Wild turkeys tend to break off into female flocks and male flocks, and I found a beautiful group of female turkeys foraging in a field near the woods. There were 20 to 30, moving leaves aside and scratching around for snacks . . .

Check out this bumblebee from last August as it was flying in for a sunflower. The pollen is sticking to the bumblebee everywhere, perhaps at capacity since you can see some of it falling off behind it. Fascinating little creatures they are.

The wind was quite blustery out of the north, and I was fascinated by the sandhill cranes that would ride the wind to the south with speed and then bank back to the north to land in the field. As they glided back to the north . . .

Always wondered where the term "Old Coot" came from, and a little research does indeed lead to the bird. Coots will bob their heads like hens as they walk and swim, and during the 1700s the phrase came to denote "a harmless, simple person" (or in modern times an affectionate term for elderly men). American Coots (these images) may resemble ducks . . .

Back in October there was a day when the dust from corn and bean harvests combined with the smoke from the western fires to give us one more brilliant sunset . . .

This Red-winged Blackbird was none too happy with this Osprey flying over his territory, so the chase was on. After a couple of maneuvers, it was Osprey 1, RWB 0.

The lone eaglet of this year's nesting season fledged at the end of June, and it frequently returned to the nest. On this day a couple of weeks after it fledged it took advantage of the south wind and made a few jumps back and forth to the short branch . . .

Pretty sure this Red-tailed Hawk looks like how many of us feel after this last election cycle . . .

Hummingbirds need to eat all of the time because of their super-fast metabolisms - about every 10 minutes or so. Captured this ruby-throated during one of its breaks with pollen on its beak, and sticking its tongue out. And look at those tiny feet!

With the summer colors gone and most of the autumn colors, been looking back to late summer images and found a clearwing hummingbird moth in flight that makes me smile. Didn't have many visit this year, and this was the only one I was able to capture in flight. Love these little flying beasts.