As autumn progresses in North Dakota brings a lack of color to the landscape as everything turns a shade of brown or gray until the following spring.  I was craving a little bit of color and searching my photos for something else when I came upon this shot, one I’d forgotten to share.

A friend of mine who works nearby called me this morning to tell me that a moose had decided to visit.  It later walked across Century Avenue, deciding to hang out and enjoy the nice wetland area on the corner of 19th Street.  After a taco lunch with some new friends I decided to stop by.

While making some small talk with a patrol officer, animal control officer, and game & fish officer I was able to grab a couple of shots while keeping my distance.  The beast was having a nice lunch and didn’t seem to care that he was about to become a spectacle.

About the time that someone remarked that they figured he was about to move on, the moose showed us how much we know about moose…mooses…meese…whatever.  He dropped to his knees and eventually settled down to chill and digest his lunch.

That’s when the circus came to town.  Soon there were gapers everywhere.  I even saw some absolute idiot dash across 19th street, tugging along two little girls who couldn’t be older than 5, through 35mph traffic while all the drivers were paying attention to the moose and not potential jaywalkers.  While the moose couldn’t have cared less, the police were notably agitated…and rightly so.

Not wanting to be lumped in with the developing crowd, I left.  I’d already gotten some satisfying shots, managed to stay out of everyone’s way, and didn’t want to be part of the officers’ consternation.

On my way home from work I decided to swing by the area and see if they’d managed to bring their plan of walking the moose southward to the Hay Creek area to fruition.  They’d just begun.  I kept ample distance due to the wonder of telephoto lenses, snapped one shot, and again left as quickly as I’d come.

I presume that by this time the moose has meandered southward.  In the mean time, we North Dakotans will wait for the next spectacle at which to gawk en masse.  It’s something we’re really good at, even if we feel somewhat silly afterwards.  Maybe next someone will spot a flying squirrel!

Those who know me well know that I’m very fond of birds.  Above is my little lovebird, Scooter, who sadly is no longer with us.  Over the years of being his best friend, I was able to develop quite a rapport with the little guy.  One example of that was being able to coax him into showing off his feathers.  One way was by asking him to “get fluffy”, at which point he would fluff up his feathers and stick his breast out proudly.  The other was by showing me his wings as he’s doing in the photo above.

I came across this photo from a Dakota Zoo photo contest a while back, and it brought to mind the “conversation” I had with this sandhill crane.  My boys know this as the “pecking” bird for reasons that should be self-evident from the nom de guerre which they assigned to him, and I’ve always known this to be a particularly cranky bird.   Well, one day I visited the zoo on my lunch break in an effort to photograph this challenging subject.  After what seemed like twenty minutes of talking to him, he suddenly began to show off his wings.  As I encouraged him, he finally struck a pose that was a shoo-in for the photo contest.

Then I spotted this photo, from the very first year I got my first digital SLR camera.  I was poking around on the sandbar beneath the old Liberty Memorial Bridge when I spotted a sandpiper wandering around nearby, keeping his distance and eyeballing me.  I began to talk to him since there was no one else around and I didn’t see anything else worth photographing.  I stayed in one spot for a while, looking around and talking to the bird, when suddenly he began to stretch out a wing.  He didn’t take his eye off me, of course, but he spent the next several minutes stretching out those feathers.

Finally, we have the trifecta.  I took another lunch break to head to the lake at the Game & Fish office east of town, the large OWLS area which is always promising as a photo spot.  This time around I spotted three geese who were apparently happy to see me.  Not only did they let me walk right up to them, but they all began to vogue in front of me for the next several minutes.  I started chatting ’em up for a while in the hopes of keeping the mood light, and they kept up the act for a while until apparently we all thought it was played out and we parted ways.

I’m not claiming any sort of supernatural gift or anything, but when I consider all these instances it looks like I have a knack with winged creatures.  Even more likely is dumb luck, but I’ll take it.  I love birds, and when I can get them to relax around me and even show off a little I’m absolutely thrilled.  I’m sure the fact that I egg ’em on so much (see what I did there?) once they start to show their feathers helps get them into the act, and I’m glad I have a camera to catch them hamming it up.

I wasn’t aware that porcupines did this, but when they do I’m glad I have a camera handy.  If I had a nice branch to cling to right now, I think I’d do the same.  He sure does look comfortable!  He was gracious enough to let me snap away while he settled in for an afternoon snooze.

Granted, I don’t have the claws that this critter does…so maybe dozing off in a tree would be a bad idea.  I tried to cling to my pillow with the tenacity of a clawed beast, but unfortunately duty calls and I have to get the day started.

Hopefully your Monday goes well, too!

I spotted this little guy in the road near Hay Creek as I barreled toward him in my dually crew-cab work truck.  I turned round down the street a ways to see if I actually saw what I thought I saw, then doubled back to find him.  My coworker riding in the truck didn’t see anything, but I was positive and had to prove it to myself.  I pulled off to a side street, waited for traffic to pass, and bolted over to a tiny little spot in the road.

When I say tiny, I wasn’t kidding.  This little guy, yet to be named by my little boys, is pretty small.  As a photography enthusiast I like to think I can pick out details in the world around me, but to spot a quarter-sized lump walking across the road has got to be a new personal best.

I may take another few photos of this little guy and perhaps even let the fellas issue him a name, but then he’s going back to the Hay Creek area to be set free.  I’m no expert in the care of snapping turtles, and he can only get more hazardous to curious little-boy fingers as he grows.  It sure was neat to meet him, though!  Isn’t he cute?

UPDATE:  Snappy the turtle has been returned to Hay Creek from which he came:

My little guy and I waited for the rain to pass and made a dusk voyage out to the east end of town and let the little turtle go.  One could call him Lucky considering that he would likely have been pasted had he remained on East Rosser.  In any case, he’s got a shot at survival now.  He wouldn’t have made a good pet and I try to teach my boys to be responsible with nature, so it was a teachable moment.  After all, Proverbs 12:10 says, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast…”

Adding to the list of “things that didn’t flee immediately” from my recent photo trip, I present this little guy.  I’m told there are two spotted fawns poking around in this location, but I only saw the one.  It was, however, a cooperative subject for a little while before finally being spooked and bolting off into the tall grass and trees.  I’ve overused the phrase, “oh, deer!” so I’ll refrain today.

This week I was fortunate to have found two typically elusive members of the wildlife community, in front of nice backgrounds for my photos, and in a willing state to allow me to snap a few shots.  Between the previously mentioned hawk and this little fawn, I’ve had a good week for capturing wildlife!