I am currently doing the '30x30 challenge' which I learned about through the blog resurrection fern. The challenge is for Canada, but I just loved the idea so I decided to do it personally without officially signing up... The challenge is to spend 30 minutes outside for 30 days, that is the month of June.
At the same time there in a challenge among birders to find as many different species within your selected county during the month of June. So these challenges go together perfectly! Here are some of my highlights from the first week:
June 1st, Roseate Spoonbill at Lake Geneva (rare to see so inland)
June 2nd, two Swallow-tailed Kite's
June 4th, Northern Parula mama with fledgeling
June 4th, gorgeous field of flowers along the shores of Lake Harney
June 5th, Brown-headed Nuthatch
June 7th, a very pretty juvenile White Ibis at Lake Jesup
June 8th, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher after a Red-shouldered Hawk... personally I thought it a bit daring for this tiny bird to be flying around the hawk like this!
June 8th, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the Econ River... I love to see a hummingbird in the wild!