Tag Archives: Turkey Mountain

Shadow Shots – Here and There

Shadowy walk to the beach from our condo on vacation on the Gulf Coast.

Shadows on a bench on an overlook at Gulf State Park in Alabama.

Shadowy Benches installed at the hub of several trails on my beloved Turkey Mountain. A team of volunteers carried by hand about a half mile,the benches, several bags of concrete, several five gallon buckets of water and the tools for job and then installed them after clearing the area. (Note, I did not do any of the heavy lifting, but you know somebody has to take the pictures.)

A morning shadow in the backyard.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Shadow Shot Sunday – On the River and on the Mountain

I went on a bike ride this morning on the RiverParks trails and stopped at the Cyrus Avery Bridge on Route 66.

Nearby is the Tulsa Sign Park memorializing old motels and their signs on Route 66.

And then earlier this week I hiked on Turkey Mountain and found this shadow.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

River Critters and More

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I went on a bike ride earlier this week along the RiverParks Trails here in Tulsa and took along my superzoom camera. I captured this flock of great blue herons egrets fishing along a channel in the Arkansas River.

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I always like catching birds in flight.

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Another mixed flock of birds fishing in a different spot.

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This heron was all by himself.

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Upriver were some geese.

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A couple of egrets checking out the action.

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Another shot of an egret with a heron.

And a butterfly flitting around our backyard.

Lizzy the cat checking on the cicada action on the back porch. She likes to watch them. Our pom Kodi likes to eat them. Yuck!!

Hoof prints found during a hike on Turkey Mountain. They have asked for people not to ride horseback on the new trails but some people insist on doing their own thing.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters!!

Flyover Shadows

Hiking on Turkey Mountain I came across this complex set of shadows.

The Riverparks Authority has installed “flyovers” on the trails to separate the suicidal, speedy downhill daredevils on mountain bikes from we more sedate pedestrians.

And, it’s my fifteen year blogaversary yesterday. Woo Hoo!!

I’m linking up with Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Shade and Shadows Sunday

It’s Fathers Day. Congratulations to all the fathers out there, I hope your loved ones are spoiling you, my family is. This is my dad. He is gone now and I miss him. Here is in a shady spot in the woods with a beer in hand, relaxing with family and friends. He loved doing stuff like that.

And here is our Kodi the dog on a walk passing a guantlet of shadows. The little guy lives to walk.

And here is my favorite place, Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area here in Tulsa. The bright sun sure makes for deep shadows.

Saturday I was part of a cleanup effort on Turkey Mountain sponsored by the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition. These two people were helping me clear one of the trails. Extra nice because they both had just finished running a 5K trail race on the mountain and then they grabbed the loppers and cleared out about three miles of trail. A very impressive pair of young people. I have no patience with people who disparage the generation coming up. Not me, I am very impressed with their work ethic, caring, and sense of community. Not just these two but almost everybody I meet. And as common in Tulsa we chatted a little bit and we knew people in common. I swear, Tulsa is the biggest small town I have ever lived in.

I was with them but then on a stubborn limb I was lopping, the limb gave way suddenly and one of the lopper handles popped me right on the mouth and split my lip. I bled all over my spiffy yellow safety vest. My companions gave me some gauze so I hiked a mile or so back to the lot and eventually made my way to urgent care where they cleaned my face up and sent me home with no stitches but a huge headache. I’m sure they are saying something like, “I knew we should of taken the old guy’s loppers away from him.”

Anyway, I digress. I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2 today.

Skywatch Friday – At Home, On the Road, Trail, and

A shot from the front yard during a rainy interlude.

My wife and Kodi the pomeranian on a walk in the neighborhood greenbelt. I love the orangey sky.

I went on a bike ride on the Osage Prairie Trail in Osage County. This gas station was a location for the movie “The Outsiders” filmed way back in the 1980s. It has been restored by some volunteers and has a sign, fake gas pumps, paint inside and out and geocache. Which I found. One of my geocacher friends had a big role in the restoration.

This is a pond in Skiatook at the northern end of the Osage Prairie Trail.

A nearby church is having a revival!

The old railroad bridge on the trail is a favorite spot of mine for photos.

Switching Gears, this is a scene from Turkey Mountain on a recent hike.

And a shot from the RiverParks trails in Tulsa. I wasn’t hiking or biking, I was handing out gallons and gallons of coca cola and red bull to exhausted runners slogging through the Tulsa Ironman competion. 141 miles combined of swimming in open water, an over 100 mile bike ride, and a marathon distance run. It was a warm day. They had a 70 mile race for wimps.

I’m kidding about the half distance people being wimps. I couldn’t do it in a week. I admire their dedication. I have to admit though why people doing an endurance race would want red bull or coke.

The volunteer fuel was pizza. Unfortunately, my table was next to the truck so I ate more than I should have done.

That’s about it this week. I am linking with Skywatch Friday.

Turkey Mountain Joins the Old-Growth Forest Network

Early in May this year I was invited to a small ceremony where Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness in Tulsa was going to join the Old-Growth Forest Network. Hmmm, never heard of them but sounds interesting. Besides, there was a hike included in the event. Sign me up!!

Jeff Edwards of RiverParks.

The Old-Growth Forest Network is an organization founded by biologist, turned author, turned activist, Joan Maloof who became alarmed at the loss of old-growth forests in the eastern USA. Very little old-growth forests remain in the east, less than 1% of the orginal forests and maybe about 5% in the west.

Sarah Adloo of Old-Growth Forest Network

Old-growth forests are those that have been undisturbed and old trees are allowed to grow old and die. I found out that old dead snags can provide habitat for up to 300 different species. The Old-Growth Forest Network is trying to find and designate at least one publicly owned tract of land in counties, that can contain such forests. They estimate that is about 2370 counties. Turkey Mountain is the 199th such forest to be designated and only the second in Oklahoma.

So the dignitaries made their speeches and a plaque was handed out.

I borrowed it for a closeup. And then we went on a hike. It was about a mile and we got to the location of the oldest tree on Turkey Mountain. I forget what kind of tree it is but the dendrologists say it got started in 1774. They only tested thirty some trees based on their experience of where the oldest trees would be. They said, rocky land on steep slope where logging is difficult is the best bet. So it is likely that there are older trees on Turkey Mountain.

True confessions, my original photo wasn’t very good so I went back recently and got this video. The tree is kind of old and bent and I couldn’t capture it in a still so I got this video. It’s not the prettiest or the biggest tree in the world but it is kind of special.

So it was a nice outing. I got to learn something and go on a hike. I’m always up for that.

This link is for the report on the event by one of Tulsa’s television station.

I bought one of Joan Maloof’s books. I got the kindle version because it is half the price of the paperback. I’ll let you know what I found out.

Check out Old-Growth Forest Network’s web site. Lots of information on Old-growth forests. Here is the organization’s page for Turkey Mountain.

Do you want to live in the Tulsa area and want to get involved in things like this. Check out the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition.

I am linking with My Corner of the World. Check it out.

The Week in Critters

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On a guided hike on Turkey Mountain, I was lagging behind the group (I like to lag) and found this butterfly. Google lens tells me that it is a Red Spotted Purple butterfly. Other resources say Red Spotted Purple Admiral. I don’t know, I just thought it was different.

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An overhead view of the same butterfly.

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I visited Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum and took a walk around the gardens. I saw this little pollinator working away, doing its thing.

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And then a wasp looking critter working on these blooms.

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And yet another pollinator, pollinating.

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And a duck on the museum grounds. Do you suppose he snuck in without paying?

And they had sheep. I loved these sheep. They were on a secluded part of the grounds up until 2014 and then disappeared. They are back now in a more visible part of the grounds. There were lots of teenagers visiting the museum the day I was there and the sheep were a hit. Up to six or seven kids were sitting on them at a time. I just bided my time until they left to get this shot.

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And then shift to our backyard. I was sitting on a bench reading and this downy woodpecker landed on a nearby branch and stayed for a little bit.

Lizzy sticking her tongue out at us

And going inside the house, Lizzie the cat spent a big part of a recent day with her tongue sticking out. Silly cat!!

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And here’s the Kodi the Pomeranian puppy showing a little bit attitude during a training session.

And here he is at puppy school doing everything my wife asks of him. He’s a rock star at puppy school. When it is not his turn to do something he watches the other dogs and people closely. He’s taking it all in. I’m learning what it is like to have a dog smarter than I am.

And that’s a wrap this week for critters. I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out.

Prescribed Burning and Masticating on Turkey Mountain

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About a week ago the RiverParks folks here in Tulsa announced that conditions were finally right and resources available to proceed with a long planned controlled burn on Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Park. They closed the park and their partners, the Oklahoma Forest Service executed the prescribed burn. They asked everybody to stay I did. I did cuz I am a rule follower, most of the time, but I went for a bike ride on the adjoining bike trails and took a few photos. And you could see a fire was going and the smoke was dispersing and I could just barely smell the smoke.

They reopened the mountain the next day and of course I had to go check it out and it was interesting. As advertised it was apparently a “cool fire” that just went along the ground burning dead grass, leaves, and underbrush.

I think that the area was only about 12 acres or so. None of the standing trees were damaged from what I can see and they were able to keep the fire contained tightly. They have to have the right combination of temperature, humidity, winds, and other factors to minimize the risk of the fire getting away from them especially in an urban area.

There was a lot of smoldering going on but the RiverParks people said that they were not worried about it as long as it was in the original burned area. The place smelled like Boy Scout campout.

The burns are done to clear out the understory and get rid of invasive species. It reduces the risk of unwanted forest fires by getting rid of “ladder species” vegetation that a wildfire can crawl to get the tree canopy. It’ll open the forest and provide better grazing for deer and opportunities for native trees like oaks to thrive. It’s all part of the Turkey Mountain Master Plan.

So I have heard of prescribed burns before but Turkey Mountain has another tool they are using. It is called “Mastication.” This is where they used machinery called brush shredders to mulch the underbrush and invasive species. I had never heard of this term before but they masticated a small area of Turkey Mountain a few weeks ago. I visited it right afterward when they reopened the area after the work was done. It really opened up the forest. I love the effect.

And with the reopening you could see how the old trails were not well designed and were just kind of drainage ditches. I think they are going to be working on new, more sustainable trails in the area soon.

I had never seen brush cutters in action before but I found this video. It’s kind of a fearsome process to watch but it sure yields great results.

The RiverParks people say that the effect on wildlife is minimal. Both controlled burns and mastication are slow enough that the animals can evade the area. Long term it will provide better habitat for them.

I think they are going to be doing more of these projects as time goes by. Yes, I’m losing some of the fun jungly areas of Turkey Mountain but it will be replaced by a more natural, wildlife friendly vegetation and trees.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.