A Squirrely Tale

Friday I happened to witness an amazing moment, as a squirrel gathered pinecones...he got the one below, scurried down the tree, across the fence and cattle guard, to the base of a tree at the other side of the road to Spring Creek picnic area...left it somewhere out of sight and then came scurrying back across the fence. I didn't see him once he went back up in the tree but I heard the methodic thumping of pinecones hitting the ground one after the other...if you look closely you can see that the squirrel has a dirty mouth, like a child caught eating chocolate cake!

A red-breasted nuthatch eyeballs a tasty pinecone...

...Oh no you don't birdie bandit, this is MY pinecone...

'Thith ith thowing thu thathe thee all thay thong...

...One down, eight hundred and fifty six to go...

You still here?! Alrighty then, I can't be held responsible if a wayward pinecone lands on your dense skull...you've been warned! Hey! Whaddya laughing at?!

Sheridan Lake Visitors

I took a scenic drive yesterday along Old Hill City Rd. between Keystone and Hill City, didn't get but a couple scenic shots...but on my way back home I stopped at Sheridan Lake...

A Canada goose and male American wigeon quietly share Sheridan Lake...that dark streak over the wigeon's eye is a pretty dark green (like a mallard's head), and the bill is pale blue.

A female American wigeon bobbing along...

Female mallards near the S. shore of Sheridan Lake. Male mallards were on the water.

A lone Canada goose hanging out on the S. shore of Sheridan Lake. There were several on the water too.

Rest in Peace Mr. Moose

Photo taken by Blake Clark

I hope to get out today and tomorrow to take some pictures...in the meantime I saw on Yahoo today that the local moose poaching in the Black Hills has reached their list of headliner news stories. We had a wayward young bull moose wandering the area this summer; needless to say most of us were tickled by the rare visitor, even if we never got to see him.

Then came the news that some blankety-blank-blank had shot the poor animal. He was found near-death to make it more heart-breaking. There's a reward out on the poacher's head; chances are we'll never catch the SOB. I think this bears mentioning even though it's a really miserable story. Here's the link to the latest story in our local online newspaper.. http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/article_fd97ab02-b932-11de-9aa1-001cc4c03286.html Everything is not always hunky-dory in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.

Theme-color Thursday

Some bloggers do a one-color-theme Thursday post each week, but with a different title for it. Since these photos I took on Sept. 8th, the day before I left on my Calif. trip, haven't been blogged yet...and the color chosen for today is pink..voila! Beats more snow photos, huh?! (For now anyway.) The color subjects are supposed to be a variety of interesting things, but y'all are just going to get one subject this time. I took these at the greenhouse at Ft. Meade, which is no longer a fort of course, it's now a Veteran's Administration (VA) hospital and employee housing compound. Many of the original bldgs. still exist...that's a future post...

If you think about it awhile...knowing that I live in South Dakota...you'll be thinking that this flower is a bit out of place. I have never, ever seen a hibiscus growing in anyone's garden here. But it was awesome to see them anyway, safely inside the humid greenhouse.

Pinkish orange? That's my story and I'm sticking to it...had to share the showier hibiscus anyway...this looks like the last hibiscus I saw, a few years ago in Florida...in Key West...outside of the Conch Republic Seafood Restaurant...where I was enjoying conch chowder, in Dec., in the 87 degree weather...really should be there right now...indefinitely...or at least until June 2010...

This begonia really was this gorgeous deep pink color...

I think this is bougainvillea, according to a web search, since I can't remember what it was marked as at the time I was in the greenhouse.

Snow Bird and a Dog

I saw many meadow-larks in Custer Park last week, carrying on despite the cold ...they are permanent residents but those living in the northern part of their range tend to move further south in winter.

The black-tailed prairie dogs were still outside their burrows, defending their territory, chattering away...they can hybernate up to six months... they must be confused...

Ok, and just for the heck of it...the first icicles of the season...I saw more hanging off of large rocks too. This is a not-so-natural roof on an outhouse in a picnic area along French Creek. *sheepish grin*