A short but colorful stroll

Needing a break from the computer this afternoon, I grabbed my camera and took a walk outside.  Rain is predicted by evening but at midday the sky was still bright and sunny.

Everywhere I looked, butterflies were fluttering.

Monarch on orange cosmos

Monarchs hovered over the orange cosmos, which are blooming prolifically in the east gardens.

On the other side of the house along the clay wall, zebra longwing butterflies busied themselves with the purple and white duranta flowers.

Zebra longwing on white duranta

As I climbed the stairway set into the clay wall, butterflies became fewer but bird sightings increased.  At the top of the steps, a small peach orchard abuts a shady woods dominated by large, broad oaks.  Although the birds I saw there weren't unusual, they were certainly colorful.

Male cardinal in peach tree.  

I always hear bluejays before I see them.  These squawky birds have beautiful feathers

Just before I turned around to come home, a red-bellied woodpecker flew out of an oak and onto the top of an irrigation spigot before landing on an old cane of Oldhamii (Giant Timber) Bamboo.

Red-bellied woodpecker on irrigation spigot

Searching for dinner on a cane of Oldhamii Bamboo 

I'm guessing I was outside for less than 30 minutes but I saw so much.  It's important to take breaks.