An early morning (for a retired guy) shot Saturday morning. I love Spring mornings even when it is 42F. They warm up fast. That is our terrier mix adoption dog Sadie off to the left. Today (Sunday, the 19th) is her “Gotcha Day.” We brought her home one year ago today. She is a little sweetie.
A tree with its shadow during a dog walk in our neighborhood greenbelt. I’ve been playing around with the miniaturization feature in my IPhone’s Camera+ app.
A photographers blind with scattered shadows at Ray Harral Nature Center in Broken Arrow.
Here is our terrier mix rescue Sadie. Sweetest dog ever and she loves taking a nap in the sun after chasing rabbits and squirrels all over the back yard.
And a turtle I found crossing a trail at Ray Harral Nature Center in Broken Arrow, OK. Something about turtles, they are crossing everything from trails to freeways right now in Oklahoma.
A Komodo Dragon at the Tulsa Zoo.
A “tower” of Giraffes milling around at the zoo waiting to be fed. I love collective nouns of animals. Tower is new to me and might be my favorite. A murder of crows is pretty high up there also.
Fun fact: See the green pipe in the background. That is for the zoo’s elephant enclosure. It was donated to the zoo by one of my previous employers, ONEOK, Inc. It is brand new pipe with the green coating used for buried pipe to protect it from corrosion. The pipe and its coating costs a fortune.
It has been raining a lot in Tulsa lately. It makes the trails muddy and I don’t want to damage them so I go places with more sustainable trails. Fortunately Ray Harral Nature Center in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow has asphalt paved trails so that is one of my go to’s when I get the yen to go hiking when things are muddy.
I found this male northern cardinal. I brought my good camera and he was nice enough to sit still while I got his photo. I saw glimpses of other birds but didn’t get their photos.
Found this young squirrel playing coy with me.
I used the Merlin App to track who else was around. I got a glimpse of a red-eyed vireo. The Fish Crow called loudly as did the Carolina Wren.
I spotted this painted rock in one of the pollinator gardens at the center. I put it in my pocket and carried it around during my hike and then put it in a different pollinator plot not very far from where I found it. I used to love making painted rocks and hiding them. I am going to get some paint and sealer and try again. I’m not much of an artist and I settled on a yellow sunburst on a blue background. A friend of mine mocked me saying that Walmart was going to sue me for infringing on their logo.
When I first started I hid them way too well and nobody was finding them. I guess from my geocaching background. So I started putting them in more visible places and that worked out better.
A bunny wandered into range in my backyard trailcam.
And a brown thrasher.
Yesterday we got a reprieve from the rain so son and I mowed the yard. I mowed the front as he caught up on his beauty sleep. I trimmed the front and backyards. My 35 year old cord electric trimmer finally quit a couple weeks ago and I got a nice battery powered model to replace it. Much more powerful and convenient than dragging a cord around all over the place.
So son mowed the backyard. He likes to be creative in his patterns. Used to drive me crazy cuz of all the mohawks he left but now he is still creative yet no more mohawks. (Mohawks are unmowed strips of grass that look kind of like a Mowhawk haircut.) I think he got tired of mowing the yard twice.
It got hot, yesterday, here I am all cleaned up doing my zombie walk in the 105F heat. (I don’t think it got to 105 but it was still hot.)
Don’t forget to cheer for the Oklahoma Thunder Sunday evening when they battle the Indiana Pacers in the final game of the NBA Championship!
I am linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out. Lots of talented photographers participate.
I fired the drone up over the backyard last week toward the end of the day.
It had been raining and I wanted to go hiking so I went to Broken Arrow’s Ray Harral Nature Center. A beautiful place with many paved hiking trails so one can go hiking while adhering to Leave No Trace guidelines. The end of the hike I found this composition with flowers, trees, and a sky. Nothing earth shattering, just kind of pleasant.
A squirrel getting a drink and scrutinizing the trailcam
Catching Kodi, the Pomeranian, in the back yard
I went on a hike at Ray Harral Nature Center. Most of the critters were elusive. This fat little guy watched me while I walked by as he ate his lunch.
I could hear birds but didn’t see them except for glimpses of the cardinal.
I still haven’t seen a Carolina Wren in real life. I don’t add birds to my life list unless I see them and get a photograph. I think I am up to eight birds on my list. Don’t laugh at me.
I went on a walk along the Arkansas River and saw these. I think they are seagulls.
That’s a wrap. I’m wishing everyone and their families a Happy and Healthy New Years.
On Valentine’s Day my bride, Heather, and I visited the Philbrook Museum here in Tulsa. I found this shadow outside. It reminded me of a carpet runner.
And then here is me casting my shadow on another set of stairs.
We warmed up briefly here in Oklahoma and I declared it to be the year’s first shorts day. I went to Ray Harral Nature Center and captured this shadow on their revamped hiking trail bridge.
Toward the end of my outing the I found this scene where the pine tree crown is in the sun while the bottom of the trees are getting shadowed by the declining sun.
