Marion, John and Kurt on the road to Lake Elmer Thomas dam, our first stop of the morning

One of our first birds in the refuge was this male Painted Bunting.

Kurt spotted this Ladderback Woodpecker on the E side of the road.

Ladderback Woodpecker along the road to Lake Elmer Thomas dam, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, OK

Blooming thistles

Thistle blooms

Is this a female Indigo Bunting?

White thistle at Lake Elmer Thomas dam, Wichita Mtns WR

Thistle

Small building above road to Lake Elmer Thomas dam, with wildflowers

Rock structure with wildflowers

Thistle

Thistle

Thistle

Thistles

From Lake Elmer Thomas dam, we went to Quanah Parker dam, where we saw this Eastern Phoebe along the stream below the dam.

Belted Kingfisher below Quanah Parker dam

Barn Swallows were still nesting under an overhang on the stream side of the dam.

On a snag on the W side of the dam, we spotted this Black-chinned Hummingbird.

The Eastern Phoebe lit on a buttonbush sprouting from a joint in the face of the dam.

Sharon, Marion, Kurt, John and Steve, looking for birds below the dam.

Sharon, Marion, Kurt, John and Steve, on the landing leading down to the Lake Quanah Parker dam

Marion looks over the edge of the dam.

Wildflowers on the SW side of Quanah Parker Lake

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Indian Paintbrush and coreopsis

Brown-eyed Susans and Indian Paintbrush

Blue-flowering spiderwort among the granite rocks at Lake Quanah Parker, Wichita Mtns WR, OK

Rocks and flowers

Spiderwort

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Gaillardia

Indian Paintbrush, Indian Blanket and spiderwort

Thistle and other wildflowers

View to the E from the W side of Lake Quanah Parker dam

Wildflowers growing out of the rocks

We caught brief glimpses of a couple of Collared Lizards S of the lake.

Late-blooming barrel cactus S of Lake Quanah Parker

There was a large field of coreopsis blooming at the corner E of Lake Quanah Parker.

Coreopsis E of Lake Quanah Parker

Looking N from the turn-off to Quanah Parker Lake at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, OK

Thistles among the coreopsis at Lake Quanah Parker

A broader view of the big field of coreopsis

Looking to the W with Lake Quanah Parker in the background

Focusing on the thistles among the coreopsis

We drove W on Highway 49 and, near the big prairie dog village, we saw several birds on the fence on the N side of the road, including this Northern Bobwhite.

Male Northern Bobwhite

Northern Bobwhite

Farther down the fence, we saw this Dickcissel.

There were some interesting lavender-colored wildflowers.

A Lark Sparrow was also on the fence.

Lark Sparrow in the shade of a fence post

A little farther down the fence, this male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was perched.

Our next stop was the Sunset Picnic area and there were lots of wildflowers blooming there too.

Gaillardia

Thistle heads

Thistle

One of the Mississippi Kites circling overhead landed on a snag near us.

Mississippi Kite

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Mary noticed these ferns growing near the creek.

A Honeybee was getting a drink in the shallow water where we forded the stream.

Tiger Beetle

A tiny but loud frog made its presence known in the stream.

Small fingernail-sized frog in the stream.

Steve, getting photos of the frog

He tried to get photos of some little grasshopper-looking thing in the water too, but only got blurry results.

Then there were the water striders.

Blurry water striders moving quickly on the water

Marion, John, Sharon and Kurt were moving on up the trail.

Bright yellow wildflowers along the trail at Sunset Picnic area.

Yellow wildflowers along trail at Sunset Picnic area, WMWR, OK

Yellow wildflower

Yellow wildflower

Yellow wildflowers

A single male Summer Tanager made an appearance along the trail.

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

Male Summer Tanager

More wildflowers

A variety of Mexican hat flowers along the trail above the creek

Mexican hat flowers

Wildflowers among the rocks above the creek at Sunset Picnic area

Mexican hat flowers

Kurt, John, Steve and Marion on the bridge across the creek at Sunset Picnic area, WMWR, OK

Marion points out a location on the "topography map" at Sunset Picnic area (wink, wink)

Across the bridge, we saw this Great-crested Flycatcher in a tree.

Great-crested Flycatcher

Dragonfly

Mary found the only cactus with a flower.

Magenta cactus flower

Cactus flower

Nightshade flower

After leaving Sunset Picnic area, we took a break at the WMWR Visitor Center and John and Steve rested on a bench in the lobby.

Kurt, John and Steve in the lobby at the WMWR Visitor Center

After our break, we went back to Quanah Parker Lake dam and more wildflowers.

Three Barn Swallows on a ledge on the back side of the dam at Quanah Parker Lake

Barn Swallow

On the trail on the W side of the dam, we saw a Painted Bunting.

Male Painted Bunting

We got fleeting looks at a Black-capped Vireo--trust me.

Black-capped Vireo--blur in a bush

Mississippi Kite

Male Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting singing

Painted Bunting

Singing Painted Bunting

Dragonfly

Clubtail dragonfly?

Clubtail dragonfly?

Wildflower

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Red-berried bush

Red-berried bush

Yellow wildflower

One of two snakes in the creek below Quanah Parker Lake dam

Water snake

Two water snakes

Canyon Wren

Canyon Wren among the rocks below the dam at Quanah Parker Lake

Canyon Wren singing

Canyon Wren singing

Canyon Wren

View of the back of the Canyon Wren

Profile of Canyon Wren

Canyon Wren

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

As we were leaving the dam area, Mary and I spotted this Killdeer posing on a rock beside the road.

Killdeer

After Kurt and Sharon and John and Marion went home, Mary and I went to the Environmental Education Center where we saw a few more birds and lots of dragonflies like this one.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Tattered Hackberry Emporer butterfly

Wheel bug

Wheel bug

Wheel bug

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Robber fly

Common Wood Nymph butterfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

As we drove back out to Highway 49, we saw this Blue Grosbeak on the fence.

There was also male Eastern Bluebird on the fence.

Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

On the road across from the Visitor Center, we saw these wildflowers.

Purple wildflowers

Purple wildflowers

Purple wildflowers

Purple wildflowers and Indian Paintbrush

The Holy City was closed, so we drove toward Rush Lake and saw another dragonfly.

In one bare tree along the road, we saw a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched above a Painted Bunting.

Then a second Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew in with a grasshopper in its mouth.

A little farther down the road toward Rush Lake, a Greater Roadrunner ran down the road in front of us, then turned and headed up the rocks at the side of the road.

Greater Roadrunner

The Greater Roadrunner scurried to the top of the ridge and stopped for a moment before disappearing from sight.

We drove on around to the dam at Rush Lake and found this young male Painted Bunting singing in a bare tree.

Young male Painted Bunting singing

In the distance, a male Eastern Bluebird sat with in insect meal.

Leaving the Rush Lake and driving back out to the main road, we spotted this tarantula crossing the road.

Tarantula

The tarantula finally got tired of our photographing it and crawled off into the grass, so we went home.