Oklahoma State Capitol

On the very top of our dome is The Guardian.



The Guardian...A close up.

 

The Guardian is the creation of American Indian (Seminole-Creek) painter and sculptor Enoch Kelly Haney. Born in Turkey Creek, near Seminole, Oklahoma, on November 12, 1940, Haney graduated from Bacone College and the University of Arizona. After being a Methodist pastor and youth ministry director, he served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate from 1981 to 1986 and from 1987, respectively. He also served as a councilman of the Seminole Nation.

The Guardian was added June 7, 2002

Here is what our Capitol use to look like (pre-dome).

First visitor to the grape jelly

I put out grape jelly in anticipation of the Orioles.

Check out who decided to give the jelly a try! 

It is always exciting to see other birds eating the grape jelly.

I have yet to see an Oriole, but I am sure they are on their way.

Bufflehead and Goldeneye

Here is a Bufflehead and a Common Goldeneye. I love the contrast of these birds against the gray of the water.

Roadrunner, if he catches you you're through.

Check out this roadrunner! Here is some trivia for you.....The roadrunner has black skin. On chilly mornings they fluff up the feathers, exposing their skin, which will absorb the heat from the sun. They can run ~18 mph. Roadrunners are in Oklahoma year round. Roadrunners are pretty interesting birds.

A Painted Bunting in the winter

 

Here is another photo of the Painted Bunting. It is still hanging around. It is eating a Deluxe Blend that has Millet in it. What an awesome bird(and in winter)!

A cute Harris's Sparrow.

Here in Oklahoma we are lucky to get the Harris's Sparrow during the winter. This little guy is hunkered down to stay warm.

The Harris's Sparrow is the largest and heaviest of the sparrows. They do not nest here; they travel to Canada for that. Another tidbit....they get their name from Edward Harris. He was one of John James Audubon’s best friends and most ardent financial supporter. They went on a couple of birding trips together. Harris's bird collection is now on display at the Smith-Cadbury Mansion by the Historical Society of Moorestown, NJ. The collection (on loan from the Academy of Natural Sciences) went on display this past October and will be there until Feb. It would be soooooo awesome to go see that collection!



Small town (lucky) charms

My mother and I went on a little day trip. Our mission was to explore a small town and find what treasures it may hold. Needless to say we hit the Mother-load! Ending up in Minco, Oklahoma, we explored downtown, the armory, and a great hardware store named Woodworth's.

 Minco is a small town with a lot of charm. Woodworth's, rumor has it, will be closing their doors for good. I do not know any details about when they will be closing. Walking inside the store you are instantly transported to the past. You can find so many things there. I bought a rolling pin, copper wire, some brass washers, a box of flies (for fly fishing) and other wonderful things.

 

After we were done at the hardware store we traveled to the Armory.

It is a wonderful old building, kind of spooky but I can not tell you why.

 

 

If you get a chance to get out and about think about a trip to Minco. They have a honey fest and craft show every November. During the honey fest they let people go through the honey processing company. There is even a cotton gin that was giving tours the day we were there.

Do you know what this is?

Bodark, Horse apple, Osage orange

 

If you know what this is you probably grew up in or around Texas or Oklahoma.We grew up seeing these odd shaped fruits. When you cut this fruit open there are seeds inside. The squirrels LOVE the seeds.

The tree is thorny.

It is used as a wind block.

Bows are made from this tree.

It reminds me of growing up here in Oklahoma



Hangin' with the Homies

This Photo was taken at the Great Salt Plains.

Checkered White Butterfly

Here is a Checkered White Butterfly (Pontia protodice). I took this photo this morning....well...it's 2am so I actually took it yesterday morning. It was Dec. 2nd....75 degrees. Wow....I also saw dragonflies. Usually it is a bit chillier this time of year. I do not ever remember seeing butterflies this late in the season.....or maybe I just never noticed.....
Oh, and yes I do need hand cream.

Max and the roaming Buffalo

Want to guess what we saw on Sunday on our little 'tour de Oklahoma'?

American White Pelican

Here are some American White Pelicans. It was a real treat to see them at our local lake.

Hawks everywhere

 There are hawks everywhere. We have been seeing a lot of them.

Above is a Red-tailed Hawk. Want to guess how it got this name? They are amazing birds!

Golden-fronted Woodpecker?

So at the Great Salt Plains I saw this woodpecker. At first I thought it was a Red-bellied Woodpecker, but upon closer look I now think it is a Golden-fronted Woodpecker. So what do you think?

Sandhill Cranes in Oklahoma

 This past weekend we made a trip north to the Great Salt Plains State Park and The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. Over the next few days I will be posting photos and info.

 These are Sandhill Cranes. There were hundreds of them flying over head. I am so glad we had a chance to see them.

More tomorrow.............

Great Blue Heron

 

 So this weekend at our local lake we saw a lot of

Great Blue Herons.

This guy was looking for treats to eat. I was kind of comical to watch them.

 Here is one of their landings.

Here is yet another landing.

They often make a call as they are flying. I did hear one call when it was it was just standing around.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

So the Yellow-rumped Warbler is back. They are here only in the fall and winter. This is a cute warbler the moves around a lot. You can see them on the ground or in the trees. Most often I spot them on the ground. These warblers are usually in small groups.

 

 

They have a bit of yellow under their wing as you can see in the photo above.

 

And as their name implies, they have yellow on their rump. They can be seen at your feeders. Most likely they are looking for black oil sunflower seeds, peanut butter, raisins, and suet. I love when they are back in town!

Oh deer!

 The deer at our local lake (Lake Thunderbird) look really good.

Last winter they were very thin! I felt really bad. We had a very dry harsh summer the previous year.

 This past summer was a lot milder. They do look good.

                

 

Trumpeter Swan

To end our birding adventure yesterday, we traveled to east Norman (Oklahoma) and found these wild Trumpeter Swans. They are currently hanging out in the Summit Lake addition (off of Alameda street). We saw a total of six. Word has it there are seven swans on the lake. Just a quick note.... the dark shadow on the bottom of each photo was created by the side view mirror....I took the photo from my truck and lined up the mirror just below the view path. TMI....C'est la vie.