Sunday Zoo walk

Randy and I did a Sunday morning zoo photo walk, arriving just before most of the horde of young ones. Lots of animal shows to watch, amorous bears, lion brothers, cuteness manifested in the Sand cats ....
Here's my shots - Randy's are at https://www.flickr.com/photos/rwtrent.

Brothers...

If you look close you'll see the fish it just caught in its mouth..

Panda yawn..

Monitor lizard..

Cuteness personified..

Burrowing owl..

Refuge Friday

A damp day at the refuge, slight rain at times and everything is just wet, like the rest of the valley. Of course the wading birds don't care, but the birds that planned on nesting in some areas can no longer nest there due to the rising water.
One raptor in the distance, a Harrier being chased by blackbirds. Otherwise it was ducks, blackbirds,  egrets, a lone blue heron, and lots of swallows - tree and cliff swallows for the most part. Again, just peaceful being out there watching life go by..

Snowy Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

Tree Swallow on box - looks like juvenile tree swallows flying by

Tree and Cliff swallows -

The ubiquitous White-faced Ibis in it's mating colors..

Interesting hair on the head of this guy..

Pied bill Grebe - they love all the water as it gives them many new places to go..

Western Kingbird - an acrobatic flycatcher

St George visit

We spent Tuesday with my sister in St. George, touring a desert garden and spending time at Kayenta, a favorite of all of us. We had nice weather all day, a bit windy, and the storm clouds held off till later. Never did storm much there, but made the skies look great!
Here's some shots from the day - many from the garden, some from Kayenta and the last ones from the windows of the Cliffside restaurant where we had dinner. A wonderful day, thank you Sharon!

Evening Primrose

Gazania - blinded by the light..

Patterns..

Kayenta red hills are magical..

Optical illusion!

Looking out from the Cliffside....

Travel fun..

We drove to LaVerkin in southern Utah yesterday to be able to visit my sister in St. George today. Along the way, on I-15, we saw this......

Spring flowers

Iris are one of the most dramatic spring flowers - the colors, shapes and sizes are all mixed up and wonderful. Here's a couple of iris and a peony plant that are being showy around us..

Refuge Wednesday

A windy day at the refuge, the wind punches you as your stand. The grasses dance as the wind flows over them, each group doing something different. Hard to believe one can be this lucky!
Not a lot of action at the refuge - when I say that I refer to raptors. Only one Kestrel showed, one Osprey being chased by crows. The rest of the raptors are off doing whatever.
Tree swallows were out - along with Snowy Egrets, Great Egret, Sandhill Cranes, and the various blackbirds. Good to be out again.