Four birds, one dragon.......or maybe two.....

We took a drive through Mouteau Park the other day on our way to Rural King.  This little park that was a former landfill is mainly used for some soccer fields for kids.  But on the way in there is a large area that is off limits to people and they have let the grass grow long.  This is where we see Meadowlarks.

 We got really lucky and a pair of them were right by the road rather than in the tall grasses.  This is the closest I have ever seen one!

 It looked around for awhile, posing very nicely for me.

 Eventually it jumped into the tall grass behind it, but I was so happy to have seen it up close.

 Along the edge of the field of grass and also the soccer fields there is a wire fence and posts.  A number of birds love to use these posts and wire to sit on.  This is the resident Mockingbird that is always near the gate when we drive in :-)  He was glaring at us and moving from post to post.

 "This is my area....go away!"

 Another fence sitter that I often see here....the Kingbird.  This is not a great photo, but he had just caught a bug and is eating it.

 A little better pose.  I was having trouble getting the focus against the different backgrounds.

A back view shows off his white tail tip nicely.

 A female Barn Swallow is another fence sitter.  She was hanging out by the bathroom building and I suspected a nest somewhere in the rafters.

 Sure enough!  Up by the door to the men's room......hope they fly away before the soccer season starts.  There were four babes in the nest, and when I got out to take photos I was bombarded by several adults that didn't like me getting close.  One of the babes was a bit shy and kept ducking down, so you only see three here.

 Bunny in the grass with the Robins.

 This is a Halloween Pennant and I believe it is male.  This is the only park where I usually find these.  There is a small lake and they are usually around the edge of it somewhere.  I also saw several other kinds but didn't get good photos and they were the common ones I always see....the Eastern Pondhawk and the Blue Dasher.  Who comes up with these wonderful names????

....and.....

My other "dragon".  We nickname our cat, Mouse...."The Dragon".....because she is so evil and mean.  However, yesterday we had to take her to the vet to be groomed....she won't let us comb her long fur....and it was so full of mats that they said it was easier to just shave it all off!  Oh, my!  How can you be a "fire breathing dragon" when you are naked??????  Poor Mouse!  She was not pleased, but she will be a lot cooler and more comfortable this summer as it slowly grows back :-)