Clovis" 2026 Images

[CT_Shooter]

There are always rabbits feeding in my yard -- one is grazing outside my kitchen window now. I let my backyard go wild a few years ago, so it's reverting to being a small meadow that surrounds a 13' water garden filled with Golden Shiners and frogs (I liberated a dozen fish from a bait shop fifteen years ago and there are about a hundred of them in there now. The frogs are welcomed squatters). It's not visible from the road and I like the way it looks and contributes to the wildlife backyard habit. Lots of varieties of birds. But, this year the rabbit population has exploded. I do wonder why. Coyotes seem to have retreated for some reason. They had been a significant threat to family pets and still are in other areas of town, but not so much here anymore. I'm not complaining. I like rabbits better.

Thanks for the photos of their cousins.

[clovishound]

A common gallinule having brunch.

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Momma wood duck with her little ones.

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Yellow crested night heron posing for me.

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A nest of red shouldered hawks waiting for mom and dad to bring back something tasty.

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[markiver54]

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks again. Love the wildlife shots, especially the photo of sidelight washing the young Hawks.

[clovishound]

I like that one, although the spanish moss hanging in front of the middle chick is somewhat distracting. I tried removing it, but Lightroom didn't shine in that instance. Here is another view I edited last night.

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Teenagers, always hungry.

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[CT_Shooter]

Love Bites!

[clovishound]

Love Bites!

Actually that's a nestling insisting on something to eat from mom or dad. The parents go and hunt, then come back to feed the nestlings. They basically regurgitate the food they ate into the open beaks of the little ones. Sounds disgusting, but when you don't have hands you do what you have to.

The little ones can get pretty aggressive when mom or dad come back to the nest. Competition between siblings can be intense and even cruel.

[brm4450]