Cookie insisted on vacating the house yesterday, so we took a morning drive. Nothing of substance to see in our current heat, but she did snap a couple pics.

A common Nighthawk. Always perch parallel to the branches as opposed to perpendicular like everything else. They will let one drive up within a couple feet, but won't tolerate one out walking.


An ever present basking Western Fence Lizard


Probably a fledgling Eastern King Bird. A rarity for us here in the west.


And likely a fledgling Burrowing Owl, another rarity for us in the PNW.

Quite nice! Thanks!

Thanks for posting.

Thumbs up you two!

Tell cookie thanks for such great pictures as always.

As always ,,awesome photos,make sure to pass that along,
thank you for sharing these

Hopefully with dessert coffee at the end of the outing.

Great shots. Thanks for posting.

Great photos 1minute! That ain't no Iphone.
That is a telephoto lens.

What make of camera, and what lens Bitte Schon.

Those nighthawks look like they’ve got a small beak but when they open their yap you’d swear they could swallow their whole head.

Pretty neat

This. Great shots.

Cookie does good lens work.

Nice photos!

Sweet pics...thanks for sharing.

Nice pics!

Nice pics! Owls are super cool.

What were they called before fences?

Border jumpers.

They're a relatively new species. First came the fence.

When I was a teen, we had several nesting on our property. They would take over old badger burrows and we would watch the fledglings peek out of the burrows each spring.

I have not seen one in years. Thanks for sharing.

Great pictures as always. Thanks for posting them.

I can’t count how many of those burrowing owls I’ve taken to the chest/head while riding a dirt bike or 4 wheeler

Canon EOS D7 Mk IV and Canon 100-400 mm zoom. Had a memory lapse and left her big gun (500 mm) at home.



Don't know, Could be related to barriers or maybe sword fighting.

Always enjoy your photos, thanks for sharing.

Excellent pics as always!

We have lots of those nighthawks around here. You just need to get off the pavement and drive some desert single track roads after nightfall. You'll often find them just sitting in the road. Just why they sit in a road, I can't explain but they do it.

Rock Chuck:
Not to differ, but when we get well out from civilization, we see a fair number of Poor Wills sitting on rural roads. First hint is usually a small red eye. They are ground nesters usually out in lava fields with little vegetation. I found a nest once with a couple youngsters, returned the next day with a camera, and could not track it down. Should have flagged it. The adults will scoot off to the side and go into the broken wing routine to lure one away. The Poor Will's flight is almost crash and burn erratic while the Night Hawk just lines out.

Never found a Night Hawk nest but I think they too are ground nesters.