 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- Genesis 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”  Canada Goose gander and Hen with gosling on Blue Water Pond in Monroe Georgia, Walton County Each year we’ve had a pair or two of Canada Geese raise their young on the pond behind the animal shelter. However, this year there is only one pair, and they have only one gosling. I suppose the other eggs became breakfast for a marauding raccoon while still in the nest. Each morning I try to start the day with a quick walk around the pond. Mom and dad stay quite close to their now nearly grown gosling, but stay within close enough distance for good photography. I bet they have previously been on a pond where they are used to free handouts from humans. Walton County, Georgia  Canada Goose gander and Hen with gosling on Blue Water Pond in Monroe Georgia, Walton County  Canada Goose mother and gosling  Canada Goose gander and Hen with gosling on Blue Water Pond in Monroe Georgia, Walton County
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 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. "Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work." Psalms 111:2  Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Photo #201607018 It absolutely amazes me how a tiny bird weighing less than a penny can fly across the Americas each fall and always find its way precisely back to my backyard feeder. As I hadn’t seen “Myrtle” appear in May this year, I was getting worried. My daughter named her Myrtle last year because she would sit in the Crepe Myrtle tree next to the feeder and aggressively defend it from any other hummingbirds that tried to get a drink. This year, they finally showed up in June, and we’ve been treated to aerial battles of up to four hummingbirds at a time! I’ve only a few times seen a bright throated male attempt to brave her defenses for a drink. According to allaboutbirds.com, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird flaps its wings about 53 times per second! Athens-Clarke County, Georgia  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Revelation 4:11  Desert Mountains panorama from Mount Lemmon Tucson Arizona Each year my wife and I take a trip to Tucson, Arizona for our Fellowship's annual Bible Conference. This year we were able to visit Mt. Lemmon. Just outside of Tucson, the winding road takes you to the top of this beautiful mountain with a spectacular view over the desert and the city of Tucson. There is a short ski lift that we took to the top. Imagine, skiing in Arizona! Although it was near 100 degrees in the city, it was a chilly and windy 68 degrees on top of the mountain.  Five photo panorama merge of the Santa Catalina Mountains from atop Mount Lemmon near Tucson Arizona. Desert mountains.  Desert mountain view from Mount Lemmon Tucson Arizona. Santa Catalina Mountains.  Summerhaven ski lift on Mount Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. Ski chair lift on Mt. Lemmon located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States.  View of Santa Catalina Mountains from atop Mt. Lemmon located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Rough Green Snake hanging from a tree like a vine. Rough Green Snake, Opheodrys aestivus, Walton County, Georgia. Another frantic caller to 911 sent one of our officers out to catch this "highly venomous Green Mamba" that must have escaped from an exotic animal collection. Well, actually, it was just a Rough Green Snake; a very common and harmless garden variety snake found here in Georgia. But a very beautiful specimen nonetheless! Rough Green Snakes (Opheodrys aestivus) are probably the most arboreal snakes in our region and spend the majority of their time hunting for insects, spiders, and other invertebrates in vegetation well above the ground. When encountered, green snakes often freeze, relying on their green coloration for camouflage. (Source: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory website) Walton County, Georgia  Rough Green Snake, Opheodrys aestivus, Walton County, Georgia.  Rough Green Snake, Opheodrys aestivus, Walton County, Georgia.  Rough Green Snake, Opheodrys aestivus, Walton County, Georgia.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- Genesis 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind  Texas Brown Tarantula crawling on rock Driftwood Texas Hill Country Aphonopelma hentzi While enjoying a Sunday morning outdoor breakfast at my parents' home in Driftwood, Texas, my daughter spotted this creepy-crawly scaling the screen of the patio. We gently knocked it down with a pool brush safely into a bucket. After finishing breakfast, I took him down the road for a photo shoot in a more natural setting before releasing him to do what Texas Tarantulas do. Aphonopelma hentzi, the Texas brown tarantula, is one of the most common species of tarantula thriving in the southern-most United States today. Texas brown tarantulas can grow in excess of a four inch leg span. The body is dark brown. Shades may vary between individual tarantulas and are more distinct after a moult.  Texas Brown Tarantula crawling on rock Driftwood Texas Hill Country Aphonopelma hentzi  Texas Brown Tarantula crawling on rock Driftwood Texas Hill Country Aphonopelma hentzi  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  There have been a couple of does and fawns each year in our neighborhood, but judging by this shot in my front yard this morning (11 deer total), last year was quite a productive breeding season with low mortality rate. I can only imagine the damage my landscaping will receive this spring and summer! There is no hope for the Day Lilies this time.
Athens-Clarke County, Georgia  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Redhead Ducks; photo #201602002 Nowhere near the numbers we had last year, but a dozen or so Redhead Ducks took to the shelter pond this season to join our resident Mallards. Walton County, GA.  Williamwisephoto Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Whitetailed Deer Buck in Driftwood Texas Hill Country near Austin We didn’t spend as much time as previous years “deer hunting” while visiting my parent’s house in Driftwood, Texas for Thanksgiving. On a few short walks I managed to “shoot” a few bucks and one nice Axis Deer. I resisted filling up the SD cards with numerous other does and fawns that inhabit the subdivision in which they live in the Texas Hill Country.  Whitetailed Deer Buck in Driftwood Texas Hill Country near Austin  Velvet antlers Chital Axis Deer in Driftwood Texas Hill Country near Austin  Velvet antlers Chital Axis Deer in Driftwood Texas Hill Country near Austin  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  A rafter or flock of turkeys, Meleagris gallapovo, with several toms and hens strutting in the grass. Their range is spread throughout North America. There are five distinct subspecies of wild turkeys: Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande, Merriam’s, and Gould’s. Adult male turkeys are called toms or gobblers and females are called hens. Wild Turkey are hunted at game birds. Several cloudy afternoons this week I’ve spotted the family of Wild Turkeys in their usual location at an empty house in a field at the corner of New High Shoals Road and Union Church Road in Oconee County, Georgia. There have also been two does and several fawns feeding alongside the group of turkeys making it look like a regular wildlife refuge! Last fall I spotted turkeys in this same spot.
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. "Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work." Psalms 111:2  Whitetailed Deer; photo #201509037 Taking my typical lunch break walk to the ponds and woods behind the shelter this afternoon revealed a gracefully bounding deer and one stealthy chipmunk. Because I wasn't quite prepared for an "action shot" with a higher shutter speed setting (shot at 1/250 sec.), and because I was firing as I was raising and panning the camera, there was already quite a bit of blur on the deer photo. So to mask the blur, and create a bit more of a dramatic, "artsy" effect, I added some motion blur to the scene surrounding the deer. You can even see a double image surrounding the deer. I also boosted the saturation of the colors. Overall, not a great shot, but why not keep it. A 3 MB file doesn't take up too much space! I thought the chipmunk photo was worth keeping because he has that "you can't see me" look on his face. He was sitting in such a tangled mess of blackberry briers I had to use manual focus to bring his eye in focus.  Chipmunk; photo #201509038  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Young juvenile masked raccoon looking down from tree in Walton County Georgia “Spitfire” was a wily little raccoon that got himself stuck in a dumpster while seeking an easy meal. Such a cute young guy (probably equivalent to a trouble-making 12-year-old boy) but man he was full of zest! When Officer Johnny Legaspi brought him back to the shelter in cage, he had his ears pinned down, back hunched up, fur standing on edge and giving his best growls and snorts. I released him near the shelter to climb a dead tree and got some photos before bidding him “good luck” and warning him to stay away from those apartment complex dumpsters from now on! Walton County, Georgia  Young juvenile masked raccoon looking down from tree in Walton County Georgia  Young Raccoon in Tree  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. "Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work." Psalms 111:2  Juvenile Wood Storks in pond Walton County Georgia Last week Shari came into my office and told me there was a stork on the pond behind the animal shelter. Never seeing a stork here before, and knowing Shari isn’t up to speed on much bird ID knowledge, I doubted her and figured it was an egret I've regularly seen back there. However, she said, "No, it wasn't an Egret. It had black along its wings." Could it really be a stork? I described and Ibis for her, but she stood firm that it was a large stork. But she said it had a white head. This threw me off, but it was gone when I got outside. This morning Johnny came into my office and said, “Did you see those two huge storks back there?” I ran straight back and had to see it this time. Sure enough, directly across the pond stood two large Wood Storks! After checking them out in my zoom lens, I could discern they were two fuzzy-headed juveniles. What in the world are they doing here? I checked the sightings map on ebird.com and found only one close-by sighting in Jersey, GA. This was a new one for me “on Walton Pond”. Walton County, Georgia  Wood Storks. Photo #201509028  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  The eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is a common type of salamander of eastern North America that lives in lakes, ponds, and streams or wet forests. The bright orange juvenile is called a red eft. I left the house Labor Day morning for a long run. Just after a half mile as I neared the top of our subdivision, I ran into an unexpected sight: a little Red-Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) was crossing the sidewalk! I ran a few steps past but the urge to get a photograph turned me around. I ran him back down to the house in the palm of my hand and had Amanda put him in a small cage. Later that afternoon, after a few Labor Day hamburgers, I took a few shots before releasing him in the rocks around our turtle pond in the backyard. Athens-Clarke County, Georgia  The eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is a common type of salamander of eastern North America that lives in lakes, ponds, and streams or wet forests. The bright orange juvenile is called a red eft.  The eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is a common type of salamander of eastern North America that lives in lakes, ponds, and streams or wet forests. The bright orange juvenile is called a red eft.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Galatians 5:14-15  Giant Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina in Walton County Georgia Still attempting to get a photograph of the Beaver that is felling all the trees around the ponds at work, I took my daily get-away-from-the-stress walk on lunch break. Down near the firing range, on the narrow strip that separates a small marsh from the larger wetland area, a gargantuan snapper was crossing from one pond to the other. His head was near the size of a tennis ball; his back feet were huge paddles as wide as three or four of my fingers and tipped in heavy claws. And, oh that mouth! I truly feared a snap from his jaws!  Giant Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina in Walton County Georgia Of course, like a child, I poked and prodded with a stick to watch him snap… one bite breaking my twig! I used a branch to note the length of his shell, which later measured out a huge 15.5 inch carapace! I contemplated bringing him back to my office and later use him in a Creation Speaks lesson, but changed my mind when I knew I wouldn’t be able to carry him very far. I also couldn’t think of a lesson he could teach us. Just a few hundred yards away a previously memorized scripture popped in my head “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:14-15). I raced back to my office, but unfortunately the monster was gone when I pulled around with the pickup truck. Walton County, Georgia  Giant Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina in Walton County Georgia  Giant Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina in Walton County Georgia  Heading out at dusk for a walk around the block, a group of about 6 Common Nighthawks were looping and diving above our house while making a general westerly course into the setting sun. The bold white stripes on their v-shaped wings shown a brilliant eye-catching orange in the lowering rays of sunlight. An attempt for my camera was too late as they circled out of sight before I could fetch it from inside.
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In December 1993 I came to know the Designer and Creator of this wonderful planet and its creatures: Jesus Christ.
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