A medium-sized, slender heron of the southeastern United States, the Tricolored Heron was formerly known as the Louisiana Heron. @Cornell Labs

Seeing lots of hummers around this year...at the feeders, round the trees and occasionally, even in Sunland Park. I know, it's not my best shot, but things happened so quick I didn't have time to do anything 'cept turn round, snap away and worry about the results later. Had to do a bit of PP on 'em but that's okay...it's a picture I don't get very often and it's such a rare treat when I do!

Seeing lots of hummers around this year...at the feeders, round the trees and occasionally, even in Sunland Park. I know, it's not my best shot, but things happened so quick I didn't have time to do anything 'cept turn round, snap away and worry about the results later. Had to do a bit of PP on 'em but that's okay...it's a picture I don't get very often and it's such a rare treat when I do!

Seeing lots of hummers around this year...at the feeders, round the trees and occasionally, even in Sunland Park. I know, it's not my best shot, but things happened so quick I didn't have time to do anything 'cept turn round, snap away and worry about the results later. Had to do a bit of PP on 'em but that's okay...it's a picture I don't get very often and it's such a rare treat when I do!

Seeing lots of hummers around this year...at the feeders, round the trees and occasionally, even in Sunland Park. I know, it's not my best shot, but things happened so quick I didn't have time to do anything 'cept turn round, snap away and worry about the results later. Had to do a bit of PP on 'em but that's okay...it's a picture I don't get very often and it's such a rare treat when I do!

Seeing lots of hummers around this year...at the feeders, round the trees and occasionally, even in Sunland Park. I know, it's not my best shot, but things happened so quick I didn't have time to do anything 'cept turn round, snap away and worry about the results later. Had to do a bit of PP on 'em but that's okay...it's a picture I don't get very often and it's such a rare treat when I do!

Not quite my best effort but this wee guy showed up so unexpectedly I had to shoot as much as I could before he took off. As it was I only managed these three snaps...lots of PP cos I didn't have time to adjust my settings when I took the pics, but guess they turned out okay.

Not quite my best effort but this wee guy showed up so unexpectedly I had to shoot as much as I could before he took off. As it was I only managed these three snaps...lots of PP cos I didn't have time to adjust my settings when I took the pics, but guess they turned out okay.

Not quite my best effort but this wee guy showed up so unexpectedly I had to shoot as much as I could before he took off. As it was I only managed these three snaps...lots of PP cos I didn't have time to adjust my settings when I took the pics, but guess they turned out okay.

Yeah, I get that idea...

Again I have no idea what type of critter this is! This is only my second sighting and I'm still at a loss...anybody?

....a rather unusual squirrel I spotted in Sunland Park. Don't know exactly why or what but it seems one of his incisors didn't line up properly, so over time it evolved into what you see. Squirrels, like other members of the rodentia clan have teeth that grow continuously throughout their lives and are worn down by the food they eat. If something were to happen to prevent this ( like our odd little friend here) the tooth would simply keep growning and eventually pose a risk to the animal. Hope that doesn't happen...I kinda like this wee fella.

A European Starling at his breakfast...

This delightful avian is one half of a pair that set up shop in Sunland Park. Ravens are alot less skittish than their smaller cousins and for the most part, alot smarter and this find fella is no exception.

My fave raven again. Think what I love most about this bird is it's capacity for play. While crows huddle together in a mob and fly off at the slightest disturbance, ravens won't even turn a hair at your approach and have been seen performing feats of aerial aerobics that would rival any stuntman. They divebomb, they do rolls in mid-air, they chase each other...in short, they're extraordinary critters.

This feisty featherball put on a helluva show the other morning...he displayed feats of aerial daring that would put a stunt pilot to shame!

Couldn't ask for a better combo on a cool Spring morning.

My friendly neighborhood Phoebe posing for me in the park....

The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, American Darter, or Water Turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. It gets its name Snakebird for its habit of swimming with just its long head and neck sticking out of the water. The Anhinga lives in shallow, slow-moving, sheltered waters and uses nearby perches and banks for drying and sunning.