Basking northwestern garter snake

A northwestern garter snake flicks its tongue while basking in the late afternoon sun along a country road near Roseburg, Ore., on Friday, May 31, 2013. Snakes use their tongues to "taste" microscopic scent particles in the air.

Bug's life

A spider and a beetle share a daisy in a field near our house this afternoon. The spider seemed uninterested in attempting to eat the beetle and the beetle seemed to be eating pollen.

Three little hooters

Three barn owl owlets perch in their nest box high in the peak of an old barn on our ranch in southwestern Oregon. I've been watching the little guys grow for the past month. They're just starting to get their flight feathers. Soon they will be out of the nest.

Grass fed deer

A blacktailed doe feeds on lush grass on a hillside along a country road near Elkton, Ore., on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. 

Must see pictures

MSN picked up my hummingbird photo in this month's Must See Pictures gallery. 

Best of show

A pug named "SONNY" struts his stuff during a costume contest at the Pugapalooza festival at the Henry Estate Winery in Umpqua, Ore., on Saturday, May 18, 2013. The event was a fundraiser for Douglas County Low-Cost Veterinary Services. Sonny won first prize in the contest. 

Sonny's owner told me she adopted the dog a year ago from a woman who could no longer care for him. The previous owner was over feeding Sonny and he had ballooned to 50 pounds. The new owner has the dog on a diet and he has already lost about 15 pounds. 

This old barn

A co-worker wanted to see pictures of the old barn on the ranch.

The light was just right this evening.

I don't know when the barn was built, but it's a beauty. 

Bugging out

A female rufous hummingbird watches a small insect as she rests on a barbed wire fence on a farm in southwestern Oregon on Thursday, May 16, 2013.

Moove along

My cow photo made it into this week's Animal Tracks gallery on nbcnews.com. 

The Three Mouseketeers

Three young barn owl owlets look out from their nest box high in a barn on our ranch near Elkton, Ore., on Sunday, May 12, 2013. 

Happy Mother's Day

A starling nestling is fed as it pokes out of a cavity inside an English walnut tree in the yard of a home near Roseburg, Ore., on Saturday, May 11, 2013.  Starlings were purposefully introduced into the Americas in 1890 when members of the  American Acclimatization Society decided all birds mentioned by William Shakespeare should be in North America.

The adult may actually be the father. Both parents were busy catching bugs and stuffing them into their hungry offspring. 

Spring Chinook salmon

Wild spring Chinook salmon are seen in the viewing port at a fish ladder on the North Umpqua River near Roseburg, Ore., on Friday, May 10, 2013 during their annual spawning run up river from the Pacific Ocean. Also known as King salmon, the large spring Chinook are prized by fishermen for their size and fine tasting meat. 

Why did the cow cross the road?

An escaped cow stops traffic as it crosses Oregon Highway 138 near Sutherlin, Ore., on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The owner of the cow, who declined to provide her name, walks behind the cow in an attempt to get the animal back in into a fenced area. 

The scene reminds me of an old joke about a chicken...

Fierce little lizard

A small alligator lizard pauses while crossing a country road on a warm spring evening near Elkton, Ore., on Monday, May. 6, 2013. Alligator lizards are know for their fierceness when approached by predators or humans.

They've been know to bite and defecate when handled. I kept my distance from this little guy and all he did was give me the old "stank eye".

Barn owlets

A pair of barn owl owlets sit in their nest box high in the peak of a barn on our ranch in rural Douglas County near Roseburg, Ore., on Sunday, May 5, 2013. Barn owls are widespread and are found in most parts of the world. They are know by many names including white owl, demon owl, ghost owl, death owl, church owl, cave owl, monkey-faced owl, hobgoblin owl, and barnyard owl.

We put the nest box up last year after seeing the adult owls in the barn.  It's a great feeling to see the barn owls start a family. 

Cowlick: Calving season in western Oregon

A week-old calf gets a lick and a snuggle from its mother on a warm spring morning in a pasture on our ranch in rural Douglas County near Roseburg, Ore., on Saturday, May 4, 2013.  The calf and its mother are part of a herd of pasture-raised, grass fed cattle on the ranch.

Pollen photos in WSJ

ACHOOO! The Wall Street Journal picked up a couple of my photos, via ZUMAPRESS.com,  in a photo gallery about spring pollen.