Wild things

 Or in this case,  not so wild. 

Ted and I visited the Medicine River Wildlife Center for their open house last weekend.

They had Otis the owl out for an educational talk. What a gorgeous bird- I did feature him on a previous post. Here is a writeup on him. 

   https://centralalbertaonline.com/articles/otistheowlturns-21

They let people come up to pet his chest so Ted did. 

Otis was tethered but showed off his wings a few times. 

Also on display was Bruno, a young porcupine that was rescued when he was 3 days old, found by his dead mother . I found him quite adorable, I do like porcupines!  

He loves strawberries! 

 

Also on the not quite wild side are the barn cats;  no takers for the kittens so they get to just live in the barn with the other cats. They are big enough now and are weaned. They will remain semi feral. 

 

They are so entertaining, using the bale stack for a race track and play fighting in a rolling tumbling ball of fur!

On the truly wild side we have a buck here that I hope makes it to next year..

He is pretty cagey and hunting season ends in 4 days so we just wont let hunters on the property. 

I was trying to get a photo of the kittens through Gussie's steamy breath and got this double exposure, no idea how . That is apparently Velvet who maybe moved her head in frame just as I took the shot?

Or maybe she was reflected in the steam? I don't know but it's a fun photo.

Winter is on its way

As the days draw shorter, and the skies grey up, the start of our winter is upon us. Yesterday I took down all my electric fence paddocks, storing it all away for next season when the grass once again sprouts green and fresh. As I was gathering it all up, I had that feeling of being watched, and sure enough, Mr. Owl was perched above me, and stayed there all the time I took fence down and gathered broken branches from the last wind storm to place in the burn pile.

As I was nearly done, another owl flew into  another one of the trees that ring my yard. This one looks slightly different- a female perhaps?

I did some riding last week, as well as in hand work with both Josie and Clancy. Josie is on her winter break, but I'll be keeping up with some of the ground exercises I learned in the Buck clinic. All the work Shayla did on her (25 ground work sessions) has really paid off; Josie was light as a feather on the lead line as I asked her to follow the soft feel. The only place she got a little stuck was backing the circle, but it is a new thing for her and won't take long for her to pick it up.

I'm really working on my timing with Clancy- with her, if my timing is off just a little, she gets heavy on the forehand. Lots of work to do with her and me!

I rode Beamer the other day- a lovely evening ride on my boy. This is the hawk's nest just west of us.

And what's a blog post without a horse photo?

The half moon, centered between Beamer's ears faintly visible as the setting sun lights up the Skimmerhorns.

Today, it's snowing, but there's sun in the forecast so more riding this week!

Sunday Silence

Wordless Wednesday

Moving on

At dawn this morning, the lady who was hauling for me pulled in; we loaded up the girls and off they went. It was pretty tough for me, and I must admit to some leaky eye stuff; but I contacted the new owner of each of them and they were both really happy with their purchases.

So now, there are 3. Rio, little Josie, and Beamer.

I rode Rio yesterday, and we had a little issue with a ditch, apparently his Lordship thought he shouldn't walk through it- we're talking a really wide gentle ditch that is an extension of our lawn, for cryin' out loud! His version of resistance is pretty funny, it's like slow motion compared to some of the snappier horses I've ridden. A fade to the left, around a tree where a branch snapped on my helmet and made him scoot forward- again in slow motion, or so it seemed- and then instead of making an issue of it, we went  a different route. When we returned, I dismounted and led him through the ditch a few times; next time I ride, we'll try it again. If he stays true to form, he'll waltz right through it.  That has been the pattern with him; he'll take exception to something, and then it's no problem the very next time.

Josie looks little compared to Rio, but she has actually grown quite a bit in the last couple of months.

I know this photo is a bad angle, it makes her neck look really short, but I love it because  the action with the dog going the opposite direction.

Like every weanling I've ever had, her new winter coat is really thick and fuzzy.

I've been having fun with my new camera, but I don't dare pack it on Rio- I will on Beamer next time I ride though. Having a telephoto has really made me happy- I can shoot the moon now! Just waiting for the full moon and the dark to see if I can get as good a moon shot as Ed does. This'll have to do for now:

Also, I can finally zoom in on the resident barn owl- next thing is to get a good photo of her in flight.

Tomorrow Shayla and I are heading up to see Janice. Shayla will be doing some body work on Jazz (Rio's full sister).