Cattle egret (white heron) comes to visit

I saw this white bird as it was watching our horse and it appeared interested in watching until I came out and took a few images before it flew away.  Our veterinarian was giving our animals their shots that morning and I asked him about this bird.  He said it was a cattle egret and that they are originally from Africa, migrated to South America and then North America.  He said they are plentiful in Wichita, Kansas.  I did a google search and discovered that they like to sit on cattle and eat the insects off of them.  Below are a few images that I captured of the cattle egret's short visit to our ranch.  Enjoy!

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Pooker Poo is her name!

We named our baby donkey Pooker Poo, which is the nickname of our youngest daughter, Trisha.  Pooker Poo looks like she will favor her mother as her spots are visible on her body, unlike Emmy Lou who was all white after birth.  I've included images when Pooker Poo was 2 and 3 days old ending with an image of our handsome horse, Ace!

My Best Photo for 2015!

Every time I look at this image, I get tickled at the expression I was fortunate to capture.  I would love to tell you that this was a planned shot; however, I was going for a totally different image of several horses lined up against the fence.  After realizing that I wasn't going to get what I wanted, I dumped all of the horse treats over the fence for the horses and sat on my overturned empty bucket watching the horses gobble up the treats.  Since the weather was recently stormy, the sky was a beautiful backdrop for the scene. As I sat on the bucket and shot upward at the horses eating the treats, I captured this hilarious image of the horse as if he was actually laughing! My plans are to order this photo as a metal print at Social Print Studio.  That would be an awesome way to display my best photo for 2015!!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

It's a girl, she was born Tuesday, April 12, and we're currently in the naming process.  She looks just like her mom, Sally!  Sally doesn't want anyone around her even her sister Emmy Lou! When we come up with a name, we'll share along with some more images of our newest member to The Smith Ranch!

 

A visit from a Great Blue Heron

A Great Blue Heron made a visit to the Smith Ranch today and I was fortunate to capture this beautiful bird from our studio window.  Here are some interesting facts about this bird.  It is the largest heron in North America.  In flight, it looks enormous, with a six-foot wingspan.  Thanks to specifically shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance.  Despite their impressive size, they weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones--a feature all birds share. The oldest recorded Great Blue Heron was found in Texas when it was at least 24 years, 6 months old.

Pictured below is the Great Blue Heron that paid us a visit today.  It appears that he is looking directly at me while taking his picture.  Ain't he purty?

Kansas wildfire causes awesome sunset!

Talk about a unusual sun photo!  It's hard to believe that a wildfire that was in the southwest part of the state could effect how the sun would look around 200 miles away.  Here are two images taken around 7 o'clock last night at The Smith Ranch and included for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

Ace at sunset

I couldn't resist capturing Ace at sunset on this beautiful and unusually warm day in February.  I grabbed the camera using our 100-400mm Canon lens and called Ace who was across the pasture. The images below show him responding to my call and ends up with a closeup of his face.  I like how the sunset is backlighting Ace and puts a pretty rim of light around him. I've included seven images of Ace for your viewing pleasure!