Wildlife At Home and Away
The Globetrotters September Challenge is on Wildlife.
While I do have many photos of my cute cat on my lap and my adorable dog, Molly, a yellow Labrador Retriever, they are not wildlife. They’re pets.
However, living in the Northern Mixed Forests of Wisconsin, on a lake, we are surrounded by wildlife every day! It is one of the many “perks” of living here.
Turtles and Loons
One of our most frequent visitors is painted turtles. In the spring, they emerge from the lake and lay their eggs in the gravel. Sometimes, it takes hours for them to accomplish the task — much like a woman in labor for the first time!
We try to give them their space during this time.
We’ve also been blessed to swim with sea turtles when vacationing in Maui.
The sea turtles were abundant — and by that, I mean seen by the dozen in this cove near the resort we stayed at on Maui in 2022. Sea Turtles are federally protected so you cannot get too close to them. My photos are taken from the shore. But if you swim in this cove, they will swim right up to you! Just don’t reach out to touch them!
Monarch Butterflies
For over twenty years, I’ve been a monarch conservationist. It was ten years ago this winter (2013) that the monarch overwintering population in Mexico hit an all-time low.
At that time, I had already donated hundreds of hours of community service educating school children, parents, teachers, and community groups about the life cycle and habitats monarchs need to survive.
As a result, I have more photographs of monarchs than any other wildlife — thousands of them — they are among my favorite things to observe.
This a monarch I raised a few summers ago. It is hanging on a lavender flower. This monarch was born in late summer and was tagged to document whether it made it to Mexico or not.
I have since stopped raising monarchs. You can read about that and other concerning issues about monarchs here:
Eagles
We had a tree in a dry river bed, a box elder, that was a favorite perch for pairs of eagles. Each year, like clockwork they would appear once the snow was melted, at the juncture of winter and spring. Every year I’d wait, anticipating their return and my chance for a few more photos!
Bald Eagles are a conservation success story that has taken place over my lifetime. They are majestic birds of prey that are fascinating to watch.
Hummingbirds
One year, this little hummingbird sat for a few days on this hydrangea beneath our kitchen window. It was near the feeder seen above. I wondered what he/she was doing. Just sitting. Finally, I figured it out — on the ground below, there was another tiny hummingbird — dead! I believe animals mourn the loss of their companions just like humans do!
Sea Lions — LaJolla
In December of 2012, we traveled to San Diego for the Christmas Holidays. One of the highlights of our trip was seeing the wild sea lions swimming and resting in La Jolla Cove — just off the beach.
Sea Lion: Kauai’s Poipu Beach
The following year, we also saw a sea lion on the beach in Kauai. He/she was resting. The beach patrol had blocked off an area around the animal so people would not get too close. By afternoon, the sea lion had returned to the water.
Feral Roosters on Islands
During our island travels, we’ve seen feral chickens and roosters on the island of Kauai (above) and the island of St. Thomas (below). They run loose and cock-a-doodle-doo until their heart's content! We don’t mind this but some travelers do.
Deer
Living in the Northwoods, we have plenty of deer. Last year, this mama had twins (only one shown here). They made it through the deer hunting season and winter, growing up a lot this past year!
Elk — Grand Canyon NP
The minute we drove into Grand Canyon National Park in October 2021, we saw elk. We stopped long enough to snap a few photos — which mostly turned out to be the elk’s butt. Here’s a nice side view.
We have elk in Wisconsin but I’ve never seen one in the wild here.
Garter Snakes
Last year, a garter snake scared the bejeepers out of me when I went to our outdoor faucet to get some water for my plants! I’ve been on the lookout for him since but fortunately, he moved on! I don’t like snakes!
Leopard Frog
Being near a lake brings a lot of wildlife into our yard. Here are a couple of photos of Leopard Frogs. We have a little man-made pond in which they like to hang out.
Paper Wasp Nest
I was able to sneak a photo of this paper wasp nest while I visited the Story County Arboretum in Iowa. Luckily, it had gotten too cold for the wasps to be home!
Iguanas on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas
We saw several lizards on St. Thomas last winter. Here’s a particularly pretty one. No touching, please! We gave him a wide berth.
Mussels on the California Coast
Muir Beach had such an impressive mussel population, that I wrote an entire article about them.
Along with the mussels, we saw Green Sea Anemones on Muir Beach. They seemed to thrive here.
One of my favorite wildlife photos is the cardinal that came to visit after my father-in-law passed away. He’s so vibrant and handsome! He stayed for quite a long time (almost an hour), which gave me a great opportunity to take his photo!
And recently, I’ve been learning about bumblebees. So far I’ve learned that I’m not good at identifying their species by name. I’ll have to get better! For now, I just refer to this shot as Bumblebee on Coneflower!
As you can tell, I had trouble with my attempts to rein in this challenge. I love nature and I love nature photography. I find my photography informs my writing and my professional knowledge as an environmental educator!
If you don’t quite have enough wildlife photos, you can check out the following participants in the Globetrotters Challenge this month.
Jody Lynn McBrien has traveled to many places I have not, and her photos of the wildlife she’s encountered are stunning! Please check out her article.
Kim Baker takes us on a trip as well as informs us on migrating birds. If you like birds, this is a piece for you! And, no matter what you feel about our feathered friends they are amazing creatures!
