April may have been amazing, but it was nothing compared to the explosion of life during May. My 2-page spread doesn’t even come close to representing all that we encountered throughout the month. And the 15 species I chose as “picks” aren’t even a third of those making an appearance …… enter stage left and right!
Noticeably missing was the black chinned hummingbird. They arrived mid-May, and began defending breeding territories. One of these years, I hope to find one of their miniature nests to see what building materials the hummers use. Until then, their aerial performance is always breathtaking!
Then there was the morning Luna nearly stepped right in the middle of a really upset, hissing and striking prairie rattlesnake, practically right out our front door! It was a scary few moments until we determined Luna did not get bit! Whew. Roy expertly wrangled up the guy, herding him into a 5-gallon bucket, and relocated him a safe distance away. (I may cheat and add him to my June “Littles,” if you don’t mind, along with the first rattlesnake encounter of the season! Gotta love the desert.)
Included in the long list of flowering plants, was prickly pear cactus. Several species began opening their buds to reveal 20-30 delicate waxy yellow to apricot colored petals per bloom. It didn’t take long for the pollinators to find these delicacies!
Blooming in the foothills (5,000’ up to 7300’ elevation), there was milkwort, fleabane, scarlet globemallow, banana yucca, sundrops, milkweed, paintbrush, golden weed, common hoptree, puccoon, several species of pink-flowered hedgehog cactus, blazingstars, bee blossom, tahoka daisy, NM thistle, ……. etc. I could go on and on! And even at nearly 9,000’ elevation, rock jasmine, valerian, creeping mahonia, prairie bluebells, pasque flower and dwarf lousewort were all in bloom.
All in all, a bountiful full-on Spring bloom!
A big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
June 22, 2023
a curious nature 
These are lovely! So much color and life on this spread! Bountiful Spring! ❤️
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Thank you so so much, Fay! Your continued following encourages me to keep going!
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You are so talented! Have you illustrated any books?
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You’re so kind, Michele! And no, I haven’t illustrated anything that’s been published. Just not willing to go there, yet! Maybe someday tho. Thanks for asking!
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Someday, if it feels right for you! You’re welcome.
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💗
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Amazing and wonderful and delightful and educational and and and! That you can draw birds, bugs, flowers, snakes… anything so well is awesome. And as I said about your May Littles, the whole concept is tremendously appealing to me. There is no better way for me to have an idea of your home turf than seeing/reading the Littles! Thank you!
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Thanks so much, Robin, for enjoying, commenting and following along on my “Littles” journey. These Littles are a great place to experiment and practice drawing and painting unfamiliar critters. Some turn out, some not so much! But I’m learning new approaches to achieving the effects needed to make hinges look recognizable.
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Your desert flowers are stunning, Barb! I can just imagine hearing all the clicking, buzzing from the insects and wow, the hissing at your front door! Now, that’s an adrenaline rush! Glad Luna is ok. Your roadrunner is phenomenal, he’s popping off the page. Lovely, lovely page and just a fraction of what you have enjoyed in May!
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Many thanks Karen! It was quite the month. My favorite discovery was the brown wasp mantis fly. Definitely did a double take ,,,,, half praying mantis/half stinging wasp!
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Nice finds, all! Especially like the Painted Lady…and the rattlesnake. Though something tells me you may not have painted that closeup live. Glad the encounter lives on your page. Well done.
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Thanks so much Jean! And you’re very correct by assuming I wasn’t that close to the snake when I painted him. I “captured” his image with my telephoto lens! Still plenty exciting.
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Wow, so much life and I love your bunny, bugs, birds and butterflies!
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It was so hard to keep up! Spring was amazing!
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