Cheetahs, Water Spiders and Bees, Oh My!

A shy water spider sits waiting for a lunch opportunity to fly, walk or swim by.

Mc Donough Wildlife Refuge, Parkersburg, West Virginia.

July 2008

A spotted salamander scurries across the road in a Catskills campground.

An injured barred owl takes refuge in central Pennsylvania.

A Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly feeding on lavender nectar in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Taken in my backyard.

Northeast Ohio.

They're coming from the sea and heading back to their nests at Boulders Beach National Park, South Africa, an important protected colony of African penguins in the Western Cape.

Perched in Florida.

Seen on a stream off of the Napo River, a subsidiary of the Amazon River.

Napo River, Ecuador

Domino's Farms Office Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

At Parducci Wine Cellars, a green winery. Mendocino County, California.

This bird let me get so close to him to take this picture. I am amazed at how acclimated these birds are to human activity.

Venice Beach, Florida.

An orb weaver, according to reference books.

Orange County, NY

Found on break from spring migration in Luray, Virginia.

On the California coast.

Shortly before escaping to freedom.

Austria

On a shaggy sunflower.

Boxborough, Massachusetts.

A well-camouflaged frog enjoyed an elevated view of the horseradish.

Not a wild pig, but a collared peccary. These creatures moved into the American Southwest in the 1700s from South and Central America. Locally it's called a javelina. It has a very good sense of smell but very poor eyesight. Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Spotted in Parque Das Mangabeiras, a nature preserve in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

One of the many grateful birds we feed during the cold winter months here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia.

An American goldfinch perched on an icy branch during an ice storm in the Shenandoah Valley.

December 16, 2007
Luray, Virginia

I came home this afternoon and heard the melodious sound of robins.

March in Appleton, WI

A groundhog paid our backyard a visit to munch on some grass and clovers.

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Instar larvae of Danaus plexippus (Monarch butterfly) on a milkweed plant.

New London, Wisconsin

Off the Texas coast near the shrimp-boat docks.

I found this frog nestled in the leaves of a milkweed plant.

New London, Wisconsin

A bee flies by a field in Kansas.

The Common Buckeye butterfly.

Dane County, Wisconsin

The most surprising thing to have happen is when you are simply taking a photo of an interesting animal, and it looks right up into the camera at you. Just shows you that when you think that you know everything about the world, it comes back to give you more to think about.

This bird sat patiently while I changed lenses to photograph him. After this shot he flew away.

Pretoria, South Africa