Hello everybody,
I hope the heat has not been getting you down too much. And the virus, and the fires, and what’s next??
Oh well, so far so good, none of that stopped me from going out to my hiking grounds and take pictures.
So without further ado, here is the next set.
Our first picture today is a bird of prey which I was lucky enough to catch flying over lake Hodges. I identified it as a turkey vulture. It was probably hunting ducks which are pretty common on this lake. And, as a matter of fact, on the very same day, I got this shot of a couple of mallard ducks water landing at exactly the same time. I can tell you that this is really a couple because, even after landing, they stayed close to each other. Love is beautiful and, everywhere.
We have a lot of rabbits in our area. By far the most common is the desert cottontail. I thought this portrait was worth showing because it’s rare for a rabbit to stare at me like this one did.
10 days separate the 2 pictures of a common side-blotched lizard. They were taken in almost the same spot. For that reason, and after careful comparison, I have come to the conclusion that this is the very same lizard, but it lost its tail. That’s what they do when attacked by a predator. At least he escaped, that’s already something, and he will grow a new tail. Who knows maybe we will meet again.
Then we have what I believe to be a desert wren (don’t hesitate to correct me if you know better). This one was holding something in its beak. I spent an hour trying to figure out what it is. Suggestions are welcome.
And finally for the last couple of shots I give you the king of butterflies, the monarch. The first pic is a pretty standard angle, but the second is not. I thought this butterfly is just beautiful no matter the angle.
Turkey vultures are really amazing birds. Funny you came across a monarch. I painted a few of them recently in a butterfly series. I recently nabbed a decent photo of an eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Not nearly as high quality as your work though.
Thank you for the compliment. I had never heard of eastern tiger swallowtails until now. I looked it up, that is another beautiful butterfly. Unfortunately I won’t be able to take pictures of that one until I travel to the east.
Bizarre, I saw some turkeys in with the horses today ?love the lizard pics reminds me of AZ. Watch out for Gila Monsters!?
Turkeys… interesting, I don’t have any picture of turkeys. I will have to correct that some day. And none of Gila monsters either. So many critters so little time.
Gotta watch them Gilas! Bad bad bite with extra mouth goo!
Wow, cool lizard pic! There are actually so many lizards here in FL, but I have not caught any pictures yet haha. From a quick search, I think they’re called brown anoles here .
Thanks, but I am pretty sure of this is a side-blotched lizard. This picture definitely shows that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_side-blotched_lizard#/media/File:Uta_stansburiana_7963.JPG
Oh yeah, no I was talking about the lizards here in FL haha. Not the one you took a picture of. Common lizards in FL are the brown anoles.