​Thursday, 3:16 PM – on the upper pond, I spy a Great Egret fishing and preening from a small branch just above the green pond waters swollen from all the rains. I quickly take a knee before he sees me.

Before even approaching the pond, I had all ready. My camera settings adjusted appropriately for the lens and overcast skies; my monopod already adjusted to a kneeling position. I could begin firing immediately. 

Several shots, then move closer… and closer… and closer. Quite the cooperative Egret! ​I sat for nearly 20 minutes and took 345 shots. That will take a while to cull and edit! 

I snuck the lens of my 600mm through a crack in the door and watched. It was amazing to see the shift in color on his throat depending upon how he turned his head. One second a dark, drab, then the next a brilliant ruby red! How does this work? Others have adequately described this phenomenon, so I quote them here:
 
"The stunning throat feathers of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is what earned the bird its name.  When glowing a bright red, it's a sight to behold.  But one turn of the head can click off the color, like switching the lights off in a room. 
 
"Why is his gorget an iridescent red at times, and at other times, just a patch of dark feathers? You see, the little individual feathers that make up the Ruby-throated Hummingbird's gorget are not red at all.  They have no pigment or coloration within them. The color comes from the shape and microscopic structure of the feathers and how light interacts with those microscopic structures.  So depending on the lighting and the angle at which you see the hummingbird's throat, the feathers will either appear an iridescent red or a flat black." source

​Tuesday, 10:55 AM –  The Department of Natural Resources' game wardens were all tied up and asked us at animal control to respond in regards to a sick hawk on the side of a country road. Upon arriving, it was quite apathetic to human handling. It didn’t protest, try to get away or even defend itself.  I propped it on a low branch, but it wobbled and nearly fell off the perch a few times. I knew it wouldn't make it if left out there. I got some close up shots before placing it in a carrier to transport to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. 

​Thursday, 7:57 AM - A short morning walk before the day gets started to see what critters may be up on the shelter ponds. Several Yellow Garden Spiders (Argiope aurantia) were busy over the duckweed bog last night. There were at least five large, perfectly formed webs suspended over the still water of the bog.
 
This conspicuous arachnid goes by several names: yellow garden spider, black and yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, writing spider, corn spider, or McKinley spider. In Australia, Argiope are known as St. Andrew's cross spiders, for their habit of resting in the web with legs outstretched in the shape of an X, the cross of St. Andrew.

When a co-worker looked at my photo, he added another moniker: Zipper Spider. Their webs contain a dense zigzag, or stabilimentum, in the center. Hence the nicknames Zipper Spider and Writing Spider.
 
I am not much of a spider aficionado, and much less a spider identifcation expert. But an internet search indicated the other spider may be a Longbodied Cellular Spider, Pholcus phalangioides. ​

​Thursday,8:05 AM – While taking a walk up to the duckweed bog behind the animal shelter to check in on a family of Green Herons, I was repeatedly scolded by a scruffed up little yellow bird.

Each time a neared a group of small pines, this White Eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) would alight nearby, flitting around and emit a buzz-like chirping, obviously directed at me. I gather her nest was nearby and she simply didn't approve of my presence! 
 
The White-eyed Vireo is a small and secretive bird of shrubby areas of the eastern and southern United States. It is more noticeable for its explosive song than its looks.

​Friday, 7:25 AM – “What kind of a bird is that?” inquired one of trustees that come to clean the kennels. Up flew a juvenile Green Heron to a power line over the shelter parking lot. I could tell he was an inexperienced juvenile as he allowed me a closer approach than the adult Greens back on the ponds.
 
It appears the Green Herons have been successful in raising some young this year and have given me several photo opportunities this summer. I was able to catch another one the next week back on the “duckweed bog” near the firing range.  

​Walton County, Georgia

​Friday, 9:44 AM – I brought along my camera during a brief morning walk around the courthouse square in Prescott Arizona. We were visiting for our fellowship’s International Bible Conference. Off in the distance Thumb Butte towers at what appears to be the end of the road. Several beautiful sculpted monuments grace the Yavapai County Courthouse steps; sculpted by Solon Hannibal Borglum, America’s first cowboy sculptor.
 
Twice this week I also had the pleasure of running/hiking the beautiful red boulders of Lake Watson. The trails were wonderful and challenging. We turned and circled the boulders, climbing and descending, walking and running. We ran from the highway side parking area down into the “gully” below the dam. The scenery was beautiful, but the water stank. And not just a mild odor, but strong, sewer-like smell. Down in the gully we had our shirts over our noses.
 
On the way back to the car I found a large, yellow and brown Bullsnake hunting rodents among the rip-rap lining the roadside. They normally make a loud hissing that resembles the rattling of a Diamondback. Wanting to impress my friend with this spine-tingling sound, I grabbed him and pulled him out of the rocks. But no hissing. He turned to strike my hand, so I quickly placed him back in the rocks. As he shot into a small hole, a small rabbit rapidly flushed out, scaring me half to death! 

​Wednesday, 2:58 PM - Opossum in your bedroom? That’s just part of life in the south. Okay, maybe not for everyone. But when you work for animal control, it seems that way.
 
I don’t know what it is about mobile homes that seems to attract wildlife and stray cats. Perhaps it is all those “tidy” human beings concentrated in one area. The little critters just want to be part of the group love action too!
 
One particular young fellow was making surprise appearances here and there over a week. Normally, animal control would refer the caller to a nuisance wildlife company. But this older lady needed a little assistance. Junior was caught in a trap after a couple of days, came to the shelter for a photo shoot, and was released.
 
After removing him from the trap, I placed him on a low branch for close up photos. But the little guy shimmied up the tree in no time flat. Sitting up about 20 feet in the air, I had to get out my telephoto lens for the session. Cute little guy! 

Tuesday, 5:58 PM - Throughout the month of June the Eastern Bluebirds have been raising a second clutch of the season. I’ve watched the diligent parents making runs to and from the nest box all day long; bringing bugs, removing waste.

Going out to grill some kabobs, I saw a brave fledgling peering out through the nest box hole. He kept a curious eye on me. I kept my distance and in about 20 minutes he gained the courage to come out of the box to the lip under the door.
​
In another move of bravery, he flapped his wings, but didn’t make it far. He half-flew, half stumbled over to the ledge between the birdhouses. I left him sitting there with mom making frequent chirps from a distance while I went inside to enjoy the kabab. Upon coming back out, he was gone. I couldn’t find him on the ground around the turtle pond. So I’m hoping he flew off to a safe place. 

Sunday, 7:11 AM – we are finally seeing a sunrise rather than the totally overcast and rainy skies of the last few days. There is so much bird activity in the backyard. The “usuals” are all there: Chickaees, Titmice, Cardinals, House Sparrows… 

But I keep hearing a different, higher pitched chirping of several birds in the Black Cherry tree.  It is hard to get a good look with such quick flurrying in the leaves, but I see some black and white. Is it the Chickadees? But they’ve never sounded like that before. Finally, and just for a quick moment, one lands on the swingset. Obviously some sort of warbler that I haven’t seen before. 

Getting my Birds of Georgia book, the first little bird in the black and white section is, aptly named, the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia). Cornell’s website says: the Black-and-white Warbler’s thin, squeaky song is one of the first signs that spring birding has sprung. This crisply striped bundle of black and white feathers creeps along tree trunks and branches like a nimble nuthatch, probing the bark for insects with its slightly downcurved bill. Though you typically see these birds only in trees, they build their little cup-shaped nests in the leaf litter of forests across central and eastern North America.

To confirm my identification, I emailed Katy with Oconee Rivers Audubon Society. She replied: "Yep, the one and only! One of my favorite birds. They migrate here in spring and stick around until late summer, then they're gone. We do have occasional over-wintering birds, but I'd say seeing one on your feeder is a nice treat! Their song is like a squeaky wheel, unlike anything I've ever heard from a bird!" A new one for my photo lifelist! I’ll have to sit and try for a better shot soon. 
​
A bit later I was privileged to spy in on a female Eastern Towhee taking a bath in our birdbath. 

​Saturday, 10:50 AM – a young doe has been boldly entering my backyard quite regularly lately. She is less and less spooked by our presence and movements. This morning, she remained unalarmedly grazing as my wife and I sat and talked over a cup of coffee on the back patio. She appears to be eating the grasses that grow from the spilled bird seed. She has also at times boldly wandered over to eat spilled seed underneath the feeders even when the dogs next door begin to bark. 

As she grazed, another critter, never lacking in boldness, visited the feeder. A boldly colored black, white and red Red-bellied Woodpecker hangs from the feeder. His bold calls always echo throughout my backyard and surrounding woods. ​

​Wednesday, 4:04 PM – I probably pass through the kennels nearly 100 times per day. On a couple of occasions, I spotted a cute little American Green Tree Frog hanging around near the drain of one of the old, unoccupied dog runs. I’m not sure how he got in the building, but couldn’t quite catch him to put him back outside.
 
After a couple of weeks, the little guy got so famished and thin that he was slow enough to catch. Before releasing him, I had to do what I love: get a glamour shot!
 
American Green Tree Frogs (Hyla cinerea) are very common here in the southeastern United States. They provide a wonderful background chorus to humid, back patio summer nights in Georgia. In fact, they are the “state amphibian” here in Georgia! 

Tuesday, 2:57 PM - Spring and summer months bring frequent, urgent calls across the 911 radio system for snakes inside people’s homes. One particular snake was quite large and worth some photography. 

Thursday, 8:16 AM - ​One of my co-workers brought in an Eastern Box Turtle that his German Shepherd had found and threw around like a chew toy. A few marginal scutes were broken off the front of his carapace, but it otherwise seemed okay.
 
A few characteristics identified this nice specimen as a male. Male box turtles have more of a concave plastron then females. Their eyes also tend to be more red than the females. This particular guy had some strikingly red eyes… no Photoshop enhancements here!  
 
I took advantage of some time and took him out for a photoshoot. I couldn’t resist placing him on some upright posts nearby for that “Turtle on the Fencepost” shot.