Tag Archives: Oxley Nature Center

Saturday’s Critters – Exploring Oxley Nature Center

I headed out recently to Oxley Nature Center in north Tulsa to hike the trails and see what kind of animals were out and about.

During the middle of the day I didn’t expect to find any deer but I found a small family of three resting in the woods. They didn’t seem too bothered by me.

This young one was browsing then laid down with its back to me. Go Away!!

I found this cool butterfly resting on a trail. Google Lens tells me that it is a Gorgone Checkerspot. I have never heard of such a thing.

This turtle was catching a few rays.

Two grown and two baby geese (goslings). I’ve done my research and apparently you can’t call a group of geese less than five in number a gaggle of geese. A group of swimming geese is called a plump. So here is plump of geese. I find the names of groups of animals fascinating. My favorite is a Murder of Crows. So I can truthfully say that I have seen a few murders.

A raft of ducks. I think this raft is blue wing teals according to google lens.

And a solitary great blue heron.

Too blurry of a photo for an ID but these birds were swooping all over the place. I got a new word maybe. A group of unidentified blurry birds flying really fast is called a Swoop. You heard it first here. You better check in often to keep up to date.

I found this funky looking dragonfly on a trail. Not good enough of a photo to get google lens to give me results that I am happy with.

And on the home front.

Our six pound Pomeranian puppy Kodi is a bundle of energy. He hates to be separated from my wife. If she is outside he pogos at the door to join her. When she’s inside he wants in. I guess that he has separation anxiety.

That’s it for this week. I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out, lots of great animalcentric posts by some very talented photobloggers.

Skywatch Friday – The North Woods at Oxley Nature Center

A week and a half ago, late on a Sunday afternoon, I went on a hike at Oxley Nature Center’s North Woods area. I love the North Woods area because it is beautiful, the trails are well maintained and hardly anybody besides me goes there even on a nice weekend afternoon.

It’s kind of a walking meditation.

Be careful while you are meditating and walking though. This thing will give you a headache.

The staff and volunteers are always tweaking and improving things on the trails.

It’s got water views and benches.

And what I call tree tunnels cutting through the woods. I love to come here when it is windy like it was on my hike. The woods are thick so there is no wind on the ground but you can hear the wind as it moves through the tops of the trees.

Later on in the spring, the reflections will be prettier.

I was hoping to see deer, not today!

And the end.

I try and go on all the trails during my visits to the North Woods. That entails taking some of the trails twice. That’s alright.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday.

Shadowy Shots at Home and on the Trail

Our tiny five pound plus Pomeranian puppy Kodi gets lost in the shadows sometimes.

Fresh blooming Mexican Plum stands out from the shadows at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center

Shadows casting across a trail sign at Oxley.

Because of our dry spell, trees are casting shadows instead of reflections across a dusty dry lake bed.

I”m late but I’m still linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Saturday’s Critters – Oxley Nature Center

On my hike out to Oxley Nature Center I cam across this little critter. I may be wrong but I think this white-tailed deer is a yearling. It kept looking over to our right and I saw what I think was its mother.

She wandered over to where the young one was. They didn’t run off. They were grazing and moving slowly away from me.

Meanwhile I spotted dad he was way away amongst some underbrush in this tightly cropped photo which explains why it is so grainy. We all love using manual mode on our cameras and looking down on those still using automatic mode. I’ve learned though when going through the woods where the lighting is variable that I am best served in auto mode, without the flash, and using manual focus. Otherwise the camera wants to focus on the tall grass and miscellaneous branches. There you have it!! True confessions.

I also came across this armadillo. I have seen more armadilllos this year in northeast Oklahoma than I have in the thirty years that I have lived here. What is the deal?

I got a little video of him snuffing around. They are blind and deaf apparently. They look very ancient. I have a feeling that when human kind is goine, armadillos will be rooting around the ruins of our cities looking for bugs and other stuff to eat.

There were a lot of waterfowl out and about on the ponds and lakes but they were staying way away from me. I’m not much of a bird guy but I think these are mallard ducks. Correcting my ID of these critters will certainly not hurt my feelings.

That’s it for this week. My cats got tired of being featured every week. They want royalties, or at least a food upgrade or some new toys.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Come join in!!

Waterfowl at Oxley Nature Center

On my recent hike at Oxley Nature Center in Tulsa. I came upon lots of deer but they were skittish and took off and I couldn’t get a clear shot through the underbrush. I also saw a possum but had the same problem. I did come across these birds on a lake paddling around. I didn’t have a very long lens because I was trying for more foliage views than long range photography. I am not sure what kind of birds these are.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Go check them out!

An Afternoon at Oxley Nature Center

Wednesday here in Oklahoma started cold, about 29F but it was clear and it warmed up nicely and the skies were clear in the afternoon into the 40’s so I bundled up and drove to north Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center to get some trail time and sunlight.

I took the trail called the North Woods Loop. I have been on this trail dozens of times over the years and hardly ever see anybody. Today there was nobody at all.

The air was crisp and the skies were blue. It was late afternoon and the lowering sun illuminated everything perfectly.

There were lots of dead leaves on the trail which made it hard to walk stealthily.

The sun was brilliant shining through the remaining leaves leaving an impression almost like stained glass.

It was a great day to be out in the woods.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Tulsa Skies

On a bike ride a week or so ago I stopped and took a photo across the Arkansas River to this power plant. Yep, I used a filter.

From the same spot I turned about 30 degrees to my right and captured this scene of the new pedestrian bridge and low water dam going on. They are really busy, busy, busy with all the work going on. Who knows when it is going to be done.

A few days later I took my bike back to the river to do another dam inspection trip and the skies opened up. Fortunately, I hadn’t started my ride yet.

A few days later I was walking in a park and captured this scene.

I took a hike on Turkey Mountain and captured a scene at Pepsi Lake.

The trail I was on came out on a powerline right of way and hey, there is the office building I worked in for about half my career way on downtown. I waved, “Hey guys, get your butts back to work.”

That’s about it for this week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in the fun!!

Shady Woods on a Hot Day

An Armadillo escaping the heat in the woods.

A fawn in the deep woods staying close to its mother.

When its hot, the woods are the place to be. This is son going ahead of me.

Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Check it out.

Hiking at Oxley Nature Center

Friday morning I talked son Logan into going on a hike with me to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.

In the parking lot we spotted a swallowtail butterfly. Swallowtails move around a lot so I just kept taking photos hoping one would be okay.

Later on in our hike we found a doe and her fawn in the woods. They were kind of skittish and the woods were thick so it was hard to get a good photo.

And later came upon this armadillo rooting around for something to eat. It pretty ignored us. I don’t think they see or hear very well. Years ago when I lived in south Texas they got hit a lot on the roads.

And as we were leaving we saw this doe and her two offspring. I think one might be a yearling and the other a pretty new fawn. They ignored as well.

Here’s my hiking companion, son Logan who has started a couple classes in the local community college’s Paralegal Program.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Come check out it!!

Weekend Critters – Oxley Nature Center and More

Earlier this week I spent the morning at Oxley Nature Center here in Tulsa. I was hoping to see some deer but I went too late for that I think. I did find some mosquitos, or rather they they found me!! Thanks to slathering on my 40% DEET repellant and I emerged unscathed from them but they followed me everywhere.

While still on the boardwalk off the visitor center I spotted this gray squirrel and their friend. They are very shy.

Just off the boardwalk I found these. INaturalist says they may be a wild iris. I loved the color.

Where a Green Heron had been just a minute or two earlier.

I walked on down to Coal Creek and stopped at this swampy area. There was a guy there with a huge camera and one of those gigantic grey colored lens on it. He said there was a green heron. He told me where to go to see it which was just a few steps from where I was standing. So I went over and looked and looked, he eventually wandered back and tried to help me find it but he couldn’t find it either. He showed me one of photos he captured and then left. So I stayed for a while and two other people showed up making lots of noise and then the heron sprang up from right where I had been looking and went into the tree canopy and I lost sight of it. I just got a glimpse of it. I’d never seen one before.

And then I walked along Coal Creek hoping to see the otters that live there but again, too late in the day. These turtles were all over the place.

I was walking along one of the muddy trails and saw this snake wriggling its way along the same trail. It slithered into the brush so I went and found it. I think it is a rat snake. Lots of them at Oxley.

And here is a Relive Video of my first hike at Oxley.

I went back to the Visitor Center and drove to a remote section of Oxley called the North Woods and hiked their loop. I saw no wildlife at all except the mosquitos were really out. I was hiking along and I heard this sound like some critter was really in distress. What in the world I thought and I came up on this group of four guys with big huge cameras and they had an electronic device that was making very loud bird calls. All the birds in the area were responding to it and the guys were scoping the trees with binoculars. When they saw me they acted a little sheepish, and told me they were trying to call warblers. I said okay and walked on and they took their device and moved on elsewhere. Anyway I enjoyed the rest of my hike without the racket they were making.

Here is the Relive Video of my second hike.

On the home front, we put out a hummingbird feeder and within a day we saw a hummingbird feeding at it. I put up my trailcam and no hummingbird’s on it yet. We got this squirrel checking it out.

The only bird I’ve captured is this hawk (I think it’s a hawk) high in the air.

Speaking of squirrels, here is an action shot of me mowing the yard.

I’m linking Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out!

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