Tuesday, March 4, 2008

A Walk On The Wild Side

I finally got to head to my(well-my brothers' and my)ranch today. It is 23 miles from town and the last four miles are not graveled, sooo with all of the melting snow, I haven't been able to get out there. I was intent on looking over the horse herd(s) we have out there and see how things were going with my oldest brother.
But as I drove, I started to notice that the wildlife was really out and about today. Must be gonna get a weather change...
The bald eagles are really getting thick around here. This guy is just starting to get his white head. First the head starts changing to white and then the tail.

These muley does were part of a herd of about 60 or so deer. Only one of many herds I saw today.

This little muley buck was grazing with the cows. There was another MUCH larger buck with him, but he blazed...guess that is how he survived last hunting season-LOL. Megan says she wouldn't shoot this little guy.

The neighbors always have a big flock of wild turkeys, but it looks like they got a good hatch last year. This was only about 1/2 of them. I know whose door I am going to be knocking on this fall...

Well-I know it looks like a brown blob...But this is a HUGE Golden Eagle that has made the ranch his home in the spring. This is his second year here. He sits up on this hill above a prairie dog town and waits for my brother to shoot him a couple of prairie dogs. We have snuck back down on foot and watched him come and pick them up. He is fully mature and one smart bird.

I also saw several Red Tailed Hawks and several other smaller hawks that I don't know what they are. They just started showing up last year. I was looking for these guys-they are usually sitting on fence posts, but they were pretty quick to fly off today. They will settle down and I will be able to get some drive by photos. It is good to start seeing some big raptors around here again.


I was especially lucky today and managed to get a photo of the most elusive creature on the plains....

It's a BaDonkaDonk....

7 comments:

Rising Rainbow said...

A Bedonkadonk! how cute is that. Hope the weather change is for the better and not the worse.

Mikey said...

The elusive BaDonkaDonk! Love him :) That made me smile!
That new top pic rocks! Love all of them. I sure do miss the wildlife. That's a huge gang of turkeys.
Good post! Hope Megan gets better soon, it's a horrible flu to have. I was in that exact same position today. On the couch, under blankets, dog staring at me.
I'm so glad you did a blog :) I love peeking into your life :)

Mrs. Mom said...

Oh now that donk is just too incredibly CUTE!

The other pics are great too....;)

Donkeys however, well, hey have a special place in my heart. :)

Holly said...

super pix! Love them all, the Bedonkadonk is adorable. I'd love to have that much wildlife around here!

kdwhorses said...

BaDonkaDonk-he is a cutie!
Loved all the pics of wildlife, that is what I love about the country! You never know what you are going to see next.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

The donk - she is just the sweetest thing. She is my brother's last roping donkey and she just ended up staying. Some of the mares are extremely attached to her and when we seperate herds, who goes where, depends on where we put the donk. CRAZY!!
Megan gave her the name. We have a mare named Honky Tonk, so of course we must have a Bedonkadonk.

Jen said...

she said baDonkaDonk...how innovative! love it :0)