Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 23:52

Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 23:52

My week has been filled with sunshine so far, and it’s a very welcome sight! May produced some pretty amazing numbers in terms of weather. Some scientists say it’s all because of global warming. We shall see.

I had an amazing encounter with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo the other day. The poor guy flew into one of our windows and was quite dazed. I carefully picked him up and set him out of reach of any predators that might be lurking about.

 

 

Some may think them plain, but the Cuckoo really is a beautiful bird with his snowy-white underbelly. I was so thankful when he flew away a few minutes later. This is the first Cuckoo I’ve seen around, but from what I’ve read they are experts at camouflage, so it’s likely they’ve been here all along!

One thing I love about nature is that there is always something new to learn. Identifying animals, especially birds and insects, is challenging and sometimes I get it wrong. For example, in previous posts I have identified the Painted-lady butterfly, but have since determined that they are actually American Lady Butterflies. Their little white dot gives them away.

 

 

 

There were mobs of them flitting around this mass of Texas thistle.

 

 

 

This little guy has been hanging around lately, and at first I thought he was an immature Eastern Phoebe.

 

 

But now I think he may be a Eastern Wood-pewee, because he seems to have stronger, white wingbars, as well as some other characteristics of the pewee. I reviewed my past Phoebe pictures and I still think they were correctly identified. The pewee may have moved in because of our abundance of insects. Just speculating.

 

 

If  you’ve been around here before you probably know that the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are one of my favorite birds. My admiration for them just continues to grow. Animals don’t always tend to be the best parents. But these two are willing to take on a hawk to protect their babies!

This picture is blurry, but I wanted to show you the scissor-tail’s attack.

 

 

These pictures are a little better. I think it’s a red-tailed hawk, but I’m not 100% sure. If anyone can confirm that id, please leave a comment, and thanks!

 

 

Here he is in the tree. I put a yellow star just above his head. He’s looking down at something.

 

 

This is my favorite shot.

 

 

June is my favorite month of all. I’m a summer baby, and June speaks summer to me like no other month.  Sometimes, if I sit very still, inhale the scent of freshly cut grass, and let the warm air seep into my soul, I can almost feel the wild innocence of youth again. Sun-baked days of little or no responsibility that seemed to go on forever.

Throughout the month of June I’ll be sharing my Sights of Summer - - images that whisper summer to me.  I’ll be posting on instagram, Facebook and Twitter using #sightsofsummer

I’d love to have you join me and share what speaks summer to you!

My first image is this summer sunset, with the clouds all dressed in pink.

 

 

 

 That pretty much sums up my week.

What’s been going on in your corner of the world?

 

 

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