Stanton's Round-Up: Nature

Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

7.03.2009

Canyon Birds

We made a trip to the canyon this morning to do some more photography. The Mississippi Kites were everywhere! Must be a good food year for them down there. As we drove around checking out various parts of the park, we came across a couple of birds we hadn't seen before.

This one is a Gambel's Quail. It was one of a pair that had a brood of chicks they were watching over. This male was on lookout, and he was facing his chicks and mate that were safely hiding in the brush.

This is the Bullock's Oriole. We first saw him when this blazing orange thing flew by.

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(Addendum: Sunday - July 5, 2009)

Another trip to Palo Duro Canyon today gave us another treat shortly before sunset. Hundreds - literally hundreds of turkey vultures were amassing at the lower end of the park to roost in trees. Wave after wave of vultures arrived for a good hour anyhow. It was the most amazing thing I've seen in the bird world.

6.27.2009

Bad Hair Day

Storms passed through today, and at one point a wall of water raced us to the front door. We had just returned home from shopping. As it rained, visibility was close to zero for a bit. The street in front of our house was flooded over the crown and the water was working its way up our driveway. It slopes to about 6-10" above the curb. After it pretty much passed and gave us a little break, I saw this Kite land in our elm tree. It obviously got caught in the rain. Talk about a bad hair day!

6.21.2009

Father's Day

My Father's Day is going very well! Shelley got me a bike rack for the car that pops on and off at will, so we can take our bikes when we go places.

It will work on the truck too, so we can take it if necessary. We hope to do some camping this year, and it will come in pretty handy.

This morning, she took me for a nice breakfast at one of our favorite haunts. This afternoon, we'll head down to the canyon for a picnic, some photography, and just kickin' around.

I also got a call from my son. He's a good kid. Had a nice chat with him, his wife, and one of his boys.

...and the day's not over yet. :)

*** Addendum ***

We did go into the canyon today. Had a great little picnic. :) Shelley's brother Steve went with us. After our picnic, Steve and I did a little bike riding. Got to try out my new bike rack - and it worked really good! While we were riding, we ran into some deer, wild turkeys, and even this little rascal.

Steve did his best to antagonize him. As a result, this tarantula concentrated on harassing him! He would rear up in his defensive/threatening posture as you see here, and chase Steve around. The tarantula would even jump on his front wheel trying to get to him. It was funny! No, tarantulas are not as deadly as the movies would have you believe. IF they would bite you, you would think it was pretty much a good bee sting. Nothing serious unless you are allergic to insect bites.

While all this was going on, a typical family of 4 (Mom, Dad, teen-age son & daughter) from Alaska came by and saw what was going on. They didn't realize at first what "it" was. Upon learning that it was a tarantula, I heard at least one of them say, "Oh, my God!" as if we were playing with fire. A brief explanation of the non-deadly spider, and they laughed at the ordeal and shot some video and stills of our little friend. Through all this, the dad stayed in the car or right next to the open door. He wanted nothing to do with it.

Seems like we've also had an abundance of Mississippi Kites in the canyon this year. Here are a couple more shots I got of them soaring along the canyon walls.