Buffleheads and Company

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  The other day, Mom and I slipped off to the Kansas Ocean together - just the two of us!  It was great fun and I saw all kinds of cool things!

I had a good look around when we got there and thought I saw something down by the Transoceanic Bridge.

"Trust me, Mom!  Zoom in!"

Mom zoomed in a bit to try to see what I saw ...

Can you see them?  In the bottom third of the water!  Tiny ducks!  I had Mom zoom in some more!

Bufflehead Duck!

A male Bufflehead Duck!  And that's not all!  Check out who was with him!

Ladies and gentlemen ... Mr. and Mrs. Bufflehead Duck!

Isn't that cool?  Mom shot a quick (20 second) video of them swimming.  You can tell from the video just how FAST they were swimming.  (Mom said that also gives her an excuse for less-than-perfect photos!)

We also saw this little Western Meadowlark hopping around down by the shoreline:

He's the state bird of Kansas!  Well, maybe not this one in particular, but--

"Hey!  I could be!  Now keep it down, I'm hunting for my dinner!"

Is it just me, or is somebird a little cranky?  Maybe he was hungry.  He hoped over to the boardwalk area and I think he caught something there:

Chowing down!

Mom said he probably caught a bug - then suggested he come live by our house and invite his friends.

Speaking of friends, we also saw this guy circling above with a few of his close associates:

Turkey Vulture

They were pretty cool!  I checked the water again to see if any other ducks were there, or maybe the Heron, but I didn't see anyone.

"Ha roooooo???!???"

Can you tell how breezy it was from my fur?

I just love those ocean breezes!  Thanks for coming with us - I hope you enjoyed our trip to the Kansas Ocean!

Play bows,
Zim

Dedicated Follower Of Fashion

Hello, everyone - it's me, Cammie.  I just have a couple quick updates for you today.

First off, I have my very own Army dog tag now!  Check  it out:

It has my name and address and phone number and all kinds of good information on it!  I think that means I've completed Boot Camp and am in the Army forEVER!

I also have a leash to match my Lupine collar now!

"Hey, Cocker Spaniels!  Are you down there?!?"

Isn't it pretty?

My mom also ordered some webbing so she could make a collar for me to match the green and blue leash I have (the one you can see in this photo) and some pink camo with bones on it!  She got some webbing for my brothers, too!

"How do I look?"

I just can't wait to wear all my new outfits!

"Do you Cockers like me in purple?"
"Seriously.  Is she cute enough or what!?!"

Like the Kinks said, I'm a "dedicated follower of fashion"!

That's all I have for you today.  I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday!

Camo!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  Dave here with this week's installment of Serene Scenery Sunday.  As Zim told you yesterday, Mom was out cavorting with Border Collies (and her friend) yesterday and left us alllllll alone.  I know.  It was terribly unfair.  She did come back very happy and serene and excited about everything she did and saw, though, so it was OK.  She asked if I'd share the best of her pix with you today and there are a ton of them.  Grab your water bowl or cup of coffee, and let's get ready to get serene at Tuttle Creek Lake River Pond/State Park!

This is in one of the many shelters in the park:

Mom always feels serene when she sees it.  They parked right by it, so Mom went in and snapped a pic before they started hiking.

Along one of the trails, they saw this Downy Woodpecker:

Mom said he was hard to capture; he was tiny and kept moving.

Mom said she prefers large, slow-moving birds.  Ha woo.

Along the path, there are lots of gnarly trees of all kinds.  It's no surprise then that there are several of these in the ponds:

Beaver Dam!

Another Beaver Dam!

It should further come as no surprise that if you wait and watch and get really lucky, you might see one of these pop up over the bank:

Mr. Beaver!

Pretty cool, huh?

Both Mom and Dad like this picture and say it reminds them of Easter:

It doesn't get much better than Easter, does it?

Mom and her friend also saw this little birdie:

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Mom's friend was able to ID it; Mom had never seen one before!

Speaking of birds Mom's never seen before, she saw this guy hanging out with some Coots:

That's not a Coot!

Mom's friends and a member of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's FaceBook page helped Mom ID it as a Horned Grebe going through Winter to breeding plumage!

Here's one of the Coots he was hanging out with:

Mom loves Coots.

Hmm.  Those aren't birds in the photo above ... I do believe it's Moss and Seamus, Mom's friend's Border Collies.  I hope they had a good time!

Here's another sort of mystery bird:

Mom thinks it's a Northern Rough-Winged Swallow.  Anyone have any other ideas?

The Rough-Winged is supposed to have long, pointy wings and tail, be brown and pale brown, and according to Cornell, a "small, long-winged stocky songbird."

"Who are you calling stocky, husky?"

No offense, birdie.  The Cornell people said it, not me.

Moving right along... here's a Red-Winged Blackbird:

Mom said they could hear a whole lot more birds than they could find.  I think this could explain the whole thing:

"Two women with cameras coming this way!  Hide!  Hide!  HIDE!"

You never know.

On her way out of the park, Mom saw an American Kestrel perched up on a post!

Is it just me, or does he look like he's saying his prayers before dinner?  Look out below, little mousies!

Maybe that wasn't the most serene place to leave it for today, but maybe it was for the Kestrel.

Remember to look for serenity all around you.  You never know what you might find!

Luv,
Dave

Holding Down the Fort

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim!  Mom was out looking for birds and cavorting with Border Collies this morning, so it was up to me to hold down the fort.

Working Dog in Action

Or to hold it up.  Whatever the case, I had it covered!

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Hello again, everyone.  It's me, Camo.  We did some special photos this week for Photo Finish Friday!  Are you ready to take a look?

The first ones are of Zim in The Backyard.  You remember - that magical place I told you about yesterday!  Here is a collage of Zim doing some Rin Tin Tin poses:

Rin Tin Zim

He looks very strong and handsome, doesn't he?  Here's another pose that I especially like:

My brother Zim

I think he looks kind there.  And fun to play with.  Especially on walks when you're supposed to be walking and not horsing around.  Umm... not that I'd do something like that or anything.

Here I am, checking out The Backyard for the very first time!

I walked all around our special path then checked under the deck and around the whole perimeter/fence-line.  It was very fun exploring!  Here's my favorite photo:

Camo-flage

Mom already put that on FaceBook, but I put it on a special background for all of you.  Do you like the caption?  I AM Camo-flaged!  Zimmie and I fit in real well with our limestone walls, don't we?

Davy likes to play in the front!  Here's a collage of him with one of his favorite toys, Squee Kee Moose.

Dave and Squee Kee Moose

Squee Kee looks fun.  I wonder if Dave would let me play with him for a while...  I'll have to ask!

I hope you enjoyed our photos and collages!  Have a great weekend!

Camo!

Play Time!

Hello, everyone!  It's Cammie here today.  I think my brothers have told you that we get most of our exercise out on walks, but sometimes we get to go to a magical place to have one-on-one playtime with our mom.  That place is called The Backyard and I got to go back there the other day!

I did some exploring first (we'll share those pix later) and then I got to PLAY!

"Ooh!  Tennis Balls on a Rope?!?"

I was very interested in the toy!  I don't know why, but Mom won't throw Tennis Balls on a Rope for us in the house.  I wonder why not?  Anyway, she did throw it for me in the yard!

"Run!  Run!  Run!"

(I was on a very long leash, not attached to anything.  Mom said I have to learn about not jumping off the retaining walls before I can go leash-free back there.  Safety first!)

"I got it!  I got it!"

"I ... uh oh!  Brakes!!!  BRAKES!"

"Oomph!"

"Got you, you Tennis Balls on a Rope, you!"

I had tons of fun running after the toy, then chewing it, then running some more!  Oh.  Oh, I know what you might be wondering.  Do I play that Fetch game like my Davy does?  Is that what you're wondering?  Well... I do love my Dave... but let's just say I'm more in the Siberian camp and less in the Labrapuppy camp.

Camo!

Wordless Wednesday

Luv,
Dave

I Know!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats.  It's me, Zim.  I know we're late posting today.

Ha roo.  "I" know ... and there's my eye.  Get it?  Ha roo roo roo.

But yeah.  Mom didn't get much sleep last night and then she had to be somewhere this morning.  On the brighter side, we got about 1-3 inches of snow!  What could be better than that?!?

Play bows,
Zim

PS:  We're still trying to get caught up on everyone's blogs.  Thanks for understanding!

What's On?

Hello, everyone.  It's Cammie.  I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.  We have all kinds of photos to show you so I wasn't sure what to post today!  My brothers said I should try to go chronologically ... so these pix are actually from about a week ago, but we thought you'd like them.

We had all eaten dinner and gone on our evening walk together.  After I got a drink, I looked around to see what everyone else was doing.  I found Dave and Mom in the living room.

"Hi, DaveDave!  What are you doing?  Want to PLAY!?!"
"I was going to snuggle with Mom until the show comes on."

A show, huh?  Hmm...

"How about a show before the show?"

I thought that was my cue - and I started the Camo Show!

"ZOOM!  ZOOM!!  ZOOM!!!"
"Woo!  Go, Camo!  Wooo!!!"

For some reason, most of the pix of the Camo Show came out really blurry.

"Did you like that, Davy?"
"That was GREAT, Cam!  Wooo!"

Dave really liked my show a lot!  It was very fun to put on.  Just about the time my show finished, the TV show came on.

"Oh, my.  It's that Queen Cersei!  'Come here, little dove...' "

Dave said he liked my show better than the one on TV.  Isn't Dave sweet?

Camo!