I was photographing birds at the thistle-seed sock in the back yard when movement to my left caught my eye...it was this hummingbird, dipping and rising to drink from the water garden's stream section. This is very much a "grab" shot.	This white-eyed vireo was singing territorially, and I started stalking it...while simultaneously watching for rattlesnakes that might be snoozing on a warm spring afternoon, and cactus with spines eager for mammalian ankles to snag. Finally caught up with it at the View Corner, and spotted it in the tangle of growth on the north fenceline. This is the only clear-ish picture, but when lightened in the computer, the white eye was obvious. Our population of white-eyed vireos has increased over the past five years, from one nesting pair in the creek woods to about five nesting pairs scattered through all the wooded areas.
Clay-colored sparrow
Snowy Urola Moth, Urola nivalis. It's maybe a half inch long.	Orange sulfur butterfly
One hot afternoon last week, this American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) nectared on the last of the thicketing plums still in flower. I had to stalk it--it would fly away if it saw me move, but it always came back.	Finally got a picture of this little beauty. Spread-wing skippers, unlike most skippers, often pose with their wings mostly spread, but they're quick and wary flyers. This one "skipped" from flower to flower in the dry woods near Cactus Flat, and I followed along. With wings folded, this one is pale beige and nearly invisible; its dark topside, sparkling with white markings, is easy to see but tricky to photograph.
I know this is a hairstreak, but not which one--this group of butterflies usually perches with wings folded up over its back, and that's how the butterfly guide shows them. I never got a shot of its under-wings (for some reason, lying down on cactus to get at its level just didn't appeal...) I like the bluish, furry, topside of this little butterfly.	In late afternoon, the sun made this worn variegated fritillary glow like painted silk. It's nectaring on a wild onion flower.
Horse crippler flower
A Coryphanta, or nipple cactus, flower	Magenta cactus flower
An anole on a Hesperaloe or "red yucca" leaf

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