Urban Wildlife - European Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

These rats have followed human activity all around the world, and are perfectly comfortable living off the refuse of the city.



european brown rat (rattus norvegicus)



european brown rat (rattus norvegicus)



european brown rat (rattus norvegicus)

Urban Ant - Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.)

From a friend's yard



harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.)

Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)

I have posted this species before - but this is another excellent example of a bat that does not fit the "brown or gray" category. The spotted bat is one of the most unique bats in North America, partly because of its huge ears, but also because of the three white spots on its back, and furry white underside.


They are rarely seen.



Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)



Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)



Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)



Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)



Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)

Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)

Bats are not generally noted for a great variety of colors or patterns, and they often come in various shades of brown of gray. But not always. Behold the northern yellow bat...



Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)


These bats are noted for roosting in palm trees or in spanish moss. I have yet to photograph red bats, which I hope to do in the coming season.



Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)



Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)

Mexican Brown Bat (Myotis velifer)

Also called cave bats, or cave myotis, these were photographed in a limestone cave in Texas. Three cameras recorded the scene simultaneously as the bats flew in and out of the tight opening.



Mexican Brown Bat, also called a Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer)



Mexican Brown Bat, also called a Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer)



Mexican Brown Bat, also called a Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer)

La Plata Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus)

Armadillos are one of those creatures that you have to get down on their level to appreciate. Standing at human height, they look like a giant pill bug scuffling around the forest floor, their face buried in the detritus as they forage. If you want to see their charming little face, you have get right down on the ground with them...



La Plata Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus)



La Plata Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus)



La Plata Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus)

Barred Rock Chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus)

5 day old barred rock chicken (gallus gallus domesticus)



5 day old barred rock chicken (gallus gallus domesticus)



5 day old barred rock chicken (gallus gallus domesticus)

Green Bottle Fly

You don't want to know about the habits of the green bottle fly, a member of the blow fly family. But I have always admired the green iridescence of its exoskeleton.
The photo below paints something of an idyllic picture. Don't be fooled. Sure, this fly will enjoy an occasional meal of flower nectar - but If you want to know more about how this fly thrives - just go here.



green bottle fly (calliphora sp.) , a member of the blow fly family

Funny Face Grasshopper

My recent trip to the Salmonberry River involved driving through a bit of snow. But the final leg involved a steep descent into the warm and wet river canyon, where the insects were out in force. 


The insects are really starting to emerge from their winter torpor. I'm hoping to find some really cool subjects this year...



funny grasshopper face

Salmonberry River

I may not have nailed any good still images of the salmon jumping the falls on the Salmonberry River, but I did catch some brief video (very brief)

Bad Luck With Salmon

For years I have hiked out to various waterfalls when the salmon jump, and spent many hours trying catch a shot of a salmon in mid-jump. The timing of this is always precarious because water flow, water temperature, air temperature can all encourage, or discourage, the fish from jumping.


When they start, you can get multiple fish jumping multiple times a minute. I have never seen this despite my diligence. My recent trip to the salmonberry was no exception. It was a long journey through the coast range of Oregon (made longer by making a wrong turn in a maze of logging roads) followed by a hike through rough terrain, and then an awkward climb down a steep slope into the canyon where the waterfall is located.


The fish were jumping, but it could be 10 or 15 minutes between jumps. Bummer. I would sit at attention with my hand on the camera release – but you can only do that for so long before you start to get distracted and impatient. I could never quite nail the timing. It was a glorious day, and fun trip - but nothing much came of it.


I rarely post rejects - but here ya go.

Coyotes In The Neighborhood

My home is in the city, and urban coyotes are nothing new – but I had a tantalizing glimpse of one during the day recently. Healthy looking and robust, it trotted off at a relaxed pace as I approached.


Coyotes have been wonderful and mysterious to me since childhood. Able to adapt to urban environments, and able to survive in deep wilderness as well. I photographed this individual in a remote area of the Mount Hood National Forest...



coyote (canis latrans) photographed at night


Some claim that a famous native american petrogylph in the Columbia River Gorge called "She Who Watches" is the face of a coyote. I can see the resemblance (and yet no one really knows what animal is depicted), and it is clear from the stories of the tribes in the area, that native americans have great respect for coyote.



tsagaglalal or "she who watches" in the columbia river gorge


I have long wanted to photograph urban coyotes, but a number of challenges have made that difficult. The primary challenge being that I need to leave my equipment in exposed areas, in urban environments (I wonder how long it be before someone "borrowed" it) for a long time. Or I need to find someone who has a regular visits from a coyote to their yard – or better yet a coyote den on their premises. That would be cool.



9 week old coyote pup (canis latrans)



coyote (canis latrans) cruising through an open field in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington.

Skipping Rocks

I have been teaching my daughter how to skip rocks at Tryon Creek. The location is not ideal, but there are  lots fabulous flat rocks to skip across the water. I spent hours of my youth perfecting my technique - mostly in the calm bays off of Shaw Island in the San Juans. Practice makes perfect, and these days I can usually skip a single stone seven or eight times.


I spent many hours not long ago trying to photograph a rock just skimming the water's surface. The trick here was to get the rock to land in the camera's narrow zone of focus. And getting to hit the water at just the right angle...



rock splashing



rock splashing



rock skipping

Western Juniper Tree (juniperus occidentalis) At Night

Twisted and old, this beautiful juniper is like a sculpture. I love to photograph trees at night because it removes the tree from the complexity of its surroundings.



western juniper tree (juniperus occidentalis)

Bushy-Tailed Woodrat (Neotoma cinerea)

It doesn't take long for animals to re-purpose human-made structures for their own benefit. In a long abandoned shack, I photographed this bushy-tailed woodrat scurrying along a shelf, past an old can of turpentine, and out the window. He seemed quite at home. 



bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea) in an abandoned shack



abandoned shack

Rusting Metal Tank

Once rust gets under the paint of a modern vehicle, its pretty much a downhill slide to decay and destruction. The process of decay can be surprisingly quick in the thin sheet metal that modern cars are made from. Back in the early part of the last century, metal seemed to be a bit thicker in the appliances and tools that were designed for outdoor use.


Case in point: this metal tank that has been sitting out in the forest for at least 50 years.




rusting metal tank


I have no idea what it is, but it appears to be a boiler of some kind. It is part of the equipment left behind at an abandoned mine that has been taken over by the National Forest Service. I wouldn't want to pressure test it, but it seemed surprisingly hardy despite the rust that is slowly turning it into dust.

Abandoned Tanker Truck

I came across this while traveling through the coastal mountains of Oregon. It is an old Forest Service truck that was used for fighting fires. It was relegated to the back part of a seldom used Forest Service storage lot and left for decades.


That is not where I photographed it however. It has just been sold at auction cheap, and the new owner towed it to his driveway.



abandoned tanker truck



abandoned tanker truck


He didn't seem to sure just what he was going to do with it...

Abandoned Highway

This abandoned road is just barely visible from I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge. You can just catch tantalizing glimpses of it as you speed around the curves near Arlington. Years ago, I impulsively decided to stop and take a look. It required circling back around and finding a good place to stop along the freeway (there aren't really any good places to stop).


It appears to be part of the old highway system that was used before I-84 was built, and it has a very interesting ambiance.



abandoned highway, oregon


I was never very happy with the images from that day. The light and time of day was wrong, and I was worried about getting a ticket from the Highway Patrol. This was not conducive to good image making.


Not long ago, I visited the same area again. Again, the light was wrong. But I still think the location is really interesting visually.



overgrown, abandoned highway.



abandoned road



abandoned highway


The prairie grass and brush are slowly taking over the old asphalt road. It might be many more decades before it is completely covered.

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Yesterday's isopods were cool, but also creepy. How about something with an intelligent glint in the eye?



common raven (corvus corax)


One of my favorite books in my early twenties was "Of Wolves And Men" by Barry Lopez, and he makes several asides to the intelligence of ravens and how they are frequently associated with wolves. Ravens are related to crows – and they belong to the same group of birds known as corvids.


In this amazing Ted Talk, Joshua Klein demonstrates how intelligent these birds really are.

From Ocean Depths To The Backyard

Recently, a photo of a strange creature pulled from the depths of the ocean has been spreading virally across the interwebs. 





It is a two and half foot long isopod that typically lives in the depths of the ocean feeding on whatever sinks to the bottom. Called Bathynomus giganteus or the giant Isopod. Frightening and foreign as this thing looks, it is closely related to the terrestrial crustaceans that are commonly found in backyard gardens. 


Generally called pill bugs, or wood lice - they are a familiar creature that lurks under rocks or decaying wood in damp soil. 


This tiny specimen (below) was found in my yard, and photographed in my studio. It is an isopod just like Bathynomus giganteus, but this one is called Porcellio scaber or a common rough woodlouse.



common rough woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)





common rough woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)


This species is actually native to europe but has colonized North America.

Lambing Season

This scene is being repeated all across North America. Lambs are typically born in February to March. Here my daughter, Isabel, returns a lamb that was briefly separated from its mother.



baby lamb on a sheep farm

King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) Tropical Color 4

Even scavengers in the tropical world can have ridiculous amounts of color. The king vulture is a large and impressive carrion feeder. As my wife would say "he cleans up well!".



king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa)



king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa)

Military Macaw (Ara militaris) Tropical Color 3

More gaudy color - this time from a pair of military macaws.



military macaw (Ara militaris) pair

Gaudy frogs - Tropical Color 2

Only in the tropics can you find such a colorful array of amphibians. The blue poison dart frog is so stunningly beautiful, that many people do not think this is a living creature - but a plastic chotchke from a tourist shop.



poison dart frog (dendrobates azureus)


Probably one of the most photographed frogs in the world is the red-eyed tree frog.



red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas)