Things with Wings

First of all, I've been wanting to mention that the Sandhill Cranes are finally on the refuge. I've seen them flying and I've heard their distinct call, but I haven't gotten close enough to them to take any pictures.

In spite of myself, I'm having a pretty good week. The days are just gorgeous so it's a pleasure to be doing outside work. Yesterday I took a walk on the nature trail because I needed one last Southern Catalpa picture for the plant book. While I was there, I decided I would stop at everyone's favorite look-out point for Sand Creek Bay.

And I saw lots of American Avocets. I had my hiking boots on and the refuge's high powered digital camera. So I decided I'd just hop down into the muck and see what kind of pictures I could get. And here's what I got:





I'd like to caption this one: "Oh no! I lost my contact!"

And this one: "Hey, let me help you look for your contact."

So then this one, of course, would be: "Hey! I found your contact - It's right here!"

They are fun birds to watch - even when they're just looking for food (or lost contacts).

So then I meandered back to my truck outside the nature trail, taking in the beautiful warm afternoon sunshine. I get back to my truck, and a monarch butterfly sweeps up right in front me, gets eye level with me for a second or two, and flitters off again - before I could get my camera on and focused on her. She - because only a "she" could be this coy - came back to tease and flirt with me and my camera. Then she landed on the white background of my truck and gave me a perfect background. Of course, she only stayed there for 10 seconds. Maybe all butterflies are flirts.


Here's hoping she makes it to Mexico!