Elfin and Inconspicuous An elfin and inconspicuous Brown Creeper pauses briefly while foraging. The tiny avian is a native to our local Idaho forests. ~ Anecdote and Brown Creeper capture, Elfin and Inconspicuous © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Dapper Pose Resting on a small platform of floating ice in Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago, a Bearded Seal strikes a dapper pose showing off its lavish vibrissae. ~ Anecdote and Bearded Seal capture, A Dapper Pose © Jerry L. Ferrara
The Calling Card Communicating with one another in absentia, a Jaguar sniffs a brushy area where a member of its race recently sprayed. Along a path a feline wentand as it passed, it left a scentfor others of its kind to find,a message that seemed quite sublime.Did the ‘calling card’ give hintof the author’s veiled intent?Was it a trespasser’s claimto the jungle’s dark domain?Or a lusty lady’s tempt–a Jezebel’s seductive scent? ~ Poem and Jaguar capture, The Calling Card © Jerry L. Ferrara, from the wilds of Brazil’s Mato Grosso.
What Part Didn’t You Get? The impish look given by the juvenile Burrowing Owl was too much to resist. By sheer accident, I noticed the bird was attracted to the click of my camera’s shutter — opening and closing. Its body posture in this frame just said everything a person might wish to say to someone who is annoying. ~ Anecdote and Burrowing Owl capture, What Part Didn’t You Get? © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Shadow Shifted The wind moaned a mournful monologueand the snow swept the spacious ‘scape.In the same surreal circumstancea shadow shifted and took shape. ~ Poem and Gray Wolf capture, A Shadow Shifted © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Pair of Scissors In the Texas outback, I was hoping to catch this species with their exaggerated tail feathers spread … hence their name. No such luck, but I still dubbed the image A Pair of Scissors. ~ Anecdote and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers capture, A Pair of Scissors © Jerry L. Ferrara
The Rockhopper Penguin at the far right [in submissive pose] had just picked its way through established nesting sites in the colony. It went through a good amount of trauma in the process receiving opposition from members of the clan. Here, it is being aggressively confronted and was truly “catching hell”. Catching Hell This morn it ran the gauntlet through others’ nesting sites. Perhaps its sole intention was to pilfer neighbors’ rights. Instead it met resistance, demeanors did quite swell. This is what it means for those who end up catching hell. ~ Rockhopper Penguin capture and poem, Catching Hell © Jerry L. Ferrara. New Island, Falkland Islands.
Start of the Day Today’s image, Start of the Day, goes way back to the era of color film. This Desert Tortoise was just waking up and exiting its burrow to forage in the desert’s early morning coolness. The image has a publication history having been used in National Wildlife Magazine and a National Geographic book titled The Secret Lives of Animals. ~ Anecdote and Desert Tortoise capture, Start of the Day © Jerry L. Ferrara. California’s Mojave Desert.
One Single Ephemeral Slice of Time It was a bit of a frustrating encounter with this buck Black-tailed Deer. Every time he raised his head, there was either brush in the way or a piece of grass or straw protruding from his mouth. The light was really nice and I realized it wasn’t going to last forever. So I kept clicking off shots irrespective of not seeing what I wanted. Then the opportunity came … one single ephemeral slice of time. Click! ~ Anecdote and Black-tailed Deer capture, One Single Ephemeral Slice of Time © Jerry L. Ferrara
Intrepid Traveler The Eastern Kingbird has been a regular visitor to our North Idaho environs ever since I can remember, yet only in spring and summer. Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology indicates this intrepid traveler spends its winters in South America journeying from as far north as Canada’s Northwest Territories. That’s quite a range! I caught this one staging to catch insects from a wire fence next to a pasture close to my home last summer. ~ Anecdote and Eastern Kingbird capture, Intrepid Traveler © Jerry L. Ferrara