Highlighting our need for rain, Storm’s band wanders to better grazing after drinking at a pond, raising dust just during their slow mosey. We did get a little rain, but while much of Colorado is apparently rejoicing in a wet spring, we’ve mostly missed that rain.
‘Tis the season for the little buggies.
And frequent head shaking to get rid of them.
Mountains and desert and mustang and wildflowers and grass all in one image.
Love.
I *think* this is a collared lizard, but its coloration is so different that I’m not completely sure. Maybe it’s a female? It has a touch of turquoise at its throat, and the size is the same as other collared lizards I’ve seen, but it’s certainly unique.
After skittering out from under my hiking feet, it rested in the shade of a juniper tree for a fair bit of time and allowed me several moments of clicking with the hope of getting at least one in-focus image. This is a vertical crop of a horizontal original frame, and with the long lens, I was well back from it.
It cannot be said that I know a thing about reptiles, but I adore these lizards as much as our little “horned” friends!
Flash proves to be an excellent wildflower model. 🙂
Larkspur, the blue flowers, are toxic to cattle, “and rarely horses,” according to Colorado State University. Flash and his mates seemed to relish eating the flowers.
According to South Dakota State University, “(low) larkspurs are palatable to cattle and contain high levels of alkaloids, making them especially toxic. Because of this, larkspurs cause the second highest deaths in livestock from poisonous plants across the western United States. Five pounds of larkspur consumed within an hour is a lethal dose for a 1,000-pound cow.”
We almost always have larkspur in the spring. Fortunately, at our elevations, it doesn’t seem to be so thick that it’s an issue.
Randomly, our wild onion also is blooming like crazy right now. Despite the interest of a couple of friends, the horses do NOT eat it and therefore do NOT suffer from “onion breath.” 🙂
The sego lilies are blooming! Every spring, I eagerly await the blooming of these delicate desert bloomers, and every spring, I try to capture their particular beauty. Good thing there are numerous opportunities while following the mustangs!
I kid you not: This year, they started blooming on Memorial Day.
This area of Spring Creek Basin where I found Corazon and his family recently was booming with yellow prince’s plume blooms, but though I tried fairly hard for a little while, Corazon wasn’t terribly interested in posing with the golden glory. He and his band members were much too interested in seeking out and eating the yummy Indian ricegrass, a cool-season grass that’s growing like gangbusters right now. It must be sweet and tasty because all the horses love it!
This wasn’t my first welcome back to Spring Creek Basin after my return from Texas, but it was maybe the third. Pretty nice of Buckeye and his ladies and baby girl to greet me at the west boundary.
Today, Memorial Day, is more than a start-of-summer celebratory holiday and third day of the three-day weekend. It’s the day we as a nation remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending America’s freedoms. A hope is that it can be also a day to put aside political and ideological differences and remember what unites us all: love of independence, freedom and family, our unique way of life. Our service men and women who died protecting the freedoms of this country, our diversity and pride in what makes us Americans, made their personal sacrifices so we can enjoy all of the above.
As we celebrate, don’t forget those sacrifices … and what unites these United States.
It’s taking me a bit to get back in the groove after a Mother’s Day/week visit to my folks’ place in Texas. When I got back, I was ASTOUNDED to see how green it was – after an absence of just a week! And the wildflowers, which certainly had started coming up a bit in places, are now somewhat profuse (all things are relative).
A bit of snow is still visible in the highest of high reaches visible from Spring Creek Basin, and if you can discern the greener-green on the very farthest ridges, that’s aspen, finally leafed out and fluttering in the spring breezes.
While these images highlight the prince’s plume and globemallow, a variety of wildflowers are providing a colorful palette currently … mostly requiring a bit closer look than these long-view pix.
Quite a welcome home. 🙂
Always great to see this beautiful spotted girl. 🙂 She and her band – and a few other bands – were in a beautiful area with a pond that still has water. Though it’s very green now, at least a couple of the ponds are already dry. We’re sure looking forward to hoped-for monsoon rains again this summer!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 