Doin' the Wild Thing

What could be more apropos for Wild Wednesday than a couple of crane flies doing the Wild Thing?  I'm not totally certain of the ID of these two naughty flies, but believe they are in the genus Limnophila.  If I can get a better identification, I'll add it later.

I had a fun outing this morning, carrying both cameras, one with the macro lens and the other with the 300/TC combo.  A bit of a load, but worth it since I was seeing so many birds and insects and really needed the range.  Lots of dragonflies out today, including several handsome chalk-fronted corporals (this taken with 420 mm because I couldn't get close enough with the other lens.)  

Back home for lunch with Hubs and then out again for the rest of the afternoon.  It was a play-day for me which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Heavy rains are predicted tomorrow so I won't be going out with my naturalist group - that was my excuse for today.  

I got quite a surprise when I peeked in the wren nest box this morning and (after spooking Mama off the nest) found SEVEN tiny eggs!  That's a big brood and will keep both parents very busy if they all hatch.  

Speaking of busy, from my brief glimpses outside today it appears that both bluebird parents are keeping a steady stream of insects going into the nest box for their four babies.  They are too small to eat meal worms at the moment, but soon...  Here's a photo of Monsieur, taken this evening, with some take-out for the kids  Strangely, neither adult seems interested in the meal worms when I put them out - which means more for the mealie-crazed titmice.

Hubs is over visiting MIL now - hopefully she is in better spirits than yesterday.  They had bingo this afternoon and that is something she usually enjoys, so ... fingers crossed.  

Thanks for the love on my mantidfly yesterday - that was such a cool find!  

xo
Debbi