LENS-ARTISTS CHALLENGE #225 – Wildlife Close to Home

Photography, Travel photography

(Anne leads.)

“Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing” by The Troggs

“Here on this mountaintop, oh-oh-oh
I got some wild, wild life
I got some news to tell you, oh-oh
About some wild, wild life” by The Talking Heads

Ever the tongue-in-cheeker that I am, I had to start with the following photo, not really too wild, and obviously at least captured in harness if not totally domesticated, but she was close to home:

The following red-tailed rascal hawk was perched on the suburban roof of my previous home. One of it’s ilk dive-bombed me when I came out the back door, but thankfully veered off before sinking talons in my skull, likely when it saw I was too large to be carried away.

“Lucky ladybug, lucky ladybug!
A lucky ladybug!” by Billy and Lillie

Still part of the animal kingdom, and close to home on my patio table, always a welcome visitor:

At a trailhead a short drive from home, this Red-winged Blackbird perched on a friends car and was very vocal, perhaps talking to its own image in the car window. When we returned from our hike an hour+ later, there it was, vocalizing!

Still close to home, at a local park, this member of a family of regularly resident owls was high up, watching us watching it:

A bit further afield, but still in Colorado, I conclude with what I always thought was a pika, but I now think is a Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel:

Continue to be kind to everything and everyone. Stay wild.

 

 

Published by JohnRH

Retired, former winter skier, avid reader, traveler (avidly). :)

Published

46 thoughts on “LENS-ARTISTS CHALLENGE #225 – Wildlife Close to Home”

  3. Great response John! You have a wonderful and varied local wildlife. I loved the ladybug. I don’t see any around my home. The hawk looks like it’s asking if you have anything small it can take along. Let’s not forget the tunes!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Terrific John – had to chuckle at your wild opener!! Loved your beautiful owl too. BTW consider yourself lucky. A good friend’s sister was visiting and was out on her bicycle. She had a baseball cap on and her ponytail was threaded through the hole in the back. Thinking she was a squirrel (we suppose) a hawk landed on her head and tried to pull the cap off. She needed stitches!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. I was struggling to think of the wildlife in my area, but your images reminded me that I do have some examples that fit the category in my gallery.
    I love that squirrel image, but I’d be careful, I think that hawk might be thinking about a little white dog for lunch. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. All excellent shots for the challenge, John. Your first capture was my favorite. Such a cute little wild thing. Nice shot of the hawk and redwing, although I’m always terrified when I hear that redwing calling when I go out for a walk as I know it’s sending a warning that it’s about to attack. They are such aggresive birds!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. I love your photos, John, particularly the first one 🙂 I actually thought about including photos of my wild, domesticated cats … lol. The hawk photo made me laugh. He looks so indignant, like “how dare you be too large for me to lift off the ground!” And I believe that is a Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel. I have a postcard of one from when we drove from CA to FL, many years ago.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment