Sunday bird blogging

I remember when all my bird pictures looked like this (and honestly a lot of them still do). I took this through the windshield of Judy's car, and I didn't have the right lens and the bird refused to look in my direction, but I thought it was a sparrow I'd never seen before so I took the picture anyway.

Fortunately the markings are so distinctive it was easy to identify even without a good closeup. This is a lark sparrow, which is common in Texas year-round but never visits the East Coast at all, so I'm glad I have the picture.

The place where the road and the sky collide

The road down to the Brazos River from the back gate of the ranch.

Energy

The picture on the left is how I've always thought of Texas energy -- oil, oil, and more oil. But if you click on the picture to the right to enlarge it (this is the view from the restaurant terrace at the ranch) you can see wind turbines on the top of the hill.

I can vouch for the fact that there is an abundance of wind around here. I gave up trying to keep my hair combed two days ago.

Pastoral

There's a riding ring by the stables, but I prefer the horses like this, no saddles, no bridles, strolling through the pasture, munching on some delicious grass. It's almost ridiculously idyllic.

More longhorns

Texas Longhorns

Every morning at 9 am, the guests at the Wildcatter Ranch have the option of feeding the longhorns. Their pasture is down by the road, so I'd already passed them several times going back and forth to Graham, and I was glad for an opportunity to get a closer look.

As is so often the case when food is involved, these magnificent, stern animals made absolute fools of themselves slobbering all over us and did everything but lick our faces to get more molasses pellets.

Also, they're not very bright and you have to be careful not to get whacked in the head by those horns, as they tend to be a little reckless about waving their heads around when they're begging for more treats.