Finally, Yellow-billed Cuckoo pics

Gosh, the software I use to crop my photos crashed and I have been hassling with it and some other software to edit my photos fromt the trip to the Lower Arkansas Vally are last week-end. These are the photos I got of one the Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Cottonwood Canyon. Though when I first saw one of the cuckoos fly across the road it was in bright sunlight and showed the rufous wings brilliantly, once these birds landed they embedded themselves in the foliage. Even when they would show themselves as this bird did, it was in the shade so the photos are not as crisp as I would like. This bird flew closer into this tree that was only about 75 feet away when I brought my dogs out of the car for a potty break. It was my impression that the bird had flown in closer to check us out, maybe to see if we were predators.

Ah, I am still having software problems with the second pic. So I will publish this and work on the one tomorrow. Click here then click on the WAV file to hear what these birds sound like.
SeEtta