OKC State Capitol

       The capitol building in Oklahoma City has grown in size, height, and culture since they began its construction in 1914. Not until 2002 did they build the dome and topped it with a figure, The Guardian, a sculpture by Enoch Kelly Haney, former State Senator. His sculpture of a Native American "guarding" the capitol and the people of Oklahoma seemed quite touching to me. "My lance pierces my legging and is planted on the ground. I will not be moved from my duty, from my love of Oklahoma and all of its people . . . I will stand my ground, and I will not be moved," wrote Haney about The Guardian.

          A replica of the sculpture stands inside the building a the top of the stairs. 

Sculpture by Enoch Kelly Haney, The Guardian.

Detail of The Guardian.

       Just to embellish the eleven acres of floor space, art work that portrays the history of Oklahoma hangs on every floor. I estimated hundreds of paintings gracing the walls and educating the visitors (and the politicians who serve there). 

       Looking up through the dome to the floor above me, I spotted a mural painted by Mike Larsen, Flight of Spirit, honoring five ballerinas from Oklahoma, Yvonne Choteau, Moscelyne Larking, Roselia Hightower, and Maria and Marjorie Tallchief.

Mike Larsen's Flight of the Moons honoring the five ballerinas.

 Sequoyah, by Charles Banks Wilson.

Oil painting of Jim Thorpe.

State Capitol dome.

People look up into the dome, and they look down
to see the seal, admiringly, mostly.

Pastel colors around the dome, one hundred and forty gallons of paint.

Detail of the ceiling in the Supreme Court. 

At the front steps of the State Capitol,
the dome looms above a sculpture by Allan Houser,
As Long as the Waters Flow.

        A big hearty thanks to the Wichita County Heritage Society for organizing and hosting our visit to the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Barrow Pit Afternoon

      Spotted: Red-headed, Buffle-headed, and Ruddy ducks; Northern Shovelers and American Coots, all in the barrow pit. The sun cast its rays beautifully upon them.
      Encouraged by Penny's weekly reports on the barrow pit, I made my way there late this afternoon. Lugging my tripod, 70-200mm and 35mm lenses, my Nikon F6, and an armful of film, I still had the experience of listening as my camera re-wound itself just as a lovely group of Northern Shovelers took off and flew a scant ten yards in front of me. Oh, well.
      Along the shores of Lake Wichita I could see through my binoculars the numerous seagulls and coots, and a Great Blue Heron.
      If my pictures look okay I will update this post next week.

Update: My pics, finally, developed, look fine. 

Red-headed, Buffle-headed, and Ruddy Ducks. 

Northern Shovelers.

Henbit, Lilly, and Pear

Arrival of Waxwings

Spottedat5:45PMapproxhowdelightfulIlovetheseguys

NowonderIseefewerberriesonthehollytrees!

RE: Vultures

From: Bird Chirper [buddy1@nextdoor.com]
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 9:01 AM
To: T. L. G. [mailto:tlg@inbetweenthings.com]
Subject: Vultures

Can spring be far behind? Who needs swallows from Capistrano?

--------Original Message---------
From: T. L. G. [mailto:tlg@inbetweenthings.com]
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 8:51 AM
To: Bird Chirper [buddy1@nextdoor.com]
Subject: Vultures

They've been in the neighborhood for a couple of days now.

  . . . . . . My friend Terry has a terrific sense of humor. . . . .

And here I show them floating above me this afternoon.

Blooming Pear Trees and Turkey Vultures

Turkey Vultures have been in town for a couple of days now. 

We spotted a kettle of forty yesterday.

Counting Birds Through the Fog

  

        Fog covered Lake Wichita as we arrived for the annual bird count at the cove near Wild Bird Rescue.  We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Through the fog we perceived pelicans on the calm surface of the lake.

A beaver swam around the cove. 

A Master Naturalist brought out his binoculars to begin the count.

Pelicans, buffleheads, goldeneyes . . . spotted through the fog.

Two buffleheads, a mallard, and a coot on the surface. 

         The surface of the lake remained peaceful throughout the morning, despite the occasional landings of incoming pelicans, as shown below. . . they managed to land with hardly a splash. Here I show them a moment or two before touchdown.

           Eventually the fog lifted and we could see more of the lake, including several Great Blue herons on the other side.  Highlights of the count at Lake Wichita included a Downy woodpecker and the numerous beautiful ducks, such as the Ruddy.

      And then friendly Ben scampered up to greet us. Fortunately, Ben wore a collar with his identification. Penny phoned the owner while Terry attempted to control the excited dog. Well, I get very excited too when I make new friends. 

Towhees and a Cardinal

      Great sights today included a Downy woodpecker and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (female) at Sue's house; then six killdeers at Katherine's. From my own window at home, I watched the Spotted towhees and Cardinals.

A Spotted Towhee and a Northern Cardinal.

A pair of Spotted Towhees.

         Why, I asked Sue, do we suddenly have so many hawks in the neighborhood? Because, she said, we are feeding them goldfinches. And proof lay on my grass near a bird feeder, of a White-winged dove gone. I was reminded of Crested Guan's refusal to feed birds in one's garden. He said that generations of birds become dependent on the seeds, and that they do not learn to forage for food on their own. This is the downside of keeping bird-feeders.

Waiting, and Waiting, and Waiting . . . Thrillingly

The video shows us holding short of taxiway G to allow a stream of T-6s to taxi back to their hangars after a morning of training.

     Runways 17/35 at the municipal airport needed renovations. For over a year, construction workers have toiled away at finishing, first by last November, then by this month, then April, and now June. And so we wait . . .  and wait . . . . In the diagram below, 17/35 runs directly north/south. The Air Force lands training jets on the other three runways depicted in the diagram. 

       In the meantime, we experience landing and taking off side by side the jets training at the base. While thrilling in many ways, one remains vigilant for the fast jets landing, taxiing, and taking off, one after the other, and for one's own taxiing across the airport. As H.P. says, do not do anything dumb, different, or dangerous when we set out to fly. 

     Always, yes, always know your NOTAMs before striking off on a cross country to the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport. Clearly, the NOTAMs say the civilian runway is closed. Remember that you must contact the tower to enter class D airspace. Student pilots are not allowed to land there. Neither do the allow touch-and-goes. And if you land at SPS, do hold before crossing each runway and repeat all instructions given by the tower. Most of the time, most pilots prefer to land at Kickapoo Downtown Airport, CWC, only seven miles to the south of SPS.

And here we return to land on 15R. The tower handles general aviation aircraft in between jet trainers. Kudos to all those guys and gals.

Early Spring in the Garden

GBBC

       The annual Great Backyard Bird Count begins tomorrow. See this link that Terry sent us where you will find more information on a nation-wide level. The list of birds we hope to count seems short to me; I wish we could see thousands! But I feel delighted with the many we will spot.
        Penny will count at Wild Bird Rescue on Sunday, and then at Lake Wichita; Friends of Lake Arrowhead will host a count, too.

American Goldfinch in Wichita Falls in February.

Red-wings

Male and female Red-winged blackbirds...

Walking the Dog

Fisheye Dachsund

Portside wearing his Valentine's Day sweater, D2h, ISO 200, 10mm, f20, 1/50, AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm, f1:2.8 G ED.

D2h Hodge

      Quick shots with a D2h and a tethered Speedlight SB-900, ISO 200, 10mm, f11, 1/160 with an AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f1:2.8 G ED of Hodge scampering around the trees; slight cropping during post processing in the digital darkroom . . .

Study in Roadrunner