Last weekend, we went to the Powder Valley Conservation Center….

The one piece of dramatic action was something I didn’t get on camera, but more of that later. There were plenty of leaves that made lovely patterns:

At the Center itself, we saw two RATTLESNAKES on display. One was the OSAGE COPPERHEAD: The other one was a MISSOURI RATTLESNAKE: Here's that deadly-sounding rattle: Right after this, in the leaf-clutter outside the Center, a rattlesnake came slithering towards the nest of a wren, and the wren started fighting the snake fearlessly! The fight only ended when one of the Center employees saw what was happening, and slowly headed the snake away into the leaf litter. For that day, at least, the wren's eggs were safe! Alas, I never got this riveting drama...another chance to become a NatGeo videographer gone! However, in the Center itself, there were several interesting exhibits, including this one where the visitor could, quite literally, look through a fish-eye lens! (or two of them!) Here's the trail we took, but with KTB to feed, and push, we really didn't do much at all. Here's the happy family on a bridge: Most of the time, my camera was not in use, but I did get this cute-looking TUFTED TITMOUSE: And a couple of GOLDFINCHES: I was fortunate to see this BEAVER: and a SKUNK (Thanks, Dakini and Pelar Rani... it wasn't putting out The Smell or I'd have id'd it properly): This tree-trunk had a lovely "X" design! And I liked this web of some kind of ORB SPIDER: Several common wildflowers made the path very pretty: The stream looked cool and inviting, but was probably too cold! Since it was a weekday getaway, we didn't spend much time there, but got back; but still, it was a lovely interlude...even the leaves of small plants, sometimes, had lovely shapes.