. I dropped her off for a trim and a bath. She seemed pretty happy when I picked her up.

Sweet Lizzy the cat is the queen of the house.

A bunny by day, from the backyard trailcam

And a bunny at night.

Some sort of bird, a grackle I’m guessing coming in for a landing on one of our feeders.

And a 53 second video on the birds that visited our camera feeder the past week or so. We have had tons of mourning doves, a few grackles, the occasional cardinal, some brown thrashers. Surprisingly, even though I am using the habanero laced feed there a few squirrels who eat hearty.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – Domestic Edition

Our new dog Sadie and me enjoying the backyard.

A squirrel cavorting around

And a couple of bunnies.

The squirrels and bunnies are way too used to Kodi, the Pomeranian, who is more interested in barking at other critters than chasing them. Sadie is really interested in chasing them and is a lot faster than Kodi so the resident critters need to be more careful.

Speaking of Kodi here he is. Tail up high so we know he is in a good mood.

An action shot of me with the electric mower.

And Sadie again

And a male northern cardinal out wandering around the backyard for some reason.

Sadie wants to be friends with Lizzie the Cat and Lizzie is okay with that but wants boundaries set. So they will lay cheek to cheek like this but Sadie wants to clean LIzzies ears and when that happens there is a lot of hissing, spitting, yowling and Sadie getting his head whacked on the head by Lizzie’s paws.

An elegant mourning dove at the camera feeder.

A 24 second video of some of the birds at the feeder. You can see more mourning doves, a northern cardinal, a common grackle, and a house finch.

That’s about it for this week. I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Backyard Warm Afternoon Critters

Last Monday it was warm, all day. I declared it a shorts day and took a drink, my book, and camera out to the backyard.

Robins were out and about.

This is the same robin only on a fence and turned away. Amazing to me how they look like a completely different bird.

The mourning doves were out and about. They are such calm birds.

I got some golden hour light on this one.

This is a 29 second video summarizing the non-sparrow birds that visit the camera feeder. I’m up to about 220 visits a day. Almosts all of them house sparrows with some juncos thrown in. So what I call interesting birds is not very many. That’s okay.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

RiverParks Art Themed Adventure Lab Geocaching

Another wildlife art themed Adventure Lab Geocache popped up on the Tulsa RiverParks so I ventured out there on a cold day to figure it out.

It was done by the same guy that did another one a couple months ago. So you key on these wildlife sculptures, and you have to get some information from the accompanying plaque to prove you were there. Also, you get a clue to a real geocache in a container.

The Moose and Me – could be a book title.

So I hobbled up and down the RiverParks trails chasing down these clues.

Geese

A bald eagle. I have seen real ones cruising up and down the river and perched on logs in the river.

I did spot a hawk looking for his lunch.

And I saw white bird, maybe a seagull, I don’t know flying up ther river.

So I got my certificate that I completed the cache. I was also the “First to Find” for it. That is a big deal to us nerdy types. I found the real associated cache and was the FTF for it as well. It felt good to get out of the house after the stretch of nasty weather we had.

I still have my bird camera going. I get over 120 hits and day. I’m going to say literally 95% are house sparrow, 3% are juncos, 1% are dove, and 1% are squirrels. So here is a one minute video of selected birds for the past week.

That is it this week. I hope everyone is doing well.

Saturday’s Critters

Saturday’s Critters – 25 January 2025

These are some older photos from our trailcam that I had on the back patio back when it snowed.

A dark eyed junco (toward the bottom of the photo)

A squirrel, we have lots of those and they eat a lot.

A male Northern Cardinal

A female Cardinal, (under the chair to the right)

I think these are a pair of house finches.

Kodi, our Pomeranian, loves the snow.

He also likes being snug and warm. It was so much of a fight to get him in the crate we just let him sleep in his bed beside our bed. He stays in it all night and has no problem settling down for the night. Win/win.

Lizzie never quite gets enough nap time.

Here they are together in the living room.

A couple of geese I found at the local mall.

Still loving my bird camera. I am getting about 140 visits a day. So this is a 30 second video showing the different species of birds that come visit. House sparrows, cardinals, black eyed juncos, mourning doves, an occasional house finch. It’s quite the device.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

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