Well ... we took a quick evening trip to the refuge to look for the great-horned owls again this year, but no success on spotting them this time out. I knew that was a possible outcome, so my secondary plan was to simply walk along quietly to see what else we could see.
We always see something ... this time it included a mallard duck enjoying a little solitude on the water, several robins (a couple with a bit of character), a yellow-bellied sapsucker playing peek-a-boo, various butterflies fluttering about, and a porcupine hanging on for dear life up in a tree. We also saw a large herd of deer and a few other things I didn't get photos of, but I had a bit of fun with the ones I did manage to take.
There were many butterflies fluttering about ... landing only for a moment or two here and there. This one actually remained still for a little bit. He seemed to think he was camouflaged with these pebbles as he sat motionless.
We always enjoy spotting porcupines, as we find them to be very interesting animals. This one looks like he's hanging on for dear life on that skinny little branch. He certainly doesn't look very comfy up there.