Wildlife - Thematic Photography

I'm always on the lookout for wildlife to photograph when I'm out. Quite often it's small creatures that catch my eye.

Caterpillar on the ground

It's the caterpillar that does all the work but the butterfly or moth that gets all the publicity.

If you are a birdwatcher there will come a time when it seems the bird is watching you.

A cormorant alongside the River Tees watching who goes by 

But you wonder how these fellows stay so clean as they approach the mud.

Drakes in their element

When it comes to colours, a snail stands out 

On a bramble leaf

Sometimes wildlife comes to you - like these two in the Michigan dusk.

Rocky and Bambi share a meal

There are even times when you don't have to leave your lounge to see scenes like these.

To see more wildlife check out the links at Carmi's Thematic-Photographic-349.

Wildlife Loveliness

Every year when we visit Michigan I manage to photograph some wildlife. this year was different however. There were lots of Blue Jays about but the only bird I caught on camera was a -

Dark-eyed Junco

Now I understand that the area is suffering from Arctic weather so perhaps it's appropriate that I have a shot of an - 

Arctic Wolf

This was one of the exhibits on show at the Cranbrook Science Museum in Bloomfield Hills. Other beasts that caught my eye were a - 

Mastodon

Musk Ox and Mountain Goat

Grizzly Bear

But the largest of all was the skeleton of -

T Rex

The most fascinating exhibits to me were not the dead/extinct animals but the section on rocks and minerals. These brought back memories of geology expeditions and lectures at university.

Before we left I had to dispose of an old dog bed. Hidden beneath it were two accumulations of wild life.

Ladybirds (Ladybugs)

Ladybirds, a fly and an unidentified bug (on the left)

This find had me searching for the collective name for ladybirds. 

What could be better than "Loveliness."

I hope they find somewhere to survive the cold snap.

Life in the 'Wild'

Each year when we visit Michigan I try to get some wild life shots. Three dogs running around often makes this difficult. However I usually manage  to get a deer or two before they are frightened away.

Deer on watch

About to run

This chap stopped to pose.

Squirrel - where did it leave those nuts?

And one of the largest grasshoppers I've ever seen.

Grasshopper

The piece of metal to which is clinging is 3 inches deep.

Not much to show for three weeks - perhaps they were put off by the high temperatures at the time in September.

Snappers - Sepia Saturday

Personally I hate having to stand with a group of photographers when I want to take a shot. This week's prompt reminded me of that.

Snapping cherry blossom in Washington

I worked with British Rail a lot in the 1990s and saw my fair share of trainspotters armed with cameras but none quite like this:

Belgian Railfans' photo shoot

They were out to photograph a special train - a farewell to SNCB/NMBS Class 51 diesel locomotive in 2003.

I have no idea what this lot were doing in Dublin:

Team of photographers in front of Jury's Hotel, Dublin

I wonder whether they had to wait all night for someone to turn up,

Mind you I'd be happy to join this pair no matter how long I had to wait.

Wildlife photographers enjoying numerous photographic opportunities

But if it's blossom I want then why go further than our front garden?

Apple blossom (white)

Cherry blossom

I rest my case.

To see what has been snapped elsewhere the place to go is Sepia-Saturday-169

Photos: 

• Railfans - By Peter Van den Bossche - CC BY-SA 2.0
• Dublin - By Andrais Burglega - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Wildlife - Photographers taking images; Public Domain website 

Australian Wildlife - Sunday Stamps

I'll admit I took an easy option this week when I saw this set on the local market coin and stamp stall. Not bad for £1.

It's difficult to pick a favourite from these.

Check out other selections on an open theme at Viridian's postcard blog