Donkeys!

I've mentioned that the area around here is rural. There are lots of fields with agricultural things growing, like canola, watermelons, or hay; and lots of animals like cows, sheep, horses, and donkeys. I've even taken photos of a buffalo herd, and several emus.

The donkeys are soooo cute when they are born and so little. I've been dying to get a picture of them for over a year now but have missed it every time. The owner rotates his animals, and sometimes the cows are in the front pasture, and sometimes the donkeys. Sometimes there are no animals in that pasture. Another problem is that it's on a straight-away in a 55mph zone and there is no shoulder to stop. Thirdly, it's on a curve. Stopping or slowing in that spot is dangerous. Last, when the donkeys HAVE been out, I haven't remembered to prepare my camera in time!

Well this week I saw the donkeys and the babies. I drove home later that day with camera prepared and there were no animals grazing at all. Drat, they're in the back pasture! Same with the next morning. The third day there was too much traffic behind me. The fourth day it was too dark and rainy. Today though, was clear, sunny, and coming home is a slightly better angle to shoot because it's less of a curve. There was one car behind me so I slowed down and he soon passed. No other cars were in sight on either direction and the grass along the side where there is NO asphalt shoulder had been mowed so I could see where it was level to pull over a bit. I'd already opened my car window and turned the camera on.

These photos aren't optimal of course, because I was in a traffic zone pointing the camera out a half downed window with no time to set up the shot, but they came out OK anyway.

I don't know why I felt so compelled to get a picture of the donkeys. Maybe it's because they were one animal in my immediate area I didn't have a picture of yet. Or maybe the babies are just so cute. I don't know but here they are for whatever reason!

This is the field I pass by that occasionally has the donkeys in it.

Here is a brown donkey lookin' fine. I'm still in the same spot but used my Nikon's excellent zoom

Here's a mama and her two babies. She's giving me the hairy eyeball...

I cropped these even closer.

But I'm still this far away. Nikon Coolpix with 30X zoom rocks!

The Nikon sets up the photo fast, too. I didn't have to idle by the side of the road long. No vehicular crashes happened in the taking of these photos. ;)

So I finally got photos of the donkeys. Now it's on to birds again!