Whew, that was a hot weekend and it’s due to get hotter, so I hope you’re staying safe and keeping hydrated.

What’s hot right now is The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week is concentrating its collective global lens on; Birds and bees and bugs and fleas.

Or, to put it another way, anything with more than four legs, and/or wings.

Even the bees seemed too tired to fly, although we did experience the joy of “flying-ant day” on Saturday, when hundreds of the little pests sprout wings and vacate the nest in search of more desirable accommodation.

At work, we’ve had the daily entertainment of watching herring gull chicks fledging from their nests on the roof; here’s one of the first to make the perilous drop, who has been named “Steve”…

…and here’s one of his parents, being unusually reticent at taking food from strangers, namely some of my coffee break muffin.

I should add that, five minutes after he’d graciously accepted my home cooked muffin, I turned my back for literally ten seconds and the little bastard stole my bagel.

Hence this photo of him and a friend, noisily registering their displeasure as I refused to part with any the following day.

They’re becoming so used to having us around, there was even one waiting at the door when I got to work the other day.

Yesterday I took a walk along the Tarka Trail at Wrafton to the wildfowl reserve, where there were 8 fluffy grey cygnets lazily paddling about in the stifling heat, along with some equally lacklustre ducks.

Now it’s time to see the fruits of your photographic labours of love, show us whatcha got…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.