Mini-Sprite The energetic and diminutive Red-breasted Nuthatch is a four-plus inch impish North American songbird. A tiny stick of dynamiteBrings to mind this mini-spriteIts aura boasts it has much mightTo watch one is quite out-of-sight ~ Anecdote, poem and Red-breasted Nuthatch capture, Mini-Sprite © Jerry L. Ferrara
Sounding Off From an article by The American Society of Mammalogists, scientists have observed that the Columbian Ground Squirrel has quite a repertoire of vocalizations … even giving different calls for threats from the sky versus a danger approaching overland. The rate at which the alarm is delivered may also indicate the severity of the peril. Here, ‘Squeaky Squirrel’ is caught sounding off. ~ Anecdote and Columbian Ground Squirrel capture, Sound Off © Jerry L. Ferrara
On The Alert This is the backstory to the making of On The Alert. My progress slogging through the deep snow was tedious and painfully slow while trying to gain position to photograph the retreating Gray Wolf pack. When a clear view was finally achieved, all I could see were bouncing backsides vanishing over the horizon … much effort, too late. Then a furtive, shadowy movement in front of me caught my attention as it eerily floated through and behind the sagebrush-steppe domain. A wolf! I held my breath and waited what seemed an eternity for an unobstructed perspective. And then it happened! Out of the scrub it came, on the alert, giving one ephemeral, incisive glance my way. Following that brief connection, the ‘gray ghost’ turned and magically melted into the vast void of the enigmatic Yellowstone sweep. ~ Anecdote and Gray Wolf capture, On The Alert © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Brewer’s Blackbird, with wings stretched wide, acrobatically lifts from a Mullein plant. ~ Anecdote and Brewer’s Blackbird capture, Stretched Wide © Jerry L. Ferrara
An Orchestra of Avocets In a Texas haunt, an orchestra of avocets fills the sky. ~ American Avocets capture, An Orchestra of Avocets © Jerry L. Ferrara
Double entendre alert! So … a bit of 4th grade humor today. I call this image of a White-tailed Deer buck “Growing a Pair” 😀. ~ Anecdote and White-tailed Deer capture, Growing a Pair © Jerry L. Ferrara
Red-naped Sapsucker The Red-naped Sapsucker is a member of the woodpecker clan and according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology/All About Birds, has a keen fondness for sugary sap. This one, however, was in search of insects on a Western Red Cedar tree. ~ Anecdote and Red-naped Sapsucker capture, Red-naped Sapsucker © Jerry L. Ferrara
The Ocelot The following narrative describes what occurred one emerging evening in the mysterious recesses of Brazil’s vast and uncanny Pantanal … behold the Ocelot! Night’s stygian pall covers the enigmatic jungle Strange forlorn voices murmur from inky recesses Netherworld conversations Then Silence Portending silence A vague shape precipitates in the underbrush Amorphously it clings to shadows After an eternity, the specter takes form It climbs a limb Then, melts into the ebon night ~ Anecdote, poem and Ocelot capture, The Ocelot © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Roguish Spirit Two views of a roguish spirit, the Steller’s Jay, a ‘sometimes’ visitor to our backyard. We always look forward to their transitory appearances and raucous, bandit ways. ~ Anecdote and Steller’s Jay captures, A Roguish Spirit © Jerry L. Ferrara
In The Early Morning Mist One pristine fall morn I caught this pair of White-tailed Deer doe in the early morning mist near home. The pastoral setting was too much to pass up. ~ Anecdote and White-tailed Deer capture, In The Early Morning Mist © Jerry L. Ferrara