Nature
Ducks
In the depths of downtown Chicago, the most exotic animal my 10-year-old eyes could spy was the monarch butterfly. In a childhood dominated by skyscrapers and brick, even the most common creatures were an adventurous discovery. I dug up earthworms and tried to count the number of segments or tell the head from the tail. I caught fireflies and kept them in washed out peanut butter jars scattered with grass and twigs. I learned that their small lives were fragile. The next summer I released them after keeping them only for a night. During school breaks, I would take the mile long trek through the open gates of Lincoln Park Zoo. I explored everything. I took in the sights of rhinos, sea lions, tigers, and cows. Somehow, they never did seem the way that I imagined. Animal Planet and picture books just made them seem more regal, more enchanting… just more wild.
Brown Eyes
How easy it is over the past year to imagine we are all alone in this great big world. For those of us who’ve been trapped in a big city, it’s easy to feel alone with our thoughts, and disconnected from a world outside our pandemic routine. To forget how it felt to be in a foreign city, with different people, and sadly to even forget about nature and all it’s glorious creatures.
The Bayou Owl
From the vantage of a high-flying hawk, a lone red kayak creeps up a small offshoot of the Blind River. It’s January in Louisiana so, besides a little Spanish moss here and there, the brown bare branches of cypress and gum trees do little to obscure the bright plastic boat. The water, also brown with sediment, flows infinitesimally – the only indication of its movement that the kayak is in a slightly different spot then it was three minutes ago. The weather is typical of Louisiana in the winter: cool enough for a sweater in the shade and sticky in the sun, so ‘comfortable’ remains elusive.
Catherine FitzpatrickPublished 3 years ago in EarthFor I Can't Help "Pollen" in Love with You!
My love for photography can best be described by the quote, “Photos are a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.” When I see this photo, I am transported back to the forest, hiking with my dad staring in awe of the tall trees and smelling the morning dew on the grass. It is also the first photo I have ever taken of a bee, and it certainly won’t be the last!
Katlyn CampbellPublished 3 years ago in EarthDon't Feed the Wildlife
When squirrel moved into our house, I knew it was wrong. Your elders and the internet tell you THEY MUST BE REMOVED. Or else: chewed-through wires! Fires! Hantavirus! Loss of community standing! Erosion of self-respect!
P. M. StarrPublished 3 years ago in EarthThe Cicada Killer's Story
I wonder what it feels like to be a cicada killer.... Lions are feared, yet we love and respect them. Mama bears are admired even though we are afraid of them and (hopefully) stay far away if we meet one while hiking in the woods. But the female cicada killer, perhaps the most awe-inspiring huntress on the planet, is also perhaps the most hated, misunderstood, and feared. She has a story, she has a valuable and essential role to play especially in this cicada-infested year, and she deserves a little more honor and respect.
TheaMarie BurnsPublished 3 years ago in EarthSpooked
An evening walk in London as the sun was setting over Hyde Park on September 14, 2018. I remember this day so vividly as this was my last night in London after having lived here for a year. I came to London for my master’s degree and after one year of memories and one of the best years of my life it has come to an end. My flight was leaving early the next morning back to Phoenix, but I wanted one last stroll through one of my favorite London parks, Hyde Park in central London.
Katlyn CampbellPublished 3 years ago in EarthWhy Did the Elephants Die?
Elephants: Then there were three By Carolyn F. Chryst, Ph.D. A million years ago, give or take, giant beasts standing 10–12 feet tall with shaggy hair and massive curved tusks lumbered about what is now the North America Great Plains. Scientists have determined that there were two types of mammoths roaming North America, the Columbian and the Woolly Mammoths. This animal of the family Mammuthus — commonly called mammoths — was a close relative of the modern elephant.
Carolyn F. ChrystPublished 3 years ago in EarthMy life with wildlife
It is a tradition with my family to go camping at least once every year. From grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to parents and sibling all together for a week out in nature. From spending time around the campfire and chatting together while eating cooked food. To hiking the beautiful trails and swimming in the creeks/rivers nearby. It helps bring us together as a family and to nature as well.
ashley GrajedaPublished 3 years ago in EarthCaptured
They're fast! They're agile! And their jumping skills are spine-chilling! These reptiles, not sure if they are iguanas or lizards, are not only eye catching, but are extremely camera shy. And that's what makes these shots priceless.
A Photo 40 Years in the Making
We used to mimic their sounds when we were kids to taunt one another. The distinctive sound of the peacocks’ honk followed by its loud call, “er reh, er reh”. We simply liked to mimic the sound as “er waa, er waa”, as in a baby crying. We used that sound whenever one of the five of us was feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves. There were only two peacocks to start when we moved out to the countryover forty years ago, and they belonged to the neighbors at the bottom of the hill. There were only 5 houses on the on half-mile street so there was no denying where those peacocks came from. We would slow down when we drove by to get a glimpse of them. And occasionally, the lady of that house would drop a feather by for my mom. My mom would collect them and put them in a tall vase in our 70’s sunken living room.
Maria KaylorPublished 3 years ago in EarthRed Fox Den
“Have you seen her?” A fit, outdoorsy-looking woman, with a Nordic accent and lovely dark hair dyed red and tied back in a gauzy beige kerchief, had stopped her bike to ask me what I’d seen and told me about the fox who lived among these fields and ponds.
Andrew TurnbullPublished 3 years ago in Earth