a bill on its last legs

Broadheaded skink, captured

Here are some photos of a broadheaded skink, captured by a little boy I know on Derby Day.  We spotted him on a sidewalk.  This kid, he's a natural hunter/gatherer.  He's clever and determined when it comes to stalking game.  I watched him catch anoles in Florida, and I've seen him catch other little critters, too.  So he went after this lizard, but the lizard darted into the bushes.  

We discouraged his active pursuit, but he wouldn't be dissuaded.  He kept rummaging through the hedge until he caught a glimpse of the hiding lizard, and grabbed it.  He maintained a firm but delicate grip (I don't think the lizard was injured in any way) even though the skink kept biting his fingers ("Ow! Ow! He's really biting me!").  You can see in the third photo how the lizard kept craning his head around, trying to find something to bite.  He latched onto soft skin and fingertips a number of times.  Finally, he was released back into the bushes, but had to be persuaded to unclamp his jaws.

I don't think I had ever noticed this species of skink before.  His red head (and it is "his"; if it had been a "her" the head would not have been scarlet) is pretty awesome.

Hanabi, last weekend

First time I ever played it.  It was fun, and I want to play again.

sad banana

rainbow on a cloud

I am not sure I had ever before seen a rainbow that terminated, cartoonishly, on a cloud-top.

Cicada painting

This is a small painting I did about 15 years ago.  I recently found it in a stack of stuff.  It's not a great painting, but I feel like there is some really good stuff going on in it.  It's about 6 x 10 inches.

Louisville Skyline - pen and ink

This is a drawing I finished last year, but I set it aside to ponder over later, and promptly forgot about it (right after I finished it, I became busy with drawing commissions for Christmas, as well as the jack-o'-lantern show out at Iroquois Park...it drove the memory of this drawing right out of my mind.)

I was happy to find it again a few weeks ago.  I'm very happy with it, now that I look at it with fresh eyes.

It's 10 x 14 inches.

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