Valentine and Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuges

This morning I headed out to Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. Had been there awhile when I saw this Variegated Fritillary. Decided I wanted to try to photograph him, so got out of the car and began the attempt.

After getting my guy...I noticed Miz Winnie was in the front seat, poking her nose out the partially open car window. Normally she snoozes on when I get out of the car. When she doesn't, I know she thinks it's time to take care of doggy business. In spite of having water in the car she decided to take a drink of the water in Rice Lake


She then decided to check out this dock. We hadn't gotten very far, when the waves from the lake slapped against the dock. She wasn't sure about that sound, and decided she wanted no part of the dock. However, I had heard a Marsh wren in the reeds and so, with a little urging, she decided not to be a scaredy dog, and explored the dock some more. I never did see the Marsh wren though he kept singing the entire time we stayed on the dock.


Moving on, I had fun playing with the shutter settings to get this effect with the windmill


The rest of the Valentine NWR photos are here

This evening I went back out to Ft. Niobrara NWR.

I was scanning the Prairie dog town looking for a Burrowing owl. Never did find a Burrowing owl but this Ring-necked pheasant and his lady friend were meandering through the Prairie dog town.


And my last picture of the day was of this White-tailed jackrabbit


I decided to try a smaller size photo this evening. We'll see how I like it, as I continue to tweak how I do this blog.

Tomorrow I head on to Martin, SD. Martin is a really dinky little town. There is one motel there. There is a main building that looks like it is rather upscale, especially for Martin. Dogs aren't allowed there. There is an annex (their term) around the corner. It appears to have been a separate motel that was perhaps bought up by the more upscale place. Anyway, I was told when I checked in there last November that there was no internet access in the annex. However, that was only partly true, because I was able to access it intermittently. I have no idea what the situation will be tomorrow. The bottom line is, that I may be off-line for a couple of nights.