The original plan was to go for a hike with my sweet Hazel dog and do some photographing on Sunday. Saturday was a rainy day and according to the weather folks, it was gonna clear for Sunday. Nope! Woke up to a cloudy and rainy Sunday. So we went with plan B and just did a fun hike at Coot lake in the rain without the camera.
Monday was looking promising for our hike/ photographing wildlife, so that was the new plan. I woke up to a spectacular day, so got the kitties fed, packed up the camera and we headed out for a fun morning!
I thought the boulder valley ranch loop might be fun. Hazel could be off leash and there was a good chance of seeing some wildlife, especially birds.
Oh yeah, We barely started our hike and the western kingbirds welcomed us with their song!
The bunnies were everywhere! Most dogs would chase them but not Hazel. She really is the perfect hiking partner. She doesn't chase prairie dogs, bunnies or even deer. The only thing she chases is her tennis ball. Thank Dog for that because you can get a fine of up to 1000$ if a ranger sees your dog chasing wildlife.
The wildflowers are blooming everywhere!
I could hear the yellow headed blackbirds calling down at this small lake. But it's a protected area, so we continued on........
A couple of these sparrows were enjoying the beautiful morning! I'm gonna guess they are chipping sparrows but it's only a guess.
We were just getting ready to hike down the steep hill when this meadowlark started singing his heart out! It is the most beautiful sound!
We finally made it to the small pond where Hazel could cool off and get her swim on!
We were leaving the pond when this female red-winged blackbird posed so nicely!
This whole area is quite populated with prairie dogs but just north of the pond is a great area to get pics of them.
Whenever I stopped to get pics, Hazel would just sit next to me and patiently wait for me. Yup, she is the perfect hiking dog!
We got to the northside of the main trail and saw this sign. Then I realized they had these signs about every 100 feet along the trail. Really? Seems a waste of money to me. There are signs at the trailheads reminding people about dogs chasing wildlife. And even with all these signs, I guarantee people still allow their dogs to chase the P dogs.....
I spotted this meadowlark but he wasn't singing. He had a mouthful of yummy breakfast to enjoy!
We were almost back to the trailhead when we passed this cute family of prairie dog pups.
Back at the trailhead, I decided to walk part of the trail we missed. Sweet! Mr. bullock's oriole appeared and posed so nicely for me!
Thanks for reading!
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