Big Horn Sheep

Our family was sledding close by here when we finally realized they were there.

At first, I kept hearing a dog. So I thought. Then I realized it was a coyote.

It was going on and on.... It did not stop yelping. I am guessing it was calling out to others because it found food. I wished I had my binoculars. It sounded really close by and I could tell the direction it was coming from.

We went down a hill a bit when I finally spotted them.

I ran and got my camera from the car. I am guessing we scared the coyote off when we got closer. My husband took all of the close up shots. He found some tall grass to hide behind.

They kept hearing him and looking his direction, but did not seem to care
It would be fun to go back and find them with binoculars to read there tags.
It's cool to see the GPS collars on them.

This was a fun experience to be so up close in the wild.

By the way... They are on the top of the golf course on the edge of the mountain. Of course there is great green grass under all that snow.

Bald Eagles

Just Amazing.

Meal time....

These were actually taken last year right around this time.

From sometime in December til sometime in Feb. or March the Bald Eagles come to the Dam by the dozens. It was so fun to watch them, stand right under them, and close by.

They are really so magnificent.

I have found, the colder the day the more likely you will see them flying around. The earlier in the morning helps also.
This is a Juvenile. I believe they take about 2 years to get their full color.

This is only about half of what I saw when I first drove up. The trees were full. I counted close to 40 Eagles on this day. There had to be more that I missed.

I am sure I might have a few better pictures than some of these. When you have over 100 of the same bird scattered, it's hard to sort through them.

I will sure miss being able to see them. My kids sure enjoyed it just as much as I did.

Chipmunk

This was from last July.

I found that if I randomly threw seed on the deck

a chipmunk would find it's way up the stairs to it.

They didn't seam to mind each other.

We watched it's cheeks grow and...

grow, and grow. Until there just couldn't be any more room.

It would leave, go to it's underground hiding spot (the underground rain spout)

Then, come back for more. Sometimes it would even get close enough to come peer in the back door windows. I love chipmunks!

Being Chased

Us, being chased after...
Them, being chased after...
I have never seen this one variety of geese before that I remember.
I thought they were very pretty.
Turns out, we were being chased after for the want of food.
Good thing we scared them off before they realized we didn't have anything.

Blue Heron

caught fish
Poked and tossed fish around and on ground for quite some time.

After about 10 minutes or so, we were finally spotted and it gulped it down.

Taken through a screen on the 5th floor of a building looking out towards the lake.

Down by the Dam

The Sleeping Squirrel

This squirrel was so tiny. I would say it was about half the size of the adults. Which I am sure is the reason it was so tired all of the time. I found it multiple times in strange places taking a nap. a few times on the ground and on the deck railing.

The top picture was right outside our kitchen window.

The bottom two were on a rock next to a tree.

The lines are from the railing on the deck.

The Looks of Fall

A beautiful Halloween tree in full color at night.
Looking out across Lake Ozarks in full color.

(Try to click on pictures for better view)

I'm Watching You

We disturbed this guys lunch by driving by. But it didn't seam too bothered that we were parked only 10 feet away.

Butterfly

Feed Me

Ring Neck

The kids found this harmless little Ring Neck by the pool. It was very tiny.

It seamed to be sleeping or something when we found it, (above picture).