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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Seeing bears isn’t everything.

Since I’ll be working the next several days, I needed to take care of some errands and grocery shopping today.  Considering that I slept in this morning, and didn’t get up at the crack of dawn, it was 10:00 by the time Emma and I headed out for a drive on the refuge.  I figured I’d take her on a little outing before I headed into Nags Head.  If I had been a little more ambitious and left a little earlier, we might have been able to see some bears along the way.  As it was, we only saw one bear and it was way out in the middle of a corn field.

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Turkey vultures don’t get up very early in the morning either.  There was some little dead animal in the road that it was brunching on.

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Soon afterwards, it took flight to look for something more substantial to eat.  At this point I decided to take a drive to one of my favorite places on the refuge… Milltail Creek.

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Near the end of the road is a parking area and kayak launch along the bank of the creek.  It’s right after you pass over a short bridge.  Emma and I took a walk around this peaceful area, and we were in for a couple of surprises.  As you can see, it’s not a very fast moving creek, but I found the patterns of the green algae floating on top to be entrancing as my eyes followed their undulations.

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Then on the other side of the bridge, a couple of swallowtail butterflies were chasing each other around through the creek side vegetation.  First one would be in front, and then the other.  It was a hoot trying to hang on to Emma and get some pictures of their antics at the same time.

IMG_0066Eventually, one butterfly flew off, and the other stopped for some nectar.  Since I was up on the bridge looking down, I was able to get a different perspective on this little beauty.

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As we got to the other end of the bridge I spotted one brilliant flower blooming off at the edge of the creek.  That blossom was about six inches across, and was the only one around. 

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Then this colorful dragonfly landed on one of the bridge pilings.  Isn’t that an interesting little face?  As I moved around to try to get the best view, another creature came into my peripheral vision.

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I was not as thrilled to see this guy, but he sure was keeping an eye on me.  As Emma and I stepped back, he slithered away off of the bridge guard rail.  We may not have gotten any good looks at bears this morning, but we sure did see plenty of other interesting things on our little outing.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

21 comments:

  1. That was a great stop. Dragonflies fascinate me. They come in such beautiful colors and they always seem to be looking at you if they land nearby. The snake I could live without!

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  2. As usual wonderful pictures. You must have the eyes of hawk just to be able
    to spot the photo op. Riggs said to tell Emma hi.
    Donna

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  3. As I have said before, Judy, your pictures are the absolute best! We really enjoy them. Ann

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  4. That's some snake. I'm always amazed at the quantity of wildlife pictures you get.

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  5. You can make even a turkey vulture pretty. That's amazing. Look at the eyes on that snake. Scary. I like the eyes and face on the dragonfly much better.

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  6. Love butterflies and dragonflies but you can keep the snakes.

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  7. The flower is called a spider lily, they bloom in September.

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  8. That was a really cool post, great pictures! Who needs bears anyway?

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  9. Great posts. Love the way you take photos of butterflies and bugs. Definitely never saw such a face closeup on a dragonfly.

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  10. Looks like you and the new camera are doing just fine. What kind of snake was that?

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  11. I enjoy seeing any kind of wildlife. Today I was up in the park, we were doing inventory, and there was a huge turkey in the grass behind the building. I did not have a camera with me. Didn't try to get a photo with my iPhone because the windows had that old wavy glass. We enjoyed taking a short break and watching it through the windows.

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  12. You are living in an awesome area this season; but then you knew that! ;)

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  13. Lovely header photo.

    If you took these photos with your new camera, I think you have conquered that machine.

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  14. As Nancy said the flower is called a spider lily. It's also known to us who live in coastal areas as a hurricane lily as it pops up almost overnight during hurrricane season.
    ~Pamela in Louisiana~

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  15. You live and work in a wonderland of nature! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Judy, I do believe you are a "creature" magnet!..amazing photos. I sooo wish I had been strolling along with you and Emma...Except that I would have to have worn my Depends for that snake sighting!!!

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  17. I presume these photos are from your new Canon camera and that you have figured out the focus issue as they are excellent. Great job.

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  18. Those are great pictures Judy---the LAST was my least favorite. I hate snakes.

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  19. Terrific photos and it looks like you got the focus problem straightened out. I knew you would! Any idea what kind of snake that was?

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  20. Loved your photos. Wanted to invite you to see my blog at thefletcherstravels.blogspot.com
    Since you love animal photos as much as I do, look at my baby fawns nursing on mom. So cute!

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