Life on the Ranch-August Sunrise

 One early morning in August I decided to climb out of bed and head down to the main part of the ranch to see what I might find. Before the sun even came up, I was treated to Sandhill Cranes.

I found I could move a little bit and line up the sandhill cranes with the "bat." Do you see a bat in the background mountains, with two pointy ears and wings to the sides? Some people say it's a Great Horned Owl. I recently had an adventure near there, and will share that soon.

There are always deer in the fields, and sure enough I found some! They came up near the pivot, which is a more efficient way of watering fields. The hoses coming down from the pivot pipes deliver the water even closer to the plants.

A little later I found this Horned Lark along the side of the road. These birds are hard to get a photo of because they usually fly up into your vehicle. Here you can even see a little of the yellow by the eye and the chin.

 

The cows sure look good in the early morning light!

 The ranch has changed quite a bit over the years. Some of the more recent changes are a cell phone tower, wireless Internet, and pivot irrigation. But many of the same things from a hundred years ago still exist: beautiful sunrises, clean air, nice people, big, open spaces, lots of wildlife, and incredible vistas. I never imagined I would be living in the high desert, but it certainly has become home, sweet, home.