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.

Crane versus Duck. A sandhill crane family with little colts were sharing some land with a mallard couple while foraging this spring, for a while that is. The drake got just a little too close to the colts and the crane spread its over six feet of wings and lunged at the drake. The mallard flew off in a hissy and rejoined its mate. Crane wins.

Mama Eagle surveys the horizon while watching over her young eaglet. She's looks a little more frazzled than normal, but who can blame her? Those eaglets are a lot of work and who has time to look pretty!

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!

A tree swallow captured in flight before it lands on a fiercely contested birdhouse this spring in McHenry County, Illinois.

This mighty little ruby throated hummingbird wants everyone to know that the big beautiful eagle in the next frame over has "nothing on me . . . I'll take a stunt-flying challenge any day!" You go little one!

Is it any wonder why these wonderful creatures are called pollinators? Look at all of that pollen!

Two American White Pelicans practice their synchronized flying on an early spring day.

last spring a Sandhill Crane family spent a few days ambling and foraging around on some private land that had some marshes, grasses and open fields; it was a blessing to be able to spend some time watching, observing and capturing . . .