Tag Archives: Oxley Nature Center

Checking out the Deer and Birds at Oxley Nature Center

I went hiking near the end of September at Oxley Nature Center and took lots of photos. My posts this week have been centerd around that hike, so here is one more for Saturday’s Critters.

A doe and her fawns slip into the forest before I even get to the Nature Center.

I heard lots of birds and even saw some of them but got very few photographs of them. For my style of photography I need them to sit still while I fuss with the camera. This robin sat all he could then he left.

A fuzzy photo of a deer.

I found a big wildflower patch.

A cardinal playing peekaboo with me.

I love Eileen’s Blog and the other people who post on her Saturday’s Critters meme. I’ve learned so much. One of the latest things I’ve learned is to keep the Merlin App open during my entire hike so I can capture everything. It works. It goes against the grain. My whole life growing up I heard every day, “Turn out the lights! Turn off the television! Close the refrigerator door! You know what I am talking about. So now I do luxuriant power expenditures on Merlin and it works great!

Merlin Screenshot at Oxley Nature Center

Merlin Screenshot from Oxley Nature Center

Another deer. Sorry, another boomer trait, don’t waste photos.

A blob of a crow perched on a branch.

And here is a review of my hike from Relive. It will show some of the photo you have seen today.

I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out. Lots of dedicated animal lovers there!

Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center Skywatching

The prairie at Oxley Nature Center.

Morning Sun on the Trees at Oxley Nature Center

The trees at the edge of the prairie welcoming the morning sun.

A little further on I came upon Bird Creek.

Later on in my hike I came across Coal Creek. This is the lowest I have ever seen it. I’m told by the staff that if one gets here early in the morning one can see a family of otters swimming around. I have yet to catch them. I’ve seen muskrats which I think some people confuse with otters.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday. You can also go direct to the inlinkz linky.

Almost Wordless Wandering at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center

Bird Creek Trail Wicket at Oxley Nature Center

Last month I went hiking at Oxley Nature Center.

Leaf Carpeted Trail at Oxley Nature Center

I loved the leaf carpeted trail

Trail at Oxley Nature Center (abandoned street"

This is old US 169 that ran into town. Now it is an asphalt trail at Oxley

Big Trees

American Persimmon

Blue Mistflower

Common Boneset

The walkway across the dry field formerly known as the Marsh. We need some rain.

How about a Trail Poem

I finally figured that I would run the Merlin App the whole time of my hike. I picked up a ton of birds on it.

I love the Merlin App.

I am linking with Wordless Wednesday

Shadowy Trail Bridges

I went hiking at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center last week. I saw all sorts of stuff including a couple of shadowy trail bridges

Shadowy Trail Bridge at Oxley Nature Center

I’m linking to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Town and Country Archives

Today I reach back ten years ago for shadows.

Trees turning color in downtown Tulsa.

The deep shadows of Guthrie Green, a popular event space in downtown.

A shadowy guest house of some family friends out int he country. Notice the chicken!

Riding bikes on Tulsa’s RiverParks Trails. That’s my wife, Heather, up ahead of me. She is usually ahead of me in many areas besides bicycles.

A “tree tunnel” at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Skywatch Friday – Hiking Oxley Nature Center

A couple weeks ago I felt like moving around so I ventured off to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center on an overcast day to wander around and see what I could see.

Oxley during the week is great. Nobody is there!! I didn’t see too many critters though. Oh well.

They have great flat trails there. Hardly a rock to trip over anywhere. Don’t worry I trip over roots, stubs, branches, and my own feet.

A repurposed major highway cuts through Oxley as a big wide, sustainable trail. I’ve seen lots of critters from this over the years when the trails are really too muddy to walk on.

I found me a big mess of fungi. Google lens tells me that this could be turkey tail. They gave several other possibilities and I picked Turkey Tail cuz I liked the name.

I come across a bridge with its own poem. It’s called “This Drop” by Sasha A. Martin. She was the “Artist in Residence” at Oxley a few years ago. I never met her but I would like to do so.

When she left they posted her poems all over Oxley. I always love seeing them. She is on instagram and her handle is @thatsashamartin. She is super talented.

The birds were out chirping away but I couldn’t get more than a glimpse of any of them except for the cardinals. They are hard to miss but they don’t wait long enough for me to focus and get a photo. Still it was nice having the Merlin App so I could figure out what they are.

Another nice surprise was the lakes, creeks, and marshes being full of water. I couldn’t quite figure it out until I said something on social media about it and then several people piped up and said that the low water dam holding water on the park had failed in the last year or two and they finally got it repaired and working again a few months ago. I was like, ohh. I pride myself on knowing what is going with stuff like that and everyone but me knew.

My pride will recover, in the meantime I am happy with the water being restored to Oxley.

I love boardwalks across marshes.

Here is the Nature Center at the Nature Center. Very well informed volunteers hang out there. I usually bypass it because I know where I am going. If I had stopped and asked why the low water, I am sure they would have told me.

Here is my wibble wobbling route on my hike. About 2.7 miles or so I think.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and Galeria Himmelsblick

Saturday’s Critters – White Tailed Deer

A couple of legacy photographs of deer at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.

A lone deer on one of the water pipeline rights of way that run through the park. Oxley is my go to place for finding deer.

Another legacy photo that I had on the default setting of private that indicates that I have never published this photo before. A group of three deer including one looking at me right in the eye.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Shadow Shot Sunday – Park Shadows

Photographer blind shadows at Oxley Nature Center

Boardwalk Shadows also at Oxley Nature Center.

A tree with premature balding Manion Park in Tulsa. You can see the photographer’s selfie at the bottom. He had premature balding starting about 55 years ago! He tells everyone that he doesn’t waste his hormones growing hair.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Saturday’s Critters – White Tailed Deer of Oxley Nature Center

During a hike at Oxley Nature Center last Sunday I saw a few deer out and about. They were not in the open they were in brush and trees. So I got to practice simultaneously manual focusing, and aperture. Not that good at it but I got a few decent photos.

I love seeing deer out in the wild.

It is always so unexpected.

Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – A Fall Outing at Oxley Nature Center

Last Sunday morning, I attended Church of the Trees at Oxley Nature Center.

I saw the light right after I started. I loved the sun in the forest and I love the poem that a former “Artist in Residence” at Oxley wrote.

I love short poems. I really like the title of this one, “Sunfall.” There is a reason we need to have poets. They know what to call things, and how to describe them.

Found me a new favorite tree.

And instead of stained glass we had the light filtering through these leaves.

I loved the light on the trees bordering a water pipeline right of way in the park.

And another long boardwalk.

And a maple leaf near the end of my walk.

And bonus video content, only 71 seconds long.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

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