Saturday, April 28, 2012

Where the Buffalo Roam



This is where we will be for the month of May.  We arrived here on the 23rd, one week early.  Our first impression is WOW!!!  We see the mountains first, yes, mountains....in Oklahoma?!?  Big rock mountains.


Inside the refuge boundary, we see our first buffalo.




Then our first Longhorn.




This one is a bull...the steer has the longest horns.


Then we come to Prairie Dog Town.




I learned something new about Prairie Dogs today.  They never need or go to water.  They get what they need from roots and plants.  One berm had five little ones with mama.  Now I'm getting real excited!  


We stop at the visitor center where we hear a familiar sound.  A Northern Bobwhite.  We are to meet Quintin, Park Ranger, where we pick up our keys to the kingdom.  He shows us the "Volunteer Village" where we will be staying.




A Summer Tanager announces the Sternbergs are here, here, here.




We are the only resident volunteers with four rv pad sites.  We have not fully settled in yet in this photo, but you can see how nice it is.




This is Quintin, park ranger.  He gave us the tour where we met some of the staff, and he helped us back into our site.


That evening, we had some guests drop by.




Mr. Tom Turkey welcoming us with his gobble, gobble, gobble.




How about this big fella...an Elk.  He comes through often.  We are serenaded in the evening by Chuck-wills-widow, another bird that says its name.


Two of our friends from Santa Ana are now working here.




Meet Joe, in the foreground, and Russ.  They are one reason we came here.


Boy, did we sleep well...yep, we think we are going to like it here.


This refuge is 59,020 acres HUGE and we just got here.  Stay tuned to find out more about this fabulous refuge...one of 550 that belong to you and me, the taxpayers.


Until next time....





2 comments:

  1. Looks like a really neat place! Joe and Russ both look well I know they are happy to have some Santa Ana volunteers around even if it's only for a little while.

    You be careful in Oklahoma in May. Hopefully the weather stays good.

    We got home last Sunday and have mowed, mowed, and mowed since we got here. Right now the weather is windy and cold. Missing Louisiana already! Ha Ha.

    Good to see all the grandbabies.

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  2. I look forward to seeing the refuge through your eyes. Will y'all be the only volunteers there the whole month?
    We woke up to 25 degrees this morning!
    Teri

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