It was another rainy low-hanging cloud kind of day where the sky and the horizon just melted together. The temps were good at mid 50s all day and showers were hit and miss but increasing ahead of a second cold front ready to pass and plunge us weeks early into a freeze warning.
It was still a day of sightings that you look for and generally don't find all in one day. But, timing is everything proved the wizard correct with pelicans flying just above the water line half the length of the lake in a line one after another. It was also pouring rain at the moment and putting the window down in the car was just not gonna happen. But, I got to see perfect shots fly by one-by-one and that will give me a mental image of what to watch for in the future. Another old adage is that you need to think like the bird and know their habits recognizing signs that they are about to take flight or about how long their glide path is if they are landing. It really does help.
The second and third sighting was two hawks in tops of trees. One at Dreyfuss Club; the other at Big Thicket. The Big Thicket hawk was getting drenched in a down pour of rain and just sat there like a stone.
The fourth sighting was another coyote with the past ten days. This one was in the horse pasture just south of where Hillside comes into West Lawther just beyond the street that goes up the hill to Cox Cemetery. There was a guy in a truck parked off the road. He waved me down and pointed to the coyote that I had already slowed down to observe. At that point, the coyote was stalking two horses and was way to close to the animals who were somewhat nervous of his presence. As I turned around, I got three really good views of the animal but they were shot through a while split rail fence in the car with the window down. So, I did get the white of the fence and the blur of the wire backing, but the coyote, unlike the playful female 10-days ago, was a big stout male with an old mange spot that had healed over leaving a bare patch of new fur on his right hind hip and leg.
In the shot you can see the horses.
When you click on the enlarge you get a really good look in detail of the coyote. I will devote all three shots to this amazing animal in urban settings.
It was still a day of sightings that you look for and generally don't find all in one day. But, timing is everything proved the wizard correct with pelicans flying just above the water line half the length of the lake in a line one after another. It was also pouring rain at the moment and putting the window down in the car was just not gonna happen. But, I got to see perfect shots fly by one-by-one and that will give me a mental image of what to watch for in the future. Another old adage is that you need to think like the bird and know their habits recognizing signs that they are about to take flight or about how long their glide path is if they are landing. It really does help.
The second and third sighting was two hawks in tops of trees. One at Dreyfuss Club; the other at Big Thicket. The Big Thicket hawk was getting drenched in a down pour of rain and just sat there like a stone.
The fourth sighting was another coyote with the past ten days. This one was in the horse pasture just south of where Hillside comes into West Lawther just beyond the street that goes up the hill to Cox Cemetery. There was a guy in a truck parked off the road. He waved me down and pointed to the coyote that I had already slowed down to observe. At that point, the coyote was stalking two horses and was way to close to the animals who were somewhat nervous of his presence. As I turned around, I got three really good views of the animal but they were shot through a while split rail fence in the car with the window down. So, I did get the white of the fence and the blur of the wire backing, but the coyote, unlike the playful female 10-days ago, was a big stout male with an old mange spot that had healed over leaving a bare patch of new fur on his right hind hip and leg.
In the shot you can see the horses.
