Palo Duro Canyon State Park: December 2020

I got everything I wanted out of my New Mexico road trip over winter break.  And I got a few hours closer to home than I'd expected after leaving Valles Caldera.  So I decided to make an extra stop on my stretch drive home and visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park for the first time.

Having been to the actual Grand Canyon, I can tell you that Palo Duro deserves its nickname of "The Grand Canyon of Texas."  It is the second biggest canyon in the country, and the vistas from the CCC Overlook are majestic.

The Goodnight Peak Scenic Loop has its own impressive view of the canyon floor.

There's not much in the way of beautiful flora in late December in the Texas Panhandle.  The most I found that was photogenic were some Prickly Pear.  Violet...

...and Purple, which seems like a pretty subtle distinction.

Wildlife was also scarce, and on a few occasions when I saw a bird or even a deer I wasn't in position for a good shot.  That was not the case with this Black-crested Titmouse, who stayed wonderfully still for me in some very good light.

The road was closed right after the parking area for the Capitol Peak Trail.  So my final shot of the scenery was this view of Sunday Creek.

I did appreciate this colorful encouragement to not feed the wildlife.

I think I appreciated this sign south of Amarillo even more.  At least, I appreciated it enough to turn my car around and take a picture of it.  Not enough to follow it and peruse the advertised selection, however.

My first visit to Palo Duro Canyon definitely won't be my last!

Smith Oaks Sanctuary Miscellany: June 2017

Birds may be the main attraction at the Smith Oaks Audubon Sanctuary, but they're far from the only attraction.  Plenty of other wildlife caught my attention during last week's visit.

I could have probably focused on nothing but dragonflies, and still been completely satisfied.  They were dense and I got to see them in different lighting conditions, like this backlit Wandering Glider which the great Michael Fox was kind enough to ID for me.

I also got to see a new species for me -- this Roseate Skimmer.

Another abundant invertebrate -- Golden Silk Orb-Weaver spiders.  I didn't like any of the shots I took of them in full light, but these silhouettes are some pretty solid nightmare fuel.

This big fella was headed off the rookery island into the water right as I reached the observation platform.  I was fortunate to be able to snap off a couple of shots before he submerged.  Usually when I see alligators in the wild, it's just their eyes and noses above the surface of the water.  It was nice to get this full body shot.

Aaawww -- how sweet!  This alligator is taking his spoonbill friend for a ride around the pond!  Wait ... that's not what he's doing?  Ohhhhh...

You know you live a fairly sedentary life when algae starts growing on you.

Those claws, though...

I love the eye-catching creations Texans place in their front yards.  This "tire frog" on the main drag through High Island definitely qualified!

This one stop would qualify as a successful photo outing for me.  But we still had two more days and many more locations to go!

Related Posts:

• Smith Oaks Sanctuary Wading Birds: June 2017
• Smith Oaks Sanctuary Babies: June 2017
• Smith Oaks Rookery: April 2016 
• Smith Oaks Sanctuary: April 2016