Buckeye’s mares were super bothered when I climbed a hill recently to find them in clearing fog/low clouds (gone *poof* by the time I puffed and huffed my way up to where they were), and I thought it might be because they weren’t used to seeing me in the mornings (most often, I’m out in the evenings, and they are most definitely creatures of habit (even others’, perhaps!)).
But when second and third cattle semis appeared, heading south waaaaaaaay off to the west, and the horses ALL focused their complete attention on those long silver moving rectangles, I realized that the first semi that had passed – within my view at the time but NOT within view, only sound, of the horses – was what had set them off.
BLM’s resource management plan for this area closed Spring Creek Basin to livestock grazing … gosh, has it been 10 years now? There haven’t been cattle grazing in the basin since the winter of 2010-11. This IS, however, the season of cattle moving from lower winter and spring grazing to the higher, cooler country of summer grazing on other BLM land (outside/beyond Spring Creek Basin) and San Juan National Forest.
The big semis do have a loud rumble as they motor up the gravel road heading up-Disappointment Valley alongside the basin’s southern boundary. … And crazily, those big moving boxes MOOOOO as they go! 🙂
Think shooting rainbows is all, well, rainbows and unicorns?
Those “unicorns” have minds of their own that don’t often consider “posing” for two-leggeds to be part of any kind of their wild plan whatsoever.
I’m still on the hunt for what I consider a *perfect* (OK, even somewhat close) mustangs-under-the-rainbow shot. 🙂
Tenaz helped a bunch. Thanks, buddy. 🙂
Oh, and although it was NOT raining over Spring Creek Basin whatsoever anywhere (it was either virga or far up-valley beyond the basin’s boundaries) when we had the rainbow (as usual, which, I know, seems odd and unusual, except here (!?!), where it’s completely and totally normal), the rain came with sunset. 😉
Did you spot the LBJ right away? Or are you wondering why I posted an out-of-focus pic of Bia this morning? 🙂
These little birds are still following the horses along as they graze, apparently because they scatter bugs/insects that the birds then gobble right up. A win-win for the birds. And the horses don’t seem to mind them whatsoever.
Here’s what Google AI has to say when you inquire what kinds of birds might follow horses as they graze:
The small, brown birds that often follow horses and other grazing animals are likely Brown-headed Cowbirds. They are known for their association with livestock, benefiting from the insects that are stirred up by the animals’ movements.
Here’s why they’re so commonly seen with horses:
Diet: Brown-headed Cowbirds primarily eat seeds and grains, but they also consume a significant amount of insects. Grazing livestock, like horses, disturb the ground, bringing insects to the surface, making them easier for the birds to catch.
Brood Parasitism:
Brown-headed Cowbirds are brood parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and those other birds raise their chicks. While not directly related to their association with horses, this behavior is a notable feature of their lifecycle.
Habitat:
Brown-headed Cowbirds are found in grasslands, prairies, and other open habitats where livestock graze, making them common companions of horses [and mustangs].
But while the pic that accompanies the above information looks just like the bird I saw with Bia, this link to “brown-headed cowbirds” doesn’t look like it at all. However, this link, which uses the same pic that accompanies the AI description, after a long description and comparison to various other, similar birds, calls it a juvenile brown-headed cowbird, and it does look like the LBJ accompanying Bia. 🙂
You have to be quick on the draw to snap a pic of Mr. Corazon looking up; he’s not one for worrying about humans when there’s grass to be grazed. Handsome little guy.
Having trotted past part of the band, Skywalker turns his attention to the horses that have already dropped down into the drainage ahead and are grazing their way up the other side.
He looks pretty studly, there, doesn’t he? Outlined in lovely light against the hills across Spring Creek Basin that form part of Disappointment Valley’s southwestern boundary.
Cassidy Rain doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, so she often tries to “hide” behind her band mates. … Part of her problem is that she’s much bigger than everybody else in the band.
In honor of those men and women who have died during the long defense of American freedom, take a moment today to remember their sacrifices and those of their families. War profits only the war-mongers, those who would benefit from others’ patriotism and keen defense of America’s values of democracy and equality and humanity. Those who fell must never be thought to have done so in vain but for that higher purpose.
If you’ve ever looked at one of the maps of Spring Creek Basin, you might have noticed the curious words: “Custer Dam.” You might have wondered what the heck that’s about.
If you’ve visited Spring Creek Basin, you might also have noticed the “dugout” at the first (from the southish) intersection at the west end of “the loop road” (which is impassable all the way around because of washouts). You might even have parked and gotten out to inspect it.
The story I was told – and that I repeat for visitors – is that back around the turn of the last century (1910s?), someone (who must have carried the surname Custer, though I doubt he was closely related to he of massacre infamy?) or someones decided that in Spring Creek Basin, where the three major arroyos of Spring Creek Basin converge (as I call them: the north major arroyo, Spring Creek (the central/deepest arroyo) and the south major arroyo) wouldn’t it be a great idea to build a dam across the arroyo just downstream of the convergences, back up and hold water, dig some irrigation ditches and then sell off farm land with water shares? Because (I always say this with a straight face) the land is CLEARLY immensely fertile and flat and easy to farm. … It doesn’t take long before I break into a grin and/or a laugh when people look around, trying to be polite at the fact that the land is neither flat NOR immensely (or even barely) fertile and/or easy to farm.
I mean, what was ol’ Custer thinking?
The above pic with Sancho isn’t a great depiction of the dam, but I was so surprised when I saw him standing on one end that I took a pic before he left (which turned out to be a good idea as he left within seconds of me fumbling with my camera and taking that pic; the rest of the band was in the greasewood below and across Spring Creek, out of sight behind the other side of the dam). And I thought it would be a good excuse to illustrate some of the history of the place.
That IS Spring Creek between the two ends of the old dam, below the convergences of both the north major arroyo and Spring Creek and Spring Creek and the south major arroyo. See the white? That’s not remnant snow; that’s salt. The soil (and thus all the vegetation and ground water) is heavy with alkali, remnant of the vast ocean that once waved over what is now the very dry (and salty) Colorado Plateau.
The “rest of the story” is that after all the time and effort by the man/men (?) to build the dam and the associated irrigation ditch (it runs a very long way west) – and remember, this is WAY out here, even now; did he use oxen? some kind of tractor?? – the first (or maybe it was a couple of storms on) big storm came along, wiped out the dam (the soil is highly erodable), the water having gathered from all of Spring Creek Basin’s little, medium, big and large arroyos rushed through and down Spring Creek and out of the basin … and Mr. Custer went away *disappointed*. (In truth, I can’t even imagine how he must have felt; it had to have been an ENORMOUS amount of work (and money for equipment and such?) and taken an extraordinarily long time.)
There are a number of these dugouts in Disappointment Valley. What history they could tell.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 