I go all over the place trying to find these birds, then I walk out my door a few months back to find one is there in the ditch. This is a Black-Crowned Night Heron.
--steve buser
Don't get out of your car to get close to wildlife near a road, the park rangers tell you at Yellowstone Park where this was taken. Still, people do it all the time. The buffalo looks calm and peacefule moving across the road, but apparently they can get riled easily. If they do get riled, they can put up such a tantrum that a car can be the loser.
A little giraffe ballet anyone? These giraffes were just checking me out -- trying to guess if I was going to feed them or something. I was standing about eight feet back from the fence at Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, LA. Nonetheless, the attendant wandered over and suggested that giraffes have a longer reach than that, should they decide to lean across. I had no problem moving back. --steve buser
Seeing wildlife is an up close and personal thing at the Global Wildlife Center near Folsom, LA, north of New Orleans. The animals come up to the wagon train to eat from the visitors' food cups.
I love these lovely crystalline structures that grow in the pools of geysers at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Unless I am mistaken, that is a quarter that someone dropped (hopefully accidentally) on the "flower" -- it gives a sense of the dimension.
--steve buser
In the cool of the evening and in frigid mountain waters, this gal was slowly making her way back home up in the mountains. This is on the west side of Yellowstone National Park, shortly before you exit the park. --steve buser
A Sanderling (Calidris alba) skips rapidly across the sandy beach at Perdido Key, Florida, finding a lot of good things to eat on the shore because of the high wave action in the Gulf of Mexico. --steve buser
This little chipmunk pounced out of the rocks in front of us on this trip to Colorado. I don't think it was because he was not afraid of us -- more than he just wasn't paying attention to us. --steve buser
Mama watches over her young ones (although they are getting pretty big) as the sun rises and the joggers come out.
The pond was near our hotel where we stayed on a recent trip to Salt Lake City.
--steve buser
The Grand Canyon at sunset is one of the real treats at this national park. There are good spots and better spots to do this. We kept traveling along the rim of the Canyon looking for that perfect spot. Finally as the hour grew late, we pulled into a parking area and found a "suck-the-breath-out-of-your-lungs" view. The scenery, the colors, and the shadows made a constant play as the sinking sun skimmed its rays over anything it could still hit.
--steve buser
A Great Egret takes a leap into the air and glides away from his perch. The picture is from the Oil and Gas Park in Jennings, LA. His companion for the the morning, the Anhinga on the right side, doesn't give it much attention. -steve buser>