Monday, July 14: Lair o' the Bear (Part 1)

[mistressofmuses]

Last Monday, we went up to Lair o' the Bear, which is another of the county parks. I always like this one, though since it's one of the closer ones, sometimes it can be a bit crowded. Our day got off to a slightly later start than we'd wanted, but it worked out, because there weren't too many people by the time we got there.

I'm splitting this one into two posts, too. Most of the pictures will be on this post, but I'll do a second one of the current graffiti in one of the tunnels. Too many pictures, as always!


I really like this one of Bella. Such soft eyes!


A surprisingly cooperative pygmy nuthatch. Not a species I see super often, so that was exciting. (It was a good birding day in general.)


I really liked these flowers. They were so bright.

Eighteen more pictures:

There used to be a sign right by the trailhead, talking about a homestead that used to be there. There are a couple pieces of the foundation that are still out in the field. I do say "used to be," because the sign is completely gone, now. The field is super overgrown, and none of the remains are visible from the lot. I guess they decided that if no one can tell it's there, they don't want to draw attention to it.


I still wandered out through the grass to look. One time there was a neat snake over by the old chimney. No snake this time, though.


The official greeting committee! I think this is a young red-winged blackbird. It was not terribly disturbed by people walking by.


Some nice flowers.


The creek.


Neat old willow tree.


Spittlebug nests!


Bella by the creek.


Bellflowers!


Bella again!


Nice view of the creek.


Alex and Bella. <3 Even Alex was happy enough with this picture. (Minus the light flare... creek must be haunted, it's obviously a ghost.)


A fast-moving section of the creek.


Honeybee on milkweed! :)


And a bumblebee on a sunflower.


A flycatcher of some type... a pewee, I think.


Chickadee!

The trail goes down next to some private property, which includes a rentable... castle. Lol. The first time we saw it it was a bit of a surprise.


A very fairytale-looking bridge, for sure.

We used that as our turnaround point. I was impressed with how well Bella was doing! It wasn't as hot a day, and she got a bunch of wading breaks, but she made it pretty far before she started lagging any.


And finally, a mushroom on a tree! Only a little inappropriate looking, lol.

This was a really pleasant walk, and it was a great day to be out.

Comments

[liminalovertea]

I really liked these flowers. They were so bright.

Those are St. John's Wort! As a tea or tincture, they're a natural antidepressant! 🌻

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you for the ID!

While I've heard of St. John's Wort as a supplement for depression, I didn't ever know what it looked like, or even that we had it growing here!

[liminalovertea]

While I've heard of St. John's Wort as a supplement for depression, I didn't ever know what it looked like, or even that we had it growing here!

It grows like a damn weed where I live.

A warning, though: if you already take prescription antidepressants, do not have it alongside the medication, you will poison yourself! 😬

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, I have heard of St. John's Wort interfering with other medications, like birth control as well. But always a good warning! I'm glad to know that it grows here.

[galadhir]

Bella looks so cute! What a lovely colour she is. (And I second that id of St. John's Wort - those flowers are very distinctive.)

[mistressofmuses]

Bella can be pretty cute, sometimes! (She really is a very pretty color.)

And thank you for the ID! I didn't know what it looked like, or that we even had it growing here.

[umadoshi]

What a lovely spot! And what a lovely Bella!

[mistressofmuses]

It was a lovely day out! And Bella was particularly photogenic, haha.

[spikedluv]

Love the creek photos! And Bella is looking good! I'm surprised that willow tree is still standing with the roots like that!

I'm glad you had a good day.

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! The creek was beautiful. And Bella was being quite cooperative for good pictures.

That willow tree has been like that for several years, and I'm also surprised at how well it's hung on, considering!

[olivermoss]

Fantastic pictures of Bella, especially that first one! That's an amazing area. I love th water and that bridge.

Nice that the creek ghost decided to say hi.

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! I was really happy with that first picture of her. The creek is beautiful - and that bridge is such a surprise to come across.

I did appreciate the creek ghost coming to hang out, haha.

[scarlipswolfwife]

These are all so lovely! I love all the wildflowers. The white one almost looks like some type of jasmine. Not sure if it is, but it looks similar to jasmine flowers. The photos of Bella are all so so good! Especially the one with her and Alex together.

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! I've been very delighted by how many wildflowers we've had this year. Not the most I've ever seen, but a lot, and a lot of variety. Despite being pretty warm, we've been lucky in that we've also gotten a decent amount of rain.

It does sort of look like jasmine! No scent that I noticed, though.
A quick search tells me it might be a type of native clematis, which is neat - I didn't know we had a native type, and I'm more familiar with the big colorful ones that are garden favorites.

I was really happy with the pictures of Bella! And glad to get a good picture of her and Alex together, for sure.

[re_vised]

Fantastic photos, as always! Love the wildflower shots and all of the birds.

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! I am very happy with how many wildflowers we've had this year. It's been a good year in terms of rain, even with the heat.

The birds were one of the highlights of the walk for me! We saw tons, and I managed to actually get decent pictures of some of them, too!

[vriddy]

Bella is so photogenic omg, that first picture looks incredible!!

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! I was so extremely pleased with that picture of her.

[boujee_redneck]

...I wonder what Bella is thinking about when she poses so pensively/thoughtfully. Memories of a past life? Steak? Whether she agrees with recent developments in particle physics? Linguistic peculiarities she hadn't previously thought about in Mandarin versus Old English? Like, I'm genuinely invested and wouldn't mind knowing. xD

In addition to admiring the ever purdy puppy Bella as always haha, I love the beautiful scenery pictures - looks like a beautiful day and refreshing nature outing!

[mistressofmuses]

In general I assume that Bella is very "no thoughts; head empty." Possibly some random song lyrics bouncing around between her ears. At the same time... she has such an expressive face, and does so much head tilting when people talk to her, it really is like she's trying to puzzle out what this strange creature is attempting to say to her. ("Keep trying, human. I believe that with enough time and effort, you too can learn to communicate.")

It was a really lovely day to spend outside. Lots of birds and flowers and such, which is always nice.

[boujee_redneck]

Keep trying, human. I believe that with enough time and effort, you too can learn to communicate.

*cracking the fuck up* Oh. My. Word. I love this. xD

...I'm starting to suspect maybe she's an advanced life form sent to observe humanity from the perspective of a "pet"? xD

[mistressofmuses]

Hahaha, I like the idea of Bella being placed here to study humanity... she certainly gets that look on her face, haha. Sent to study the earthlings, mission compromised by love of snacks.