Here is out Lizzie the cat chilling out.
Sculpture on Tulsa RiverParks Trails of mule deer.
Some Canadian Geese in another sculpture on the RiverParks Trails
And also seen from the trail, a great blue heron fishing for its lunch in the Arkansas River.
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Our Pomeranian, Kodi. A tiny little dog with big feelings!
Lizzy the cat, the matriarch of our pets. We have another dog, Sadie who never sits still. Lizzy is Sadie’s favorite squeaky toy.
A pig chef on Route 66 in Tulsa. I love the silliness of route 66 attractions.
And a retired carousel horse getting new life on Route 66. It’s ready to ride. I also love the metal cactus to the left. The 100th anniversary of Route 66 is next year I think. It’s going to be epic in Tulsa.
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A robin I captured on Turkey Mountain Friday afternoon.
Another robin in the same area on a different pass yesterday.
Ducks on the fishing pond at Lafortune Park earlier in the week.
Two separate sculptures working together at the Scheel’s Store at the mall.
Lizzie the cat, grooming Sadie to dog in a tender moment.
Kodie and Sadie wanting in!!
Sadie on my lap while I was watching television the other night.
Finally a 21 second video of other critter moments during the week. Featuring the bird cam, a sparrow, a dove, an angry squirrel, and me and Sadie playing fetch. Yep, all that fits in 21 seconds so pay attention!!
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I was out hiking on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area, with my “good camera”, and I heard a bird call. The Merlin App said it was a Carolina Wren. So I just stopped and stood still and was looking around and I saw two little birds that I thought could be them. They are kind of flighty so I just waited until I had a clear shot and took several and this one was the best one of the lot. I’ve learned to use manual focus when I am shooting bird photos in trees and brush otherwise the camera will focus on miscellaneous twigs, branches and leaves. I know it is grainy, it is highly cropped. But I will take. Carolina Wrens are beautiful birds.
I think that I am slowly getting better spotting and photographing birds.
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I spotted this Great Blue Heron in the Arkansas River while I was bicycling.
On the same ride I stopped by this cool mural of a frog.
This is Sadie, our rescue terrier. She is a very sweet loving dog. She likes to play and play, and then she’ll stop and drop on the floor and fall fast asleep. Her fur is kind of scraggly but we love her just the same.
An Eurasian Eagle Owl on display at an event my wife and attended last week. What a beautiful bird. The handler said the owl flies free and hunts every day. He was only delayed once for an hour or so because some red shouldered hawks were attacking it, so it hid in a tree until the hawks went away.
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One of the great things about being retired is you really have a lot of time to do what you want to do. The other day I wanted to go to the zoo so I just went. The best time to go to the zoo is after school starts in the fall and during the week.
Notice the long line at the entrance. Not!! Zoo staff outnumbered visitors that day.
The first thing I did of course was go find a geocache. It involved the base of that rotating sculpture behind me. It was an earthcache so there were not a physical cache to find, I had to answer questions about the base. It took me a while but I think I got it.
And I passed by one of the pollinator gardens in the zoo. I spotted this Gulf Fritillary butterfly. What a beauty.
And this pipestone swallowtail.
And this hummingbird. I don’t know what kind and AI wasn’t sure. So if you know what kind it is please let me know in the comments. (Goes for any of the information in this post, let me know if I am wrong.)
From there I went to see the elephants. They are all Asiatic elephants. Elephants in zoos is very controversial. I get it.
And a komodo dragon.
And a kangaroo resting in the shade.
A pair of bald eagles.
A fuzzy photo of snow leopards chilling out.
An alligator floating in the water.
And a quartet of grey headed silverbills.
I took some short videos of other critters and then had my iphone stitch them together. The resulting clip is only 37 second long. Check it out if you have the time.
I loved my trip to the Tulsa Zoo. Do you like zoos? I love them.
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I visited the Philbrook Gardens here in Tulsa and found a couple of butterflies. I love it when I can capture them feeding from flowers.
A Gulf Fritillary butterfly feeding from a zinnia flower at the Philbrook Gardens.
A Buckeye Butterfly feeding on globe amaranth at the Philbrook Gardens.
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A female monarch butterfly in our backyard recently.
And a Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly on our patio.
And if you live anywhere near Northeast Oklahoma come to Chandler Park in Tulsa for Monarchs on the Mountain. It’s a yearly event about everything butterflies and the environment in general. It is very educational, bring your kids and it is free! No admission fee, free parking, just free. Lots of organizations will have booths and there will be presentations. Check this link for more details including the lineup of speakers and some of the ancillary events associated with Monarchs on the Mountain. If you go, come by the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition booth and say hello. I’ll be there.
(1) Monarchs on the Mountain | Facebook
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Some geese seen near Zink Dam on the Arkansas River as it runs through Tulsa.
A scoop of American White Pelicans near the geese.
Our rescue terrier, Sadie loves playing fetch, and playing fetch, and playing fetch some more.
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Last Sunday morning I grabbed my camera, bug spray, and sunblock and headed to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center to see what I could see.
Right at the visitor center entrance I found this bush quivering with all sorts of butterflies. Can’t really see all of them in the photo so check out the short video below.
It was a good start to my outing.
I went a little ways into the trails and found this guy, a red spotted purple butterfly from what google lens tells me.
And later on I found a great blue heron looking for their lunch. A bonus turtle is in the background.
And a female cardinal with her lunch in her beak already.
Another view of the same bird.
And a very fuzzy view of an indigo bunting. Those little guys are active flitting here and then there. I am still learning how to spot the little ones and take photos of them. Sometimes I just have to be happy with spotting a glimpse of them.
So I heard a lot more birds than I got photos of them. It is nice hearing them and the Merlin app is wonderful deciphering what kind of birds there are.
Sometimes I see a lot of deer at Oxley. The Oxley staff says they are overpopulated with deer. There is lots of food for them now, not so much in the winter. Below is a short video of the fawn.
I looked all over for their mom and didn’t see it. They are generally protective of their babies.
So I wibble wobbled around the preserve for a little less than three miles and enjoyed myself thoroughly. And to part, a poem from the former Artist in Residence at Oxley, Sasha. I thought it was pretty cool. And short, I love short poems.
Thank you for visiting. I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out.