A Sandhill Crane colt works on its worm snack while its sibling looks on and says, "You gonna eat all of that?"

An Eared Grebe and a Horned Grebe paddle along the shore in a lake at West Branch Forest Preserve in DuPage County, Illinois. Both had been taking turns diving and then popping back up several seconds later. Sometimes they would separate, but for the most part they were staying together as they navigated along the shoreline on an early Spring day.

The Ruby-throated hummingbirds have become quite active in the last couple of weeks, and really enjoy watching them hover, dart from flower to flower, and of course chase each other with abandon.

These two juvenile eagles had recently fledged last year, and one evening I found them both perched in their nesting tree below their nest where they had spent the last 3 months. Of course they kept returning to the nest for a few weeks after this to be fed since they still hadn't learned to hunt, but it wouldn't be too much longer.

What in the heck is this, you may be asking. I debated on whether to post something a little different, but this image captures what I remember most about this encounter. This is a mama skunk with her 4 kits in tow . . .

An incoming squadron of American White Pelicans tightening up their formation and banking to the west.

Three mute swan cygnets huddle together before taking a nap.

A family of Trumpeter Swans in flight on a late winter evening.

A Nessus Sphinx Moth with wings in constant motion uses its prominent proboscis to get a little nectar from a Dame's Rocket flower. Their wings are covered in scales (like all Lepidoptera) and over time they lose many of these scales from patches on their wings; so they are called clearwing hummingbird moths. As this was taken in May, my guess is that not many scales had fallen off so the wings are not yet clearwing.

Ma and Pa Sandhill Crane let out one of their rattling bugle calls with their two little colts beside them. Their calls can travel up to 2.5 miles and are immediately recognizable whether from on the ground or several thousand feet in the air. What a joyful noise!