Our large arachnoid friends. Most tarantulas are harmless to humans. In fact, they are great for nurseries, because they eat harmful insects or other pests.

Jackie caught this photo of him in the tree by our ponds. This Green Heron has been hanging around catching our little fish.

He sings outside our office window and hops to our little pond. The day I took the picture, Otis was trying to play with him...Hmmm, maybe Mr. Toad's not so wild ride?

Jackie took about 10 pics of our roadrunner friend "Skippy", but only 1 came out very well. He blends into his surroundings so well, that even in a good photo, he disapears. She first spotted him right outside her kitchen window, so she grabbed the camera and slowly tried to follow him through the back patio. She finally got a few shots in the side/back yard, but only the one with the grass as a background showed him up enough to get any detail in form and color.

Adult Killdeer. We have dozens and they make their nests in the pots, on the hillsides, and in the bushes on the ground.

Tom found a Killdeer nest. These birds are very protective of their young and will often lure you away from the nests.

Great Blue Heron

This is Batman, our Anna's Hummingbird. He sits outside the office window and chatters at us.

Beware of the Smiler! Some people kill with kindness, he will get you with smiles.

We also have dragonflies, moths, butterflies, beatles, spiders and other alien looking insects.

Come on, people, bring your cameras and bird books. Every spring we explode with bird babies (birdlets) all over the place.

We have fish or fowl.

Spring is lizard season. Jackie snuck up on this little lizard (top) to get the shot. You can often find them sunning themselves in the warm dirt during the afternoon.

I have seen several varieties of butterflies and moths here.

I saw this hawk flying one afternoon and whipped out my camera and was able to catch him before he got too far away.

Jackie stumbled across this little lady one evening. The chirping during spring is great.

This little beatle kept scooting around the flower as I repositioned so I could never get a clear shot!

When Jackie found out the quails were outside, she ran out to get her camera. Mama Quail was very protective.

Tom told me about the mantis on the wall. He was easy to photo because he never moved.

King of the Castle, King of the Castle! This is Otis, fun loving and your new best friend.

I thought it was cute that he was sitting on this particular sign.

The best time to see the hummingbirds, or even other kinds of birds, is between 8 am and 10 am. Bring your camera and bird book.