WMWR then Horse to Barn . . .

Monday, February 23, 2016

Great breakfast the next morning; then we headed north for Lawton, OK, and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. We had stopped here on our way back from Padre Island a couple of years ago also. I had never been to the WMWR at this time of year before and expected large herds of bison and longhorns. We found only one bison but there was a large herd of elk that flowed across the road in two different groups and longhorns were everywhere. Some of the male elk had impressive antlers.

We drove in to Camp Doris on the Reserve and found a few birds and a Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). This small grayish-brown lizard has shiny blue scales on its belly, and is also called a "blue-belly” lizard. The lizard’s brilliant belly, caught my eye. I photographed the lizard with my cell and got a passable photo but Deb managed to catch a tiny sliver of its blue belly (below).

Western Fence Lizard

We spent some time at Quanah Parker Lake (above) and at the prairie dog colony. We looked hard for burrowing owls with the prairie dogs, but spotted nary a one. Suddenly we were both “over it,” and ready to be home. We zipped up I-35 and were home by 6 pm.

And so ends my 2016 Earthwatch account. Goodbye readers; I hope to see you on an EW Expedition in the future.

P.S. I forgot to mention that on the way north we stopped to get gas and who should be at the tank beside ours but Ken and Barb. We had only a brief, surprised “hello” as they were gone when we came out of the convenience store.