I was sitting out on the back deck this past Sunday, watching my fantasy football team hand over a victory to my archrival (who happens to be my son-in-law!), when some movement up in the leaves of the post oak caught my attention.

At first I thought it was a Dove, because I saw a flash of cream-colored feathers, but turns out it was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo!

We don’t have these birds show up all that often around here, and when they do, they typically stay hidden in the tree tops, so I was thrilled that this guy came out in the clearing long enough for me to get some shots to share. He didn’t stay still for long. He scanned the area for fresh food and then flew off to the next tree top.

He repeated this pattern several times in trees that weren’t too far from the deck.

There’s just something exotic about both the name and this bird’s appearance.

At one point he landed at a distance, and before leaving the yard, gave me that over-the-shoulder glance that made me feel like he absolutely knew how thrilled I was that he had let me get some pictures.

I’m sad to report that the “Rhyme-time Rebel” was soundly defeated by “Wobbly Bean”, spoiling my previously undefeated record…but hey, hanging out with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo is more fun than fantasy football any day!