KSU Photo Shoot

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie!  It's been a while since Mom has tried to get us to do a photo shoot to show our support for the Kansas State University Wildcats, but we all gave it a go on Saturday.  Mom came armed with purple bandanas - which we like, cookies - which we also like, and a hat - which ... well ...

Here's the money shot!

"Let's do our serious faces!"
"Got it, Mags!"

Happy to wear the bandanas, focus on (then receive) the cookies, and ... the hat on the ground. That all worked GREAT, didn't it?

Then Mom wanted me to wear the hat.

Me.

Wear the hat.

Outside.

Where all the neighbors could see me.

And everything.

Seriously?

She should know better.

Fine.

I let her put it on me.

"Seriously, Mom?  I hope you're happy."

Yeah.

Then, I thought since I had to try to wear the hat, Maggie should have to give it a go, too.

Let's cut to the chase:

I can't even ...

Needless to say, this is what followed:

"URNFFF!"
"BOOM!!!"

We did give Mom the money shot, so I think she ought to be happy with that - don't you?

Cammie!

The Lowdown

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Some of you offered some great guesses as to where we went yesterday - and I am here today with the lowdown!

"And she's here with me, too!"
"Good one, Cam!"

Dad drove and Mom rode shotgun.  I navigated from the backseat.

At first we took this kind of road:

Hey! It's hay!  on I70W

... then this kind of road:

Highway 156S

We made a pitstop in the town of Ellinwood.  Here I am, striking a pose:

"Ha roo, people of Ellinwood!"

From there, we took this kind of road:

Mom has no idea what road this is.
It's something heading south.  Two lanes, no shoulder.
See why I'm the navigator and not her?  Yeah.

"I can't even look."
"No worries, Cam!  I know exactly where we're going!"

And I did!  Know where we were going, that is.  This was our next turn!

YAY!  Quivira NWR!

Our first stop inside Quivira was at the place in the photo we showed you yesterday!  That photo was from the last time we went; here's one from yesterday:

The road down to the Kid's Fishing Pond

We didn't stop to fish for kids, we got back into our HR-V and headed into the refuge!

The road through Quivira NWR

It was an awesome trip, and Mom saw more birdies she's never seen before ("lifers").  It'll take her a while to process through all of her photos, but we'll share them eventually!  We had lots of fun, saw lots of birdies and other wildlife, and it was a beautiful family fun day!

On the way back, we stopped in Ellinwood again.  Here's Cam checking out a huge tree:

"Oh, fascinating messages left here!  Just fascinating!"

Something for everyone on the trip!  Speaking of something for everyone ...

"I see you have a sandwich, Mom ... look into my eyes ..."

While I focused on Mom, Cam spotted Dad out the side window - also having a sandwich.  Fear not --- we scored off of BOTH of them!  Awesome!

"That's a wrap for today!  Isn't it, Maggie?  Maggie?"
"I want to go back and see more birdies.  Maybe have another bite of sandwich..."

Oh.  Right.  Sorry.  That IS a wrap for today.  Thanks for joining us on our trip to Quivira!  More to come!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Yesterday was pretty serene, so I'll keep it super short today.  Guess where we're heading right after our walk and breakfast?!?

"Can you tell where we are?!?"
"Heeeeeere, birdie, birdie, birdie!!!"

We'll let you know how it went during the week!  Keep it serene, readers!

Cammie!

Oh, Yeah ...

Greetings to all.  It's me, Maggie.  Remember we told you about having taken another trip to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge?  Yeah, we were going to get back to you with some highlights.  I thought I'd cover that today.  Pull up a chair ...

"Yeah, this feels good."

... and let's go birding!

I'm going to jump right in with my favorite photo. Cam's, too.

Coyote

Isn't he stunning? I know. It's not a bird - but Mom likes things other than birds, you know! But let's get to the birds. Here's a tiny one that Mom was able to get close to:

Least Sandpiper

And here are some large ones she wasn't able to get close to:

Sandhill Cranes (standing) and Greater White-Fronted Geese (swimming and flying)

She was thrilled anyway; she had never seen Sandhill Cranes before!  That kind of goose, either!

These guys are Mom's favorite duck in the world:

Northern Shovelers, male and female

Quite the snooters on those guys, huh?!!?

This guy was practically stalking Mom:

Cattle Egret

Mom couldn't make out the tiny duck swimming with the Coots until he did this:

Ruddy Duck

Very cooperative of him, don't you think?!?

I like the nonchalant way this guy flies:

Long-Billed Dowitchers

We also saw quite a few of these:

American Avocet

And happy ducks:

Mallards (the male is smiling!)

And the biggest thrill of the day was seeing one of our rarest birds in North America - the Whooping Crane!

Whooping Cranes!

That was as close as we could get! Like I said last weekend, we took some roads to try to get north of them, on the other side, but we couldn't really get there. We did see one more thing that made Mom happy, though. Check him out:

Donkey!

Cam and I didn't get to meet him, but we would have loved to.

Anyway ...

"That's a wrap, folks!"

... I'm so relaxed now, I'm ready to fall asleep. Thanks for letting me share Mom's pix with you; we hope you enjoyed them. If you'd like to see more, please click here (it's a 2-page album).

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS from Mom: It was such a thrill to see the Whooping Cranes!  In the 1940s, their numbers had dwindled down to about 20, but have now risen to about 600. They are still considered an endangered species.  We saw 6 of them from about 1/4 of a mile. The photos are blurry, even with my 600mm lens, but just to see them ... WOW!

Flower Friday?

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  On our walk this morning, Maggie, Mom, and I discussed what to blog about today.

"Hey, girls?  Isn't it Flower Friday?  There are some pretty Mums over here by the ..."
"Cammie, smell this!"
"Oh, INTERESTING!"

Oddly enough, Mom said we were "in the way".

"Fine.  Let's go, Mags."
"Whatever."

There were mumblings about not being able to get a clear shot for some reason.  I have no idea what that's about!

Anyway, on one of the streets, we saw some sunflowers that are still in bloom!  Mom wanted to get closer, so I helped by leading the way.

"C'mom, Mom!"

That apparently wasn't what she had in mind, and I was asked to get out of the tall grass and weeds.  Something about bugs and burrs was mentioned.  Fine.  I went back out into the street and Mom shot this:

Sunflowers

THAT wasn't the shot she was after, either, but it was all she was able to get.  Why?  Frankly, because Maggie and I had grown bored and started making our own entertainment.

"Ready or not, here I come!"
"Oh, no!  A crazed river otter!"

That's right - a round of Crazed River Otter Games (CROG) to liven things up!

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

It was great fun!

CROG action shot!

What a way to spice things up, right?!?

When we got to the Kansas Ocean, Mom wanted to get a nice shot of us together.  She hesitated to ask, since she wasn't packing any treats and had been trying to keep us apart, lest we break into more CROG action, but then she saw the perfect opportunity!  Not just were there men working at one of the homes they're building oceanside, but there were runners coming up the boardwalk!

"Oooh, fascinating!"
"People working, people running ... this is great!"

It was a most enjoyable walk - and we DID find a couple flowers to show you!

Cammie!

Jolly Good!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  This morning, Cam and I enjoyed some quality play time on the deck.  At first, we played Crazed River Otter Games (CROG):

 🎶 "Oh... Maggie!" 🎶
"Ready, Cam!?!"

That was great fun!  Then Mom brought some of our toys out!

Cam played with her Beyond Tough toy:

"An oldie but goodie!"

And me? Mom brought one out I haven't seen for quite a while! It's my Jolly Ball!

"Here I come, Mom!"

It's so cool! It's a bouncy ball with a handle on it! Mom and I played with that ...

Focus...

...and pounce!

... while Cam chewed on her toy and stood Guard Duty.

"All clear to the west, everyone!"

"Seriously.  You wouldn't feel as safe without me on the job - am I right?"

It did free me up to chomp down on my Jolly Ball!

"I'll bet I could chew this handle off ..."

Oh ... errr ... yeah.  I may have chewed a few chunks off.  But I didn't swallow them!  Jolly good - right?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam

What Comes Next?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Here's a quiz for all of you, to see how well you know us and/or understand Siberian body language.  Ready?

While out on a walk, if you see this behavior ...

"Hello ... Maggie."
"Hello ... Cam-aroo."

... followed by this behavior ...

"Come a little closer, Maggie.  I want to tell you a secret."
"Is that right?  A secret, huh?"

... what comes next?

Do you have your answers? I was going to make it multiple choice, but that seems too easy.

Has everyone turned in their papers?  Here's the answer:

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

Show of paws -- who got it right?!?  More importantly, who would like to join in?  The more, the merrier!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher