Thursday, June 21

Stand still! Will ya?

My trip on the trail... I rode the bike out to Bullhead Farm or almost that far. On the way, I spotted an Indigo Bunting. They are hard to capture so I stopped my bike and carefully readied my camera and seemingly out of nowhere a recumbent bike whizzes past me yelling "sorry!!" on his way by. It is a much-appreciated courtesy to make your presence known on the trail BEFORE you come upon someone. Bicycles are for the most part very quiet. So with a heavy sigh, I get back on my bike and proceed. We have had an abundance of rain so the river is running high and fast. I think it spooks the wildlife. So venturing on and as I near Bullhead Farm I spot a Bullock Oriole. I didn't know which oriole it was until I got home and looked it up. It was skittering around the bushes and I thought I had a chance to get a photo if I stuck around a while so with that in mind I got off my bike and that is when the 'muskietoes' started swarming me. So scrap that idea!  No goat photos on this day!
As I am returning and just north of the bridge I spot a very large Heron standing in some standing water at the bottom of the ridge. From past experience I know Herons spook at the least little sound or sight so while I am blocked from view, I stop behind a tree, ready my camera and sneak back to where I can get a shot. I raise the camera to my face and he squawks and takes off! He was huge! But I didn't get the shot...AGAIN! So I decide the only pictures I am going to get this day are of things that do not move. I had spotted one of my favorite flowers- Russian Thistle- and planned a stop just past the road where I first saw some in bloom. As I am assessing the situation, I look up and see a deer on the trail. Hope! And then a garbage truck goes by behind me and the deer disappeared. It wasn't meant to be.  See the photos below. And the final one of a cardinal in my own backyard.







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