Killdeer distracting

I must have been very near the nest, as the killdeer put on a three-act play of the famous "broken wing distraction" in the gravel part way up the meadow. The bird fanned its rusty tail several times and did a convincing dance-of-the-injured. Alas, this is the best photo of the performance:

And I have no photo at all of the two snakes waving their heads above the water after they slid from under the grass into the lake. I can say two snakes sliding into the water make a very different sound from two turtles doing the same. Were they eyeing me or taunting me after their escape?

Four turtles were constructing a Yertle tower near five ducklings:

And a hairstreak on antelope-horns milkweed.

© 2014-2018 Nancy L. Ruder