Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Honey Nuggets




There's no better way to enjoy the transition from spring to summer than to watch the quail chicks head down to the pond for a sip. I shot some video of the little darlings this morning. I like to refer to the chicks as honey nuggets. So I titled this clip "Honey Nuggets". The music is played by Jon Sayles who is dedicated to the preservation and sharing of early classical music from all over Europe. You can listen to many delightful samples over here.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spring Visitors


This is a little animated gif I created of a Roadrunner. I'm posting it for Illustration Friday's weekly topic "Early". The early bird gets the worm. Yet in this case just he would get just about anything. Roadrunner's will eat whatever crosses their path. I've seen one eating a finch. I don't mind when a hawk swoops down and scoops up a bird and fly's off. However the Roadrunner will eat its pray right on my patio, leaving me to clean up the aftermath....yecch.



In the last few weeks I've spotted some species I've yet to see before. I've caught brief glimpses of this Western Tanager, yet never had a chance to get a shot of him until just the other day. He sure is handsome.




This is a first spotting for this bird as well. I believe he is a Lazuli Bunting.



The Turkey Vultures around here are huge! This one looks big enough to fly off with a golf cart. I'm hoping to get a shot of him with some background other than just sky, for a better size reference.


The Wild Irises are in bloom. When I first moved in I was told they were Lily's. I may have even referred to them as Lily's in earlier posts. I'm not really sure what species of Iris this is, but I really enjoy their beautiful flowers.