Critters

Travel Flashback – Denali National Park, Alaska

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One of the highlights of our trip to Alaska in 2005 was to see a dog sled team doing their thing. A ranger would pull out a sled on a fairly smooth track (no snow in July in Denali) and the dogs – about 20-30 of them – would commence barking noisily – TAKE ME TAKE ME! The rangers assembled a team of five dogs and one of them got on the sled and drove the eager team around about a quarter mile course at full speed. These dogs were wonderful to watch as the enthusiastically did what they apparently love to do. Click on the image to enlarge.

Strip Mall Quail

I saw these cute little quail scurrying across the parking lot in a strip mall where our real estate agent does business. I think that this is a pair of mates, male (front) and female on their way to forage or do other quail business. This species is called Gambel’s Quail.

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Relaxing In Our Jammies

When we got up this morning, we stayed in our sweats and house shoes for most of the day until it was time to take our after dinner one-mile walk. I took this photo of my husband and “Bear” wearing their “jammies” on the patio this morning. Click on the image to see the full-sized photo.

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Poppy Polinator

In between the rain showers today, the sun came out long enough for this bee to pollinate one of the Icelandic poppies out front of the house. Click on the image to enlarge.

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California Brown Pelican

These beautiful birds were on the endangered species list, but their numbers are now plentiful along the coastline ranging from Cabo San Lucas to Eureka and beyond. This handsome specimen flew so low and close to my camera today that you can practically see the whites of its eyes. Click on the image below to see the glorious extra-large close-up.

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(Cap’n Bob: “I believe this is the best photo Damsel has ever taken of a California Brown Pelican.”)