Cadillac Ranch

 

         If you would like to take a look, Wikipedia published a nice entry about Cadillac Ranch on Interstate 40 outside Amarillo. If you go to Cadillac Ranch, remember your can of spray paint. Enjoy the experience of dynamic art.

Cowboys and Hay

         I took a few images this morning of Monty's cowboys hard at work, plus a few shots from the HQ where I saw the Red-headed Woodpecker. On my way there, I took a picture of a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, saw some Mississippi Kites, and swerved several times to avoid Horned Toads on the roads.

Cowboys rounded up the cattle and moved them into the pens.

A cowboy hung his chaps on a fence post.

A sunrise I did not get to see for the thunder clouds above us.

Cowboys with trailers full of horses drove to town after work for a lunch at the Dixie Cafe. In the foreground I show part of one of the Prairie Dog towns.

Three bulls played at locking horns.

        Spotting the Red-headed Woodpecker is always a delight, and I have always seen it and heard it at HQ.

           Jim drove us around the ranch in his needed four-wheel drive. Moore County received an unusual amount of moisture, snow and rain, this winter, making a nice, but wet spring.

A hail storm destroyed the wheat crops, so Jim rolled it up to sell for hay. So much wheat was destroyed, I thought of the expression, "As far as the eye can see," for I saw rolled hay seemingly endlessly.

Jim powers some of his windmills with solar power.

Pampa Afternoon

Horned Toad.

American Avocet.

Looking out the attic window of the abandoned house.

Abandoned barn.

Cliff Swallow nest inside the abandoned house.

Pampa Morning

Horned Lark.

Horned Lark singing on the grass with flowers nearby.

Bobwhite on a fencepost.

Mallard ducks and a pair I still need to identify. More later.

Scissortail Flycatcher.

View of Gray County.

A path to one of the watering holes for the cattle.

Cliff Swallows also visit the watering holes.

Doe.

Dove, Mourning, I think.

One of two frogs in the grass that startled me as I walked.

I saw many Horned Toads. What a delight to see so many.

I walked through two Prairie Dog towns.

Butterfly.

Dickcissel on a branch.

              Bird life in Gray County includes Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Dickcissels, Lark Sparrows, Blue Birds, Red-tailed, Swainson's Hawks, Great Crested Flycatcher -- that I could identify. Then there were all the little birds, the little brown birds, the little flitty birds. Also, deer, frogs, Prairie Dogs, and Horned Toads. Driving the truck along the roads I came upon numerous Horned Toads, making me veer along the side to avoid them.

Ghost Towns Along the Way

Making our way up Highway 287, we veered northward to McClean in search of the WWII Prisoners of War camp. All that is left now are healthy native grasses and Agave plants. Here and there, we stopped for quick images of beautiful but forgotten buildings.

Storms remained to our east, looking marvelous in their immensity embellished by occasional lightning. Above, Gabriel experiments with panoramic views before one of the Pampa plants.

Hog Dens Under Clouds

        This afternoon the weatherman alerted us to the potential of thunderstorms. I thought the cloud cover made for more interesting images. Approaching the overgrown pathway to the Beaver Creek, we came upon large areas of flattened grass where wild hogs spend some time.