Carry a Camera to Shoot Wildlife

I take a lot of walks at the various nature areas around home and always do so with a camera to capture wildlife, vegetation and landscapes.  Not having the luxury to pick and choose what I might happen upon I figure to at least be ready to capture it before running the other way so I have a picture to back up my story.  : )  Seriously though, this snake did not pose a problem, fortunately.  I've read there are only three kinds of venomous snakes in Ohio and this isn't one of them.  What surprised me when I checked it out at home is that this is a Blue Racer and are said to be extremely nervous and become very aggressive when an attempt is made to capture them.  They will strike viciously and do so numerous times inflicting pain with their many teeth.  They will even rapidly vibrate their tail amongst the leaves to simulate a rattle.  Had this one done that I'd have run for sure because even though I was sure it wasn't venomous the rattle would have had me all confused.  But, there was no problem here as I had no desire to capture it except with the lens.  I was fishing at a pond in an area that looked like it hasn't seen a human in quite some time and spotted this creature about 4 feet away from where I stood.  We were both right at the edge of the water keeping an eye on each other but minding our own business.  I had the feeling this snake was just relaxing and soaking up the sun as it very loosely coiled itself around the reeds and moved just a little from time to time over the hour and half I fished that spot catching and releasing six bass and not quite landing three others before they got off the hook.

This painted turtle was crossing the paved walk at another nature area I was at.  He had gone in his shell when I approached so I waited until he just peeked out to see if the coast was clear.  When he saw me still there, back in he went.

This wild Iris was a big surprise at the edge of the water amongst the weeds and reeds of a wetlands area.  And notice just off to its lower left at about 8 o'clock - another Iris will be blooming soon.

I had fun trying to capture these Purple Martins all around me.  No doubt my presence made them nervous but I was on the trail - it just happened to be right next to their nesting area.

The field at this nature area is covered with these yellow wildflowers and daisies.

And then there were these two.  This "bug" caught my attention but I had no idea what it was until I got home and uploaded the photos to my computer.  It just looked different - odd even - in the field.  Now I know why.

Mindy really likes frogs for some reason so having seen it I had to shoot it just for her.  While shooting the frog I spotted this snail next to me and had to shoot it, too.  

Unfortunately, Mindy hates spiders but since I went to the trouble of shooting them : ) I had to include them too.

I was going to crop the top photo so you could get a better look at the mother Wood duck and her young but I really like the whole scene so left it untouched.  Not far from the ducks I spotted this Blue Heron under the tree and caught him just in time because as soon as I snapped this shot he disappeared under the overhang of branches and leaves and was out of sight.

Have no idea what this is.  Some type of farm implement or a part of one.  It just looks old from days gone by and helps make this shot.  That's all for now.  Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question and I'll do my best to respond.