Lila and Missi

Missi's Mom and Missi gave a lecture on hawks and bird life at the EcoFair. 

Missi's Mom designed the t-shirt below, now on sale for a steal, $10.00. 

Horned Lizards

          Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue brought some snakes and lizards to the EcoFair on Saturday.

        About fifteen or eighteen species of Horned Toads exist, but they live in different ecosystems. The lizards shown above live at the reptile rescue center while the rehabbers there attempt to find their proper environments for release, or because they cannot live on their own in the wild. WFRR also nurtures snakes, salamanders, turtles, and other amazing reptiles. 

D60, 50mm, f5.6, ISO 400

        Sometimes I want to JTP, or Just Take Pictures. That's when I carry a lighter load and bring out my Nikon D60, a 50mm 1:1.4 lens, place the settings on Aperture Priority, f5.6, and ISO 400, which under many circumstances can yield adequately measured photographs. As usual, I set out with MyMrMallory not knowing what my JTP attitude would yield. Over the last few days, I snapped images of crop circles in the Texas Panhandle, noting that from 7,500 feet in altitude, the crops looked like art on soil. I had previously explored "farmer's art" and show it on my PBase site, so I felt interested in re-visiting this concept once the thought came to me.

Corn quarter circles. Circles can have one mile in diameter. 

Overlapping circles.

Water ditches meandering across the circle.

Cotton fields in the circle.

Wheat circle surrounded by corn.

Harvested circles of corn.

Corn crop circle view from the ground.

Harvesters gather the corn, separating the kernels from the stalks. 

The kernels fill up the bin, and from here, the bin fills up the eighteen-wheeler 

that will transport the corn to the elevators for storage.

The combine pictured above can tackle eight rows of corn.

Trucks stand in line to fill up with corn.

At the office of the elevators, this device measures 

the moisture content of corn, and important factor in its quality. 

         In the old days, farmers employed a more simplified device to measure the weight of corn. Today, in case of a dispute, farmers may need to search through their storage to find the measuring device, as Bud did (above, to show it to us), for the court of law will not accept measurements made by electronic devices.

            And so ended my D60, 50mm, f5.6, ISO 400 experience. Post processing in the digital darkroom  involved only minor cropping and enhancing contrast. 

Holding My Breath for Handheld Images

Room for Possums

          Our mission: Release two captive young possums back to the wild. Penny met us at Wild Bird Rescue with two possums. MyMrMallory and I loaded the crate containing the two fellows into the white jalopy, then drove into the countryside, as far away from civilization as humanly possible. 

          Along the way, we drove across fields of flowers. The countryside remains covered in flowers, delightfully. Cows watched us drive through the brush toward the lake. 

           Finally, we came to our destination, Duck Lake, where we released the two fellows.

           Frogs hopped into the lake as we approached. No, we cannot see them in the photo above. I wish I could have spotted them before they disappeared into the water!

Hesitant, the possums remained in the soft bedding inside the cozy crate. 

           Slowly, they investigated, sniffing before every step they took, and then, together they ambled under the grove of trees, disappearing under the broom brush.

Marvelous Bugs

Millerton Water Tower

'Bows at Broken Bow

          I adore trout and every single fish on Earth, and I adore my brother, but in the presence of each, I found myself enthralled by nature in the area of Broken Bow. If I caught Browns or 'Bows, I did so with more luck than skill, for my focus remained on my surroundings.
          Bird life included several overhead flying ducks (Why did I leave my binoculars in the car!), Turkey and Black Vultures, Pileated Woodpecker, wrens, phoebes, and various, no, many hawks. Next trip: Return to Broken Bow with binoculars!

         Jesse and Linda, from Three Rivers Fly Shop, work toward improving the rivers for the benefit of trout and anglers. Below I show some of the work they and the community of Broken Bow have accomplished on the river. Utilizing logs and stones, they shape pools and eddies, great for trout to thrive, and great to create a challenge for anglers.