Colorado | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Meadowlark moon

12 05 2025

Couldn’t pass up an opportunity to share a couple of non-mustang sights from Disappointment Valley last night!

I don’t think I realized until this year how many “favorite” birds I have! I keep thinking “this one is my favorite” until the next one comes along that is *also* my favorite. (Kinda like the mustangs, ALL of which are my favorites!) Western meadowlarks have been one of my top favorites since I lived in Montana and learned to recognize their gorgeous liquid trill of a bright song. I haven’t managed to get a favorite pic yet, but this one was singing his beautiful heart out near the road before and after moonrise.

Speaking of moonrise … !!!

I was expecting it to rise later, and from a different location (yes, I know there are apps for that, and I have one, and it was completely wonky, showing moonrise nearly directly south!), so I was looking for the meadowlark when I caught sight of the rising moon, nearly already fully above the horizon! (It was NOT as far south as the app showed, but it was considerably farther southish than I was expecting. This is fairly southeastish; McKenna Peak and Temple Butte are some distance (photographically, at least) to the left.)

All in all, another gorgeous evening in Spring Creek Basin (and the wind even dropped a bit). 🙂

Comments : 17 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Moon, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild birds

Seeing the sights

9 05 2025

Skywalker, who has been wandering mostly on his own, sometimes with a couple of bachelor pals, most recently has been back with his former band (still as a bachelor) and buddy (maybe not quite anymore) Sancho.

He seemed fairly grumpy, but I finally caught him looking mildly interested as he looked up from snoozing, saw me sitting nearby … and went back to sleep. Nothing to see here!

But everything to see *there*!

We had rain Sunday and Monday, and we had great storm clouds Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, we got only a trickle-drip of “rain” from those clouds those days, but the light has been incredible.

Most unfortunately, I had already hiked down from the hill and the band by the time sunset and THIS happened (a couple of hours later):

Those mountains, in all three pix, are southeastern Utah’s La Sal Mountains.

Absolutely, breathtakingly spectacular. Scenery and mustangs brought to you by Mother Nature’s magic. 🙂

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Utah

Appreciation for green and water

8 05 2025

Mariah grazes on greens while Mr. and Mrs. Mallard peruse the shoreline for any duck-lightful edibles.

By this time, I had moved to the west end of the pond, on the opposite side from the horses. I really was delighted when the ducks landed where they did. They were still probably 20 or so yards from the horses, most of which ignored the ducks, but a couple of which paid rapt attention!

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Ponds, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild birds

Ducks, diving

7 05 2025

Our feathered friends Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are still on the one pond in Spring Creek Basin that has water (or they may be a different pair?).

Mrs. (I think) American Wigeon is with them (might also be a different individual), but Mr. Wigeon was not present.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were practicing their synchonized diving, and this judge awards them a near perfect 9.5! 🙂 (Also, though, I think this illustrates how shallow the pond is, though it still covers a fair bit of area.)

Mustangs had already been to the pond to drink and were lingering over some fresh greens to the left (eastish). Later, the ducks all few off the pond, and Mrs. Wigeon circled and returned to the water, but Mr. and Mrs. Mallard explored terra firma – right near some horses! At least a few of the horses were interested in their little waddling friends, but nobody approached too closely.

Spring Creek Basin and at least part of Disappointment Valley got about half an inch of rain (total) Sunday and Monday. Upper and lower areas of the valley likely got more and less, respectively. We needed it badly, and I think the grasses are already growing, and it’s already a bit more green. *Grateful*!

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild birds

Drinking from nature’s goodness

5 05 2025

When I’m taking pix of tiny little things like flowers with my phone, I never know where the focus is going to be, whether I try to make it in a certain place or another certain place. I got the focus on the top flowers in one pic and the bottom flower in the next pic, and I like them both!

The claret cup cacti are now blooming – all of a sudden! – in Spring Creek Basin. They make me so happy. 🙂

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Claret cup cactus, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild flowers

An evening of wow

2 05 2025

There are no mustangs in this post (crazy, I know, with a title like that), but mustangs were SEEN.

This, my friends and fans of wild things and wild places, is a burrowing owl. Possibly one of THE – I’m gonna say (type) it – *cutest* birds on the planet. You know how I adore kestrels. … I see them all the time. But burrowing owls?!?!?!?! This might be the third I’ve ever seen in Disappointment Valley.

Huge shout-out to friend Mary, who not only was driving but spotted this marvelous beauty along the road. She casually asked if I’d seen the owl – she thought it was an owl? – and obliged my horizon-gazing self by backing up to where – sure enough – this burrowing owl was standing on a burrow (possibly/likely previously the home of a prairie dog family) right alongside the road. The owl him/herself (?) obliged us by being its beautiful, gorgeous, adorable self so we could take a minute or two’s worth of photos before driving on to not disturb its … burrow guarding? We never saw another bird, and this one seemed pretty comfortable.

Who needs opposable thumbs when one has feet/talons perfectly capable of gripping dinner? (I think this might be a carpenterworm? Though it’s much earlier than I’ve ever seen them. Eat all you want, friend owl!)

Like … WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! 🙂

And as if that weren’t enough, this was the end-of-day, sunset-lit, alien-mothership/stormcell cloud (one or the other … right?!) visible over upper Disappointment Valley just beyond (?) Spring Creek Basin:

Because … our planet Earth really is that gorgeous. 🙂

Notes: Owl pix taken with a 600mm lens from inside a vehicle. Crazy storm-cloud pic (and yes, the rest of the sky was basically blue and nearly clear) taken with my phone because a long-mustang-owl lens just could not capture the entirety of the above scene. Very last light of day. I sized the image and gave it a touch of sharpening, but otherwise, that is straight out of the camera, err, phone.

It really was a WOW kinda day. 🙂 “*Grateful*” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this glorious little part of our great, wide, wild, wonderful world.

Comments : 13 Comments »

Categories : Brumley Point, Burrowing owls, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Wild birds

Prince’s plume a’bloom

30 04 2025

Speaking of prince’s plume … !

Just between Sunday and Tuesday, the number of plants I saw probably doubled (which isn’t saying much as I didn’t see many on Sunday). But they’re definitely budding and blooming and raising their blossoms (I don’t really know the nomenclature for blooming or blossoming plants?), and the bees (and ants) are taking notice.

Proudest moment about the above pic? I think I actually have a catchlight in the bee’s eye. 🙂

The bee, by the way, was huge, probably at least the size of my middle finger’s middle knuckle.

Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Prince, Prince's plume, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Wild flowers, Wildlife

Between the sage

29 04 2025

Indian paintbrush in Spring Creek Basin.

I always forget how BRIGHT and vibrant they are … until the next spring rolls around and they blaze with color in the basin’s brown ground and green sage (and greasewood and shadscale and sage and other bits). Wildflowers this year are tiny and hugging the ground. The first prince’s plumes have started to stand tall … always a good sign.

Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild flowers

Chunky little songbird

22 04 2025

The morning of the snow, this little loggerhead shrike was calling from a bare tree just outside Spring Creek Basin (the dark band in the background is the rimrock that forms the basin’s western boundary). The cold didn’t seem to bother him/her much, and s/he allowed me to approach fairly closely to capture his/her lovely portrait.

*****

Happy Earth Day! More than ever, we need to cherish, protect and honor our planet.

Comments : 11 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Snow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild birds

Kestrels

21 04 2025

I *adore* kestrels.

These pix all are significantly cropped, and as previously mentioned, I am no bird photographer! But wow. I’m extremely grateful to this extraordinarily handsome gentleman for perching close enough and giving me enough time to get several sharp shots before he took off (he dodged off to the (my) right, despite the fact that he launched first to the left).

I mean … I *ADORE* kestrels!

Just ask Kestrel. 🙂

Comments : 14 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild birds

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs