Final photos from Willard Springs

I have a lot of photos left to post from Willard Springs, but I've moved on, so I'm going to try to post just ONE photo in each file category.  It's going to be hard, but for the sake of your gigabytes, I'll try.  🤔 Otherwise, we'll have a hundred photos here.  They are such pretty critters, it's hard to pick a favorite.

I saw two different kinds of squirrels, a regular grey squirrel and one with a brown back and white tail:

Lots of birds - here are two kids of hummingbirds:

Female - I think this is a Broad-tailed

Male Broad-tailed

Male Black-chinned - notice the purple band on his neck?

Acorn Woodpecker:

Black-eyed Junco:
 

Hawk:
 

Painted Redstart:
 

Western Bluebird:
 

White-breasted Nuthatch:
 

Yellow-rumped Warbler:

And finally, instead of a sunset photo, I'll end with a foggy photo.  We had some rain while I was there, always welcomed, but I'm also always afraid I'll get stuck in the mud in places like Willard Springs.  Thankfully that didn't happen, and one morning I looked out the window and saw fog.  I didn't see it coming in or coming down, I just suddenly noticed it, and it was FOGGY.  Really pretty:

We enjoyed our stay at Willard Springs, AZ.  It's south of Flagstaff and north of Munds Park, and at an elevation that's perfect for summer.  Right now, though, it's quickly cooling and it was time to head south to warmer temps.

From me and Katie, have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!  💕💕

Bull Fight at Willard Springs

There were two bulls fighting (practice fighting, I think) at Willard Springs - head to head.  It went on for a long time.  The bull on the left always won, he was either heavier or stronger, or just knew what he was doing.  The bull on the right, after being pushed back, would kick up a bunch of dirt with his front and rear hooves, then come back and start all over again.

You can see how dusty they are, obviously I didn't notice them at the beginning of this exercise.  Sometimes we were outside watching them, or watching through the window of The Palms, or walking nearby.  It was very entertaining, and as I said, it went on for a loooong time.

Facing off:

Kicking up some dirt:

After quite a few loses, the loser walks away...

The white faced bull (my favorite) watches him go:

Can't you just see him thinking, "Hummm, he's a poor loser...."

"Very poor fighting manners.  Too bad, he has such potential."

The loser lets out a LOUD MOOOOOOOO as he stomps away!

As the white faced bull watches, our winner takes off after the loser....

and it starts again.

I really thought they were playing but this exchange got a little rough:

One bull trying to push the other down:

Notice the smaller bull on the left watching?  A lot of the cattle were watching on and off during all the head pushing.

Then they stopped and the loser walked around to the corner of the fenced in area and the winner followed him and it started again - I thought he was going to force the other bull into the barbed wire, but he got away from the corner.

Then look what happens -  some of the other bulls started doing the same thing.  The white faced bull was pretty gentle with the smaller guy, though.

Finally it was getting late, and they all turned in one direction and headed off to wherever they went at night.

But guess who didn't go with them?  Right...  these two were still going at it.

Katie and I were walking along the fence line near the road and were watching.  When they saw us, they stopped head pushing and started walking toward us.  That's not a huge fence separating us, and I started getting a little worried and we turned around and quickly walked back to The Palms.  I could see out the window they went at it again.

All I know is:  they weren't still there the next morning.  What an endurance test!  It was sure fun to watch them.

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  ❤❤

Willard Springs event and some Katie photos

When I was at Willard Springs, there was an event going on in the large field.  Katie and I walked over to see what was going on.   This man goes by "Rooster."  Pretty cool, huh?

This is the name of the group, and the logo shield:

From their website:  The Society for Creative Anachronism (Click to visit their website.) is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our “Known World” consists of 20 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.

Here are a few photos I snapped while there.  They were having a contest with swords at the time.

 

It wasn't a public event with booths selling food or items, but was open to the public in the sense that anyone can come into their area and walk around and watch the different activities.  It was interesting.

Lately Katie has wanted to sit outside in her stroller.  In fact, that's what she's doing right now.  She watches the cattle and birds and then will lie down and nap.  I'd never leave her out just on a rope, but in her stroller within eyesight of The Palms, I feel she's safe, and if there are any critters or loose dogs close by in the area, I just put the top down and she can still get the fresh air and the feeling of being outside.

Here's a hummingbird in the foreground that I didn't notice when snapping the pic of Katie:

And finally, a pretty sky after the sun went down:

From me and Katie, have a great weekend, everyone!  ❤❤

Kissed by a bull - or I should say, Slobbered On!

Well, actually not me, but The Palms.  When I woke up this morning and brought Katie out for her morning walk, I went to the truck hood to check underneath and make sure we didn't have any critter visitors during the night.  There was muddy slobber swiped on the corner of the hood, with short, straight black hairs stuck to it.  When I went back out to clean it off, I noticed it went all across the front edge of the hood and the other corner had been blessed by the cow's visit, too.  

And there was dried slobber on my chrome bumper.  Were they scratching their heads on the corners of the truck hood?  Or leaving kisses for me and Katie?

There were hoof prints in the dry dirt around the front of The Palms, and deep prints in the mud on the road next to us.
 

I really wish I was awake when they came by this morning.  I haven't seen them that close to The Palms, usually they are behind a fenced-off area, or out in the field next to us.  But it was nice to know they had been by.  And also that they didn't dent the truck!

Pretty exciting, huh?

From me and Katie, have a great week, everyone!   ❤❤