Animal Photos – Page 26

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green grass

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Green

For a nature photographer like me, green is a beautiful color, indicating vibrant life around me. Unfortunately living in Southern California means green is actually not a common sight. Any plant or grass growing in the winter starts green, only to turn yellow or brown by the time the summer sun starts its baking process. I’m lucky enough to live right by the San Diego River, which is heavily surrounded by poplars and their pretty green leaves. They’re turning yellow right now, and they’re just as pretty.

Remember you can click on most of the photos below to see a larger view of this WordPress weekly photo challenge: Green.

Here are a few examples of green I’ve encountered in Southern California. I’ll start with my very favorite, which I captured at Dos Picos State Park last spring. This green hue was so surreal, I felt I had just walked into a secret fairyland. I can’t wait to go back there next spring and hope to see similar sights. If you’re wondering what the purple blooms are in the back, it’s Ramona lilac. They make beautiful clusters of flowers, but alas no scent.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Green grass at Dos Picos State Park — WordPress weekly photo challenge: Green grass at Dos Picos State Park

I love the green lush surrounding this Stellar Jay bird, making its blue feathers stand out even more.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Green makes the blue of this Stellar Jay bird stand out — WordPress weekly photo challenge: Green makes the blue of this Stellar Jay bird stand out

Finally, you can find a lot of green in Southern California if you look by a source of water. Here are a few green plants, including ferns, that love water and shade. I took this photo in the small mountain town of Idyllwild, California, by Strawberry Creek, this past summer.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Green lush by Strawberry Creek in Idyllwild, California — WordPress weekly photo challenge: Green lush by Strawberry Creek in Idyllwild, California

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape

Warning: one of the photos below is not for the faint of heart. Look at your own risk!

I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge. This week’s Challenge is: Escape and I decided to have a little fun with this theme.

As usual, you can click on any of the photos below for a larger view.

Successful escape

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape. A fallen tree

Look at this fallen pine tree. It doesn’t look like much, right? Pretty dead, huh? Now look again at its roots, to the left of the trunk, and you’ll notice a brand new tree growing out of it! It’s standing way above the ground, as if floating in the air, with one big root under its trunk linking back to the dead trunk. Now, if that’s not a successful escape from death, I don’t know what to call it.

Unsuccessful escape

I took this photo with my cell phone camera so the quality is not great, but I think the subjects are fascinating. This happened in a rattlesnake exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. I understand they gas the mice they feed the snakes, so they’re still alive (snakes don’t eat dead animals). The feeding takes place once a week so I guess this was my lucky day. No chance of escape there!

Happy Monday!

October 29, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, California Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, dead tree, fallen tree, let's be wild weekly photo challenge, Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape, photography, photos, photos of trees, pine tree, rattlesnake, San Diego Zoo, snake eating mice, snake eating mouse 12 Comments

My 2013 calendar pick for June: a bee on a wild rose

View all of the pictures I selected for my 2013 photo calendar.

My 2013 12-month photo calendar is now available for sale on my Zazzle online store. Thank you for your support!

This past June, I took my kids on vacation to the small mountain town of Idyllwild in Southern California. 90% of the forests in San Diego County have burned down over the past 10 years so there’s not much greenery to enjoy, something I terribly miss living here. Idyllwild is just two hours away and very green, full of large pine trees, manzanita trees and other local species.

A small creek runs through the town. It must be a pretty good size in the winter and spring but by the time summer comes, the water barely runs. Still, Strawberry Creek is a beautiful place, mostly in the shade, and you can walk the trail right by its side.

Strawberry Creek owns its name to the many, many wild strawberries that grow throughout the town, but it could just as well be named Wild Rose Creek since the area features many wild roses too. And bees love them. They love them so much they don’t mind you taking pictures of them at all. I ended up with several good photos of bees on wild roses, but I picked the one below for my 2013 photo calendar. Of course, I used it for June since it happens to be the time of the year I took this picture. Let me know what you think of it.

My 2013 calendar pick for June: a bee on a wild rose

You can also view my 2013 photo calendar picks for January, February, March, April and May.

October 2, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, UncategorizedTags: 2013 calendar, 2013 photo calendar, bee on flower, bee on wild rose, bee photos, blooms, idyllwild california, photo of bees, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, photos of wild rose, wild rose photo, wild rose photography 10 Comments

This blue dragonfly is my first

Believe it or not, I’ve never photographed a dragonfly until recently. It’s not that I’ve never seen one, but I usually don’t have to have my camera with me. These missed photo opportunities happen a lot, by the way.

Most of the dragonflies that live in San Diego County are the large, bright orange species (don’t ask me for their official name). I still have to take photos of them but I think I know of a few spots where to look. that’s when I find the time to get there.

I got lucky the other day though. Very, very lucky. It was the end of the day and my kids were playing in the backyard. My eldest looked on the other side of the fence and said, Hey, look at that dragonfly! Well, I looked and looked but couldn’t see it. And then I saw it. The gears in my brain started spinning really fast. Gosh, I wonder if I can run inside, get my camera, turn it on, set it, and be back in time to take a picture before it flies away.

Well, not only did I have time to do all this, but I had time to take lots of photos, which is a good thing because many of them turned out blurry, focusing on everything but the dragonfly. But I did find one picture I really, really like. Not bad for my first blue dragonfly photo, don’t you agree?

Click on the photo of this blue dragonfly to view a larger image.

September 12, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, California PhotosTags: blue dragonfly, blue dragonfly photo, dragonfly photo, photo of blue dragonfly, photo of dragonfly, photography, photos 2 Comments

Photo of male Stellar Jay bird in Idyllwild, California

My first photos of Stellar Jay birds

If you enjoy my photos and would like to purchase some, I want to thank you! Simply visit my Zazzle online shop and browse the product offerings. If there’s a photo you would like to purchase but don’t see it in my shop, please contact me by using the Contact form at the bottom of my home page and let me know which photos you are interested in purchasing, and in what format / medium.Idyllwild, California, just two hours northeast of San Diego, is a small town known for its vibrant interest in music and the arts. It’s also right in the middle of the San Bernardino forest and is home of many animals and plants.

In my previous post, I featured a lazy squirrel relaxing in the sun. Here I’d like to feature a local bird that is just beautiful: the Stellar Jay. I’ve never seen any Stellar jay birds in San Diego, just blue jays, but there are tons of Stellar Jays in Idyllwild. In the pictures below, they were just standing on a tree right behind my cottage.

Here’s a photo of the female Stellar Jay bird:

Photo of female Stellar Jay bird in Idyllwild, California

Here’s a photo of the male Stellar Jay bird:

They really are beautiful birds but they have quite a feisty character. I saw them attack squirrels and chipmunks without hesitation to keep them away from the area they were feeding on. And they’re pretty loud too!