It's the first Wednesday of March and that means Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says....". With windy. cloudy, chilly days still outnumbering clear warm days wildlife sightings are slow.
A Red-shouldered Hawk landed on a low branch just long enough to pose for photos. I'm pretty sure this is a Red-shouldered Hawk since they are the most often sighted soaring high above open fields in our neighborhood.
They are in the process of teaching their yearlings to fly with much squawking and screeching several times a day.
Butterflies are returning to the garden but were not most cooperative in posing. This Black Swallowtail butterfly mesmerized by Texas Mountain Laurel blooms was an exception. The profile shot shows the swallowtail outline beautifully.
Two whitetail doe grazing behind the fence but probably not touching the prickly agarita in the foreground. The odd angle gives a good view of the tail. They are preparing to give birth and increase the herd yet again.
Check out the comments section at "My Gardener Says..." for more blogger backyard wildlife.
Birds, butterflies, deer--oh my! Great shots, all. Your hawk is a beauty--hope he/she finds plenty to eat! It looks like your butterfly and deer will have no worries in that department.
ReplyDeleteThere are apparently enough small rodents to keep several families fed. I like they idea of the hawks getting them before they find my attic or laundry room!
DeleteGreat shots! Although I don't blame you one iota for fencing off your garden, I think those doe eyes would make me feel guilty. Funny, I never feel that way about coyotes.
ReplyDeleteThere is still enough natural area available for the deer to forage and they can migrate quite some distance to local parks if they need to. Some of our neighbors feed them so it works out well enough. I don't care for coyotes one bit either.
DeleteLovely photos. It would be amazing to watch the hawk teach their young ones to fly. They must feel it's a safe area and with plenty of food to raise them. Will the young ones hang around for very long?
ReplyDeleteIt's an intense and lengthy process since hawks nest very high in the trees and have to develop hunting skills along with flying. I wish I could get photos but they are usually very wary so we mostly hear the different calls. We have several nesting pairs and there seems to be more each year so some of them must remain nearby as they grow up. They are surprisingly adapted to our built-up suburbs.
DeleteBeautiful wildlife photos, Shirley! Butterflies are hard to photograph. All your images are wonderful!
ReplyDelete