The Wildflowers and the Bull

At the time of my Yucca Plant photo shoot, I had the opportunity to photograph a few more things.  I’ve covered the birds, and now I move onto the wildflowers and the bull.

Indian Paintbrush, or Prairie Fire. The official name is Castilleja.

The above is commonly referred to the Indian Paintbrush.  It’s a striking and very visible flower.  It’s mostly orange, but depending on the light, it can almost appear red.

We had a bit of moisture in the last few weeks, so wildflowers are taking the opportunity to spring up all over the place.  They’re making up for the short growing season.

This is a small patch, but there are fields with large expanses of wildflowers.

I’ll probably take another drive soon just to photograph fields of these things.  This year is not as good as a few years ago, when a very wet May resulted in an explosion of green and wildflowers.  For the two or three who are interested, this small gallery showcases that spring.

Lamb’s Tongue Groundsel Flowers (Senecio Integerrimus)

The unfortunate thing is I don’t know the “common” name of many of these.  I mean, the above could be shortened to “Lamb’s Tongue”, but that seems gross to me.  I hereby name it “Prairie’s Fool’s Gold” . . . much easier.

Short’s Milk Vetch Flowers

Come on! . . . they’re just making shit up now!  I shall call these “Purplers”.

They are neat to see and photograph.

The above were taken with my 400mm lens.  Pretty good, but . . . out came the macro.

A bit overexposed, but still nice.

Much better detail.

All of the above, and a few more, can be found and explored in detail in the SmugMug Gallery by clicking on the photos, or by clicking HERE.

By the way, for people living in Colorado, or people interested in Colorado Wildflowers, this site is a must for identifying wildflowers:

 http://www.wildflowersofcolorado.com/index.html

On my way back home, I passed by a field, and a scene that made me do a U-turn (taking all the safety precaution to ensure I did not get creamed by some inattentive driver).

I pulled off the road, parked the car, and walked up to the fence. This looks close, but it was about a hundred yards away.

This guy was napping among the wildflowers . . .

When I got home, I learned a new word . . . brindle. It refers to a striation in coloring.  I had never see a cow, or leather, with these striations.

I’m really pleased with this picture. The combination of the flowers and the color of the animals, and the whole setting just work for me.

I know it’s a bit like talking to a wall, but this looks great in the SmugMug gallery.

And then he noticed me . . .

. . . ant it started to rise . . .

I am here to tell you there was a primal reaction, despite my supposed rational brain, to having a large, horned animal take notice of me.

. . . and stared.

When this guy got up I struggled for a moment to remember I was behind a fence.

Still, I was not interested in an altercation.

I started to walk away, heading back toward my car, but still along the fence, and snapping pictures.

He kept his eyes on me the whole time.

I was almost back at the car, still shooting pictures, when . . .

. . . he turned to face me. Not all leisure-like, but with purpose.

I got to tell you; I looked down at the three strand of barbed wire separating me from a ton or so of horned beast, and all of the sudden they did not feel like much protection at all.

It turns out he was more nervous of me than I was of him.  I say that because he suddenly turned, and herded the rest of the cows further into the field.  He was fulfilling his role of protector . . . against stray photographers.

As usual, you can click on any of the pictures to visit the associated SmugMug Gallery, or you can click HERE.

Thanks for visiting, and reading my stuff.

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