I realized this morning that I do not photograph very many mammals. During the summers I tend to focus my attention on insects and during the winters I mostly photograph birds. Only occasionally will I spot some deer, opossums, hedgehogs, raccoons, or beavers.
There is one mammal, however, that I see all of the time—the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Most of the time these squirrels are in motion, scrambling up and down the trees or running through the underbrush.
Last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a squirrel that was momentarily at rest and captured this image. I like the way that the coloration of the squirrel matches its surroundings. I am happy too that I was able to capture the different textures in the scene, including the fluffy tail of the squirrel, the roughness of the tree bark, and the relative smoothness of the branch on which the squirrel was perched.
Yesterday I encountered a cool-looking Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was walking down the middle of a trail straight towards me and did not seem aware of my presence. Opossums are mostly nocturnal, so I do not see them very often—apparently they do not seem me very often either. An opossum’s eyesight is much better in the dark than it is in daylight, so the opossum may not have initially seen me, even though it was looking right at me in a number of these photos.
Virginia Opossums, also known as North American Opossums, are the northernmost marsupial in the world, and the only one living north of Mexico, according to Wikipedia. Like other marsupials such as a kangaroos, kolas, and wombats, opossums give birth to incompletely developed babies that develop further in a pouch—he word “marsupial” comes from the Latin word “marsupium”, which means pouch.
The gestational period lasts only 11-13 days, according to Wikipedia, and the average litter size is 8–9 infants, although over 20 infants may be born. “Newborns are the size of a honeybee. Once delivered through the central birth canal, newborn opossums climb up into the female opossum’s pouch and latch onto one of her 13 teats. The young remain latched for two months and in the pouch for 2+1⁄2 months. The young then climb onto the mother’s back, where she carries them for the remainder of their time together. It is during this time that the young learn survival skills. They leave their mother after about four or five months.”
If you want to learn more about opossums, check out an article called “50 Opossum Facts That Are Too Awesome to Miss” at the website facts.net. For example, I was shocked to learn that the word “opossum” originated in Virginia, where I live. Between 1607 and 1611, colonists John Smith and William Strachey first recorded the usage of opassom and aposoum at the early British colony in Jamestown, Virginia.
The opossum seemed curious, cute, and almost cuddly, but I kept my distance and tried not to disturb. From certain angles, such as in the second image, though, the opossum seemed focused and a little menacing.
I encourage you to click on the photos to get a closer look at some of the details of the opossum, like its prehensile tail and the little claws on its feet. You can’t see it very well, but opossums have opposable clawless thumbs on their hind feet that lets them grip onto tree branches.
Although it is fun to try to photograph migratory species passing through our area, I am equally content to photograph the local species that are present throughout the year, like Wild Turkeys and Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. This rather rotund Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) seemed to be dancing the hokey-pokey when I spotted it last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. “You put your right leg in, you put your right leg out. You put your right leg in and you shake it all about…” For the record, I did not join in the dance.
Later that same day I encountered this cute little Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). The rabbit was quite tolerant on my presence and calmly chewed on the grass while I took its picture. For several years I cared for a pet rabbit, so rabbits have a special place in my heart.
Turkeys and rabbits are quite common at this refuge and at certain times of the day I am likely to encounter them. Generally they slowly move into the undergrowth as I approach. I don’t think they necessarily view me as a threat, but they probably do not want to take chances.
On Monday I went exploring at Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge at Fort Belvoir, a local US Army installation, and was pleasantly surprised to spot this North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) swimming in Accotink Creek just before midday. Beavers are generally nocturnal and most of the times when I have seen on in the past it has been at dawn or dusk.
I am not sure why this beaver was swimming during the day. Perhaps there are babies in the lodge and the beaver needed a moment of peace and relaxation. Whatever the case, I like the way that I was able to capture the ripples in the water as the beaver slowly swam past me.
It was only three o’clock in the afternoon, so I was a bit shocked on Thursday when I spotted this North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I have only seen beavers at this wildlife refuge a couple of times in the past and it was always near dawn or dusk.
I managed to snap a few photos before the beaver dove into the shallow water, swam through a culvert under the trail, and disappeared into the deeper waters of the bay.
Last Sunday I encountered this young buck in the woods while I was exploring a trail in Bastrop, Texas. I think that we spotted each other about the same time and we eyed each other with curiosity. After the deer had checked me out, it slowly walked into the woods and disappeared from sight.
I believe that this is a Texas White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus texana). According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, there are estimated to be some three to four million white-tailed deer in the state.
I am now safely back in Virginia after my 1534 mile (2468 km) drive home from Texas. My time in Texas was wonderful, especially the wedding that I attended, but unfortunately I contracted COVID shortly thereafter. As a result, I extended my time in Texas by several days as I recovered from my symptoms that were mercifully mild and short in duration. In addition to the initial two Pfizer shots, I have had three booster shots, including the new “bivalent” version, which I believe helped to mitigate the effect of the virus.
Thankfully I was not alone and was dogsitting for the happy couple’s two delightful dogs, who helped to keep me company during my five day isolation. I love the long shadows of the early morning and late afternoon and captured this first image one morning when I was walking Oscar, their English Spaniel—this is my favorite kind of “selfie” shot. Freckles, their Cocker Spaniel, requires shorter walks because of an injury and was waiting our return at home, where I captured the second image. As was the case with treats, I decided that I had better give the two dogs equal treatment in this blog posting. 🙂
For the record, a photo of Freckles first appeared in the blog in February 2013, when she was only a year old, in a posting entitled “Dogsitting on a Saturday night.” The couple adopted Oscar, who is also about ten years old, two years ago and this is his first appearance in the blog.
I will probably be taking it a bit easy for the next week or so, but I am sure that I will find some interesting recent photos of my adventures in nature to share with you all.
I was a little shocked to encounter this fuzzy little North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) yesterday while walking on a trail through the woods in Bastrop, Texas. The opossum, which is also known as a Virginia Opossum, was in the middle of the trail, walking slowly in my direction.
We spotted each other at about the same time, I think, and we both stopped and looked closely at each other. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to bring my camera up to my eye and take a few shots. Having decided that I was a potential threat, the opossum turned its back to me and slowly waddled into the underbrush, giving me a good look at its hairless tail.
I saw lots of Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Usually I see the rabbits during the early and late hours of the day, but these ones were active at midday. There is something really gentle about these creatures that really calms and soothes me.
In the first photo, one of the rabbit lifted its head to check me out and stared right at me. Deciding that I was not a threat, it returned to contentedly nibbling on the grass. I love the way that the rabbit’s ears look like mini-antlers, making it look like a cross between a rabbit and a deer.
In the second image, I captured a view of two rabbits contentedly chewing on the grass in an area adjacent to the parking lot. Perhaps they were used to the presence of people or perhaps they were less alert because they were eating. Whatever the reason, I was able to get my shots without disturbing them. The two rabbits were too far apart to get them both in focus, so I chose to focus on the nearest one and like the effect that I achieved.
Yesterday afternoon at Potomac Episcopal, a loose confederation of four local Episcopal churches that has worshipped together since the start of the pandemic, we had a special Blessing of the Animals service in celebration of The Feast of Francis of Assisi. We held the service indoors in the parish hall at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, one of the four churches, because of the rain caused by the remnants of hurricane Ian.
There were about 25 dogs and two cats that participated in the service. Participants also brought photos of pets and representations of pets that could not be present (including a parrot and some aquatic turtles) as well as mementos of pets who have died during the past year.
These are a few of the many photos that I took during the event that we uploaded to a Shutterfly website for viewing by all participant. Although we did not have music, we had a chorus of dogs barking throughout the short service, as you can hear in a video clip that I recorded. I have embedded at the end of this posting the YouTube version of that eight minute video that includes prayers and readings in celebration of the animals. It can also be found by clicking this link.
One of my favorite parts of the service was entitled “Litany of Thanks for Animals in the Life Cycle of Earth,” the text of which I have included below.
“We thank you, Lord, for the gift of animals in our lives. We thank you for animals that comfort us, delight us and give us companionship. We thank you for dogs and cats, birds and hamsters, guinea pigs and fish.
We thank you, Lord for the gift of animals.
We also thank you, Lord, for animals that give us wool and feathers to keep us warm. We thank you for the animals that give us milk, cheese and eggs to help us grow and keep us healthy. We thank you for horses, donkeys and oxen that work hard on farms throughout the world.
We thank you, Lord for the gift of animals.
We thank you, Lord, for animals that eat plants and fertilize the soil, making it richer and more fertile for new growth and new life. We give thanks for the gift of insects, bees, and butterflies, who pollinate fruit and vegetable plants for us to eat and flowers to give us joy.
We thank you, Lord for the gift of animals.
We thank you, Lord, for being our Good Shepherd, for seeking us when we are lost, for showing us water to quench our thirst, and for leading us to green pastures. Help us to share our blessings with others and to help others have clean water and green pastures to feed and nourish their families, too. In Christ’s name,
Most of the wild horses that I saw at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota during my recently completed road trip were on relatively level ground, but I did observe one band of horses climbing a steep slope. They were pretty far away, but I managed to capture these shots as they slowly made their way up a canyon wall.
In the first photo, the horses were just starting their climb and were bunched together. As they climbed higher, they spread out a bit. In the second shot, the lead horse was nearing the top, perhaps the edge of a plateau.
From what I have read, the bands are usually led by a head mare when they are traveling and she leads the band to watering holes and grazing spots. The band’s stallion brings up the rear when the band travels—his job is to fight off predators and other males who try to join the herd and to nip at stragglers to make sure they keep up with the others.
Until quite recently, I had never tried to create videos with my iPhone and still have not tried to do so with my DSLR camera. I guess that I am a little old-fashioned and think of a phone as primarily a device for making phone calls and a camera as a device for taking still photos. I am gradually changing to using my phone for texting and during my recently completed road trip, I played around with taking short videos with my iPhone. Maybe it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.
The change was prompted in part by the fact that I had to radically change my shooting habits when visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. I camped out at the park for two nights when I was headed westward towards Seattle and another two nights on my return trip eastward to Virginia. At that park, I got used to seeing large creatures like American Bison (Bison bison) at close-range and photographing them from inside my car. Suddenly it dawned on me that videos would be an effective way of capturing some of that action. In addition to bison, I also had several encounters with wild horses that I was able to document in videos.
As you probably noticed, the first image is not a video—I inserted it so that an image would show up as a thumbnail in the “Reader” feed for those who view my postings in that way. The still photo shows a large bull moving down the recently repaved roads of the park. At that time they had not yet painted lines on the road, so I had to pay a lot of attention while driving, given that many of the roads were full of curves and and in some cases there were steep drop-offs. I do not think that the bison cared about the lack of lines—as far as I was concerned, they owned the roads and always had right-of-way.
The first video shows one of the huge male bisons that I encountered on the roads at the national park. I was safely inside of my car when I took this video, though I must confess that this bull bison looked to be almost as big as my KIA Soul and may have outweighed it.
The second and third videos show bands of wild horses that I encountered at separate locations in the park. I was particularly impressed by the beauty of these horses and it was cool to capture them in action.
I was not sure how to present videos here in WordPress, but I think it works to post them to YouTube first and then to embed a link to that posting here. In this way, the videos do not count against my data allowance on my WordPress plan.
I definitely need to improve on my skills as a videographer, but I am happy with these initial results. The sound quality is still a problem, because it was often windy and the video also includes some extraneous conversation. I may have to learn to do voiceovers for the videos or to add some music to them.
So what do you think? These little clips are definitely a change from my normal content, but I thought it would be a fun way to share some of my experiences more directly with all of you. As you probably noticed, the first image is not a video—I inserted it so that an image would show up as a thumbnail in the “Reader” feed for those who view my postings in that way.
It was so much fun to watch the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) that I encountered in multiple locations during my recent visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. I could see them from my car when I was driving along the roads looking for buffalo and wild horses, but I also encountered them on both sides of some of the trails when I was hiking.
The prairie dogs seemed playful and energetic and were surprisingly vocal. They seemed to be calling out to each other all of the time in very distinctive squeaky voices. It seems like some of the calls were warnings that I was approaching, because quite often the prairie dogs would scurry into their holes as I drew near, sometimes peeking out with just the top of their heads and their eyes visible.
Here are some selected shots of prairie dogs in which I tried to capture a sense of their playful personalities.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is one of the few national parks where visitors can observe free-roaming horses. According to the National Park Service, “their presence represents Theodore Roosevelt’s experiences here during the open-range ranching era. Ranchers turned horses out on the open range to live and breed. When needed, they would round up horses and their offspring for use as ranch horses. For generations, ranchers used land that would later become the park for open-range grazing.”
Once the park was fenced in, one of the issues was what to do with the horses. Initially the authorities tried to capture and remove all of the horses, but some small bands of horses eluded capture and continued to live free-range in the park. “In 1970, a change of park policy recognized the horse as part of the historical setting. New policies were written and enacted to manage the horses as a historic demonstration herd.”
I had multiple sightings of wild horses during my visit to the national park. Most of the time it was only one or two horses, but on my final day I ran into a larger group. As I was observing them, another visitor told me that this was Xander’s band, named for the lead stallion.
The other visitor turned out to be a member of a group that tracks the bands of wild horses in the park. She patiently explained to me that the horses travel in groups of 5 to 15 horses, known as bands, with a well-established social hierarchy. The bands are pretty stable—young colts and fillies are kicked out of their groups at the age of 2-3 and form new bands. Some of the individual horses that I observed, she said, were likely to be bachelors.
The first photo shows the band all grouped up together in a shadow of a rock formation where I first saw them. They were packed together so tightly that it was hard to get an accurate head count. I believe that the gray horse in the front is Xander, the leader. Eventually the individuals of the group spread out a bit (it looks like there are ten members in the band) and began to graze, as you can see in the second and third photos.
The National Park Service tries to manage the number of wild horses in this park tor prevent overpopulation. “Historically, the park conducted roundups every three to four years using helicopters to herd horses to a handling facility and then sold them at public auction. More recently, the park has tried new methods for herd management including contraceptives, low-stress capture techniques, genetics research, and partnerships with nonprofit horse advocacy groups. Horses are currently captured using tranquilizer darts and sold in online auctions.”
As many of you know, I have spent the last week driving across the United States to spend some time with family outside of Seattle, Washington. I departed from Virginia at midday last Monday and by the time that I finally arrived on Saturday afternoon, I had traveled a distance of 3085 miles (4964 km).
I spent a lot of time driving, but made an extended stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota, where I camped out for two nights. During my visit, I had multiple encounters with American Bison (Bison bison), including one memorable moment when my car was almost surrounded as a small herd of bison moved past me on the road.
It was a bit strange for me to take wildlife photos from inside my car, but that definitely was the safest thing to do with these bison. Some of the bulls looked to be as large as my KIA Soul. I noted that there were a good number of calves too, and definitely did not want to mess with a potentially mad mamma bison if I got between her and her baby.
I am still sorting through my images, but I thought I would lead with these little portraits that show some of the personality of the individual bison.
In addition to the bison at the national park, I was able to photograph wild horses, prairie dogs, birds, and even a few dragonflies. You should see some of them in the near future.
I had no idea that Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) liked mushrooms, but this squirrel certainly seemed to be nibbling on one when I spotted him on Wednesday at Green Spring Gardens. I love the way that he was holding the mushroom in his “hands” as he gently chewed on the stem—I think he may have already consumed the mushroom cap.
Most of my photos exist only in digital form. I have had some of them printed, but there are only so many photos that I can hang on the walls of my townhouse. I have had some photos printed on mugs and other items, but the images don’t have quite the same impact when they are printed so small. How else can I display my photos?
My niece, Kristina Hughes, and her boyfriend, Brian Vermeire, came up with a creative way of integrating their love of art and their love of cats. Earlier this year they launched their website frameyourfeline.com that offers customized ways for your cat to become a living work of art. I encourage you to check out their website for further information, but in a nutshell Kristina and Brian have created three-dimensional boxes that hang on the wall with interchangeable art panels providing a backdrop for the cats. The boxes are carpeted and provide the kind of place where cats love to lounge and pose.
Customers can choose from multiple options for the frame style at the opening of the box and from a wide selection of art panels that include paintings and photographs, including more than forty of my images. Kristina and Brian are adding new art panels all of the time as more creative people join in the project. The photos below give you an idea of how some of my photos would look in a Frame Your Feline environment.
There is a special linited-time sale going on for Memorial Day weekend, so if you are at all interested, check out the website. Even if you don’t have a cat (and I don’t), it’s fun and a little addictive to watch cats wander in and out of these frames. You can also learn more about the background of Frame Your Feline by listening to an interview with Kristina and Brian on the Nine Lives with Dr. Katz podcast. Kristina and Brian are also comedians, so the interview is a really fun listen.
I could not get an angle that let me see what this Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was eating earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but I was very much taken by the cute way that it had curled up its tail as it was eating. Normally I think of a squirrel with its long fluffy tail trailing behind it, so I was surprised to see the tail pulled into the squirrel’s body, making the small animal look even smaller.
In addition to the curious tail position, I like the way that I was able to capture the texture of the branch. The color of the branch was almost a perfect match for the squirrel’s fur and the brownish buds were almost the same color as the fur surrounding the squirrel’s eye.
When it heard me approaching, this White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) moved into the field of dried vegetation. It had only gone a short distance when it stopped and turned to look back at me. Our eyes met and we shared a moment together. Had curiosity overcome any fear that the deer might have been feeling? I felt a real sense of gentleness and peace during our little encounter.
All of the sudden, the deer decided that it was time to leave and trotted off toward the tree line. I was quite ready for the action to resume and was zoomed in a bit too much, so that parts of the deer are cut off in the second and third images. Still, I really like the way that I was able to capture the movement of the deer and especially of its white tail.
I was dogsitting for some friends this past weekend, so I did not have a chance to go out into the wild with my camera. So I decided to try to capture some images of Apollo, my weekend companion. Apollo was adopted from a shelter and is still a bit anxious and a little hyper, so I decided that it would be less disruptive for me to come into his environment than for him to come into mine.
In the first image, I captured one of the rare moments when Apollo, who I believe is some variety of collie, was relaxing. Most of the time he was really alert, as you can see in the second image. His favorite spot was in front of a sliding glass door that allowed him to keep a close eye on activity in the back yard. When we went outside, he seemed to think that it was one of his responsibilities to chase away any birds that dared to perch on the ground.
Over the course of our time together, Apollo warmed up more and more, though he does not appear to be a snuggling kind of dog. On Sunday morning, though, he curled up on one end of the sofa as I participated in a virtual church service while seated at the opposite end. I really like dogs and my time with Apollo was a welcome change to my pandemic routine—a different kind of encounter with wildlife.
Yesterday I featured my five most-viewed posts in 2021, all of which were published in previous years. Today I decided to show you photos from my five most-viewed posts in 2021 that were actually written in 2021. In many ways, these photos are a better representation of my me and my blog than yesterday’s set of images.
What do I mean? As I noted yesterday, most of the views for my older posts probably came from someone doing a Google search for a particular subject or combination of words. My posts popped up in their results because of the words in the posts themselves and the keywords that I have associated with the posts. I like the way that my posts take on a life of their own after they are published, but there is a kind of randomness to the process.
Most of my views for the postings below almost certainly came from folks who currently follow my blog and viewed the posts within the first few days after they were written. These viewers, many of whom I now consider my friends, are much more likely to read the entire text of the posts and to provide detailed comments. I really value that sense of engagement and the feeling of community that this process builds, which has been of even greater importance than ever during the ongoing pandemic.
In terms of the quality of the photos and the variety of the subjects, I like today’s images a lot. Many people know of my fondness for dragonflies and I am tickled to see that two images of dragonflies made the cut. Those two images (and the other three as well) show of some of the skills and creativity that I strive to apply to my photography—they are not merely documentary shots.
I encourage you to click on the titles of the individual postings to visit or re-visit the original posts. If you, you will discover that most of these postings contain a lot a lot “me”—my personal philosophy, priorities, and personality. You can see that approach in my use of titles like “Hope and happiness” and “To everything there is a season.”
I should warn you, though, that these postings might be a little longer than some of my other posts. WordPress tells me that my average post for 2021 had 204 words, and these five may be longer than that. When I sit down to write a posting, I tend to use a stream-of-consciousness style. I compose as I am thinking, letting my mind run in whatever direction it happens to go. As a result, I may ramble a bit or go off on tangents, but the results are often a direct reflection of the genuine me.
It is snowing our right now, our first snow of the season and we are forecast to get up to 10 inches (25 cm) of snow. In many ways, this is a White Christmas for us. I attend an Episcopal church and we begin our celebration on Christmas Eve, followed by the Twelve Days of Christmas, leading up to the Epiphany, when the Magi appeared. If I remember the lyrics right, today my true love should bring “ten lords a-leaping.” Hopefully my day (and yours too) will be more peaceful than that and we will all have a silent night.
Several nights this week I have been experiencing a three dog night. No, I have not been having flashbacks to the 1960’s rock band, but have been sharing my bed with the three dogs of my son Josh and his wife Lexy—Astro, Pippin, and Katie.
I have also included some other shots of the three dogs. They are full of energy and personality and love to follow us around and curl up with us when we are seated on the couch.
I spend a good amount of time looking for unusual subjects to photograph, but I also love to photograph the everyday creatures that inhabit my day-to-day life. I spotted this Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I cannot tell for sure what the squirrel had in its mouth, but he seemed to consider it a treasure.
I love the pose of the squirrel atop the broken-off tree—there is something dynamic about its somewhat precarious position and in fact the squirrel leap jumped to a nearby tree a few seconds after I snapped this photo. I also really like the curve of the squirrel’s tail that adds a kind of whimsical touch to the image.
When I spotted this raccoon (Procyon lotor) last Tuesday afternoon at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it was trotting right towards me on one of the trails, seemingly undeterred by my presence. I stepped to the side as far as I could and grabbed a stick for potential protection. The raccoon swerved a little as it passed me, but did turn its head to growl at me.
Folks in a nature forum on Facebook reminded be that there are a number of reasons why raccoons might be out in the daylight like this, including foraging for food for babies, and that I should not assume that the raccoon has a problem, such as rabies. I try to be really careful when I am out in the wild, particularly because I am usually alone, and avoid direct contact with my subjects. It this case, the raccoon seemed to have a really determined look on its face and I was more than happy to move out of its way.
I am helping this weekend to take care of three cats that belong to my friend Cindy Dyer and her husband. I mention Cindy fairly often on this blog because she is a constant sources of encouragement and inspiration in my photography and has mentored me over the years—she is a freelance photographer and graphic designer. She is also an amazing gardener and most of the times when I feature flower photos, I have taken the shots in her garden.
Cindy works from home, so her three cats are used to having someone around during most of the day. Over the years I have taken care of the cats multiple times and they are relatively comfortable with my presence in the hours. That being said, each of the three cats has his own personality and shows me varying degrees of attention and affection.
I took these shots of Lobo, Pixel, and Queso yesterday afternoon when I stopped in to check on them. All three cats seemed to be evaluating me and I like the way that I was able some of their personality in these informal little portraits.
I was a little shocked last week at Prince William Forest Park, when I spotted a groundhog (Marmota monax) scampering down a trail heading right towards me as I was resting on a log. The groundhog must have sensed my presence, because it suddenly stopped, sniffed the air, and headed back in the direction from which it had come.
When I first detected the animal coming my way, I thought it might be a bear cub. Yes, I know that it is the wrong color and shape for a bear cub, but I had seen the signs at the park entrance to be aware of bears. According to news report, wildlife cameras at the park detected a black bear coming out of hibernation in February of this year. It may look like I was pretty far away from the groundhog, but I actually took this photo with the same 180mm macro lens that I used to photograph yesterday’s small dragonfly.
I thought about rewording the first paragraph that I had also used on a Facebook posting, but decided to leave it untouched. Several of my friends suggested that the groundhog might have gotten closer if I had taken a shower—I definitely left myself open for that interpretation by the way that I worded the last sentence of the first paragraph. I have always felt that it is good to be able to laugh at yourself—as someone once noted, it guarantees that you will have an endless source of humor.
I was watching an Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it hung upside down and nibbled on the buds of a tree when suddenly its back legs lost their grip. The squirrel was dangling from its front paws only when I snapped this shot.
Initially the squirrel continued to chew on the bud it was holding. Realizing perhaps the precariousness of its position, it eventually stopped eating and successfully scrambled back up into the tree.
I turned my head instinctively when I heard a splash in the water yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge? What had made the splash? There were no logs on which a turtle might have been sunning, so I assumed it was one of the many diving ducks that have spent the winter with us. I watched and waited for the duck to resurface so that I could identify its species.
Imagine my surprise when a furry rather than feathered head broke the surface of the water from below. I only had to hesitate a second before I decided that it was a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) rather than a North American Beaver (Castor canadensis). Why? It was midday and beavers are generally active only at dawn and dusk; the animal was really small and beavers tend to be a lot bigger in size; and I had a really good look at the tail that was a long, thin “rattail” and not flat like a beaver’s tail.
In the past most of the muskrats that I have seen swimming have kept their tails in the water, often using it for propulsion. Maybe this muskrat was simply treading water, watching me as I watched it. It has been a long time since I have seen a muskrat, so this sighting was a nice treat for me.
Frost covered the ground early on Tuesday morning when I arrived at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The first creature that I spotted was an Eastern Cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) foraging in the wintery grass that has not yet turned green. The sunlight was soft and low, making the bunny glow.
It was a wonderfully gentle way to begin a new day.
Out of the corner of my eye I detected some movement on the ground as I was looking up at an eagle nest early Thursday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As I turned my head, a shadowy form emerged out of the brush and began to trot down the trail—it was a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes).
I do not see foxes very often at this refuge and have been told that most of them have been killed by the resident coyotes, so this was a pleasant surprise. I tried to focus on the fox as it moved away from me, but my photos were mostly out of focus and featured only the legs and tail of the fox. Then the fox stopped and looked back in my direction for a moment and I was able to capture this image as we stared momentarily at each other.
The sun had just risen over the horizon as I started walking down a trail on Monday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I noticed a dark shadow at the edge of the trail and slowed down. When I got a little closer, I could see that it was a small White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). There are probably quite a few deer at the wildlife refuge, but I rarely see one.
The deer sensed my presence, raised its head, and stared right at me with what looked to be mostly curiosity. Our eyes remained fixed on each other for quite some time before the deer crossed the path and disappeared silently in the underbrush.
Mike Powell 