Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • A beautiful specimen of an adult northern scorpion sits on a rock covered with brilliant teal-colored lichens in Central Washington State. This inch-and-a-quarter beauty is the most northern species of scorpion and is the only one found in the upper Pacific Northwest. Completely harmless to humans, the sting will burn and cause numbness, so caution is advised.
    Adult Northern Scorpion (Paruroctonu..eus)
  • An adult male ruddy turnstone is almost in complete breeding plumage on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Carrabelle, Florida on a windy overcast April afternoon.
    Ruddy Turnstone
  • Extreme close-up of an adult alligator's mouth in the Florida Everglades.
    Gator Teeth
  • The black-crowned night heron is one of the most elusive species of heron in North America, and can be found throughout most of the world on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Active primarily at night and nearly invisible during the day, these ambush hunters fish the water's edge for fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mussels, clams, small rodents and anything else they can overpower. This one was found stalking its prey in the early evening in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black-crowned Night Heron
  • The black-crowned night heron is one of the most elusive species of heron in North America, and can be found throughout most of the world on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Active primarily at night and nearly invisible during the day, these ambush hunters fish the water's edge for fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mussels, clams, small rodents and anything else they can overpower. This one was found stalking its prey in the early evening in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black-crowned Night Heron
  • The black-crowned night heron is one of the most elusive species of heron in North America, and can be found throughout most of the world on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Active primarily at night and nearly invisible during the day, these ambush hunters fish the water's edge for fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mussels, clams, small rodents and anything else they can overpower. This one was found stalking its prey in the early evening in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black-crowned Night Heron
  • A golden-crowned sparrow perches on a blackberry limb on a chilly autumn afternoon in Medina, Washington.
    Golden-Crowned Sparrow
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  • Perhaps the world's most popular and favorite moth, found here among the ravines and nameless creeks near the Apalachicola River in North Florida.
    Luna Moth
  • The black-crowned night heron is one of the most elusive species of heron in North America, and can be found throughout most of the world on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Active primarily at night and nearly invisible during the day, these ambush hunters fish the water's edge for fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mussels, clams, small rodents and anything else they can overpower. This one was found stalking its prey in the early evening in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black-crowned Night Heron
  • The black-crowned night heron is one of the most elusive species of heron in North America, and can be found throughout most of the world on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Active primarily at night and nearly invisible during the day, these ambush hunters fish the water's edge for fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mussels, clams, small rodents and anything else they can overpower. This one was found stalking its prey in the early evening in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black-crowned Night Heron
  • A golden-crowned sparrow catches the last golden rays of sunlight on a chilly autumn afternoon in Medina, Washington.
    Golden-Crowned Sparrow
  • A woman fishes the flats on Big Hickory Pass on Bonita Beach in Southwest Florida.
    Fisherwoman with Spinning Rod
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  • Although not native to America, this native to Europe, Asia and North Africa has spread to every continent on the planet except Antarctica. This one saved me the time of going to find him, and let me photograph him on my back porch!
    House Sparrow
  • A golden-crowned sparrow at springtime starting to show hints of its summer coloration with the black feathers coming in above the eyes. This one was photographed in the Nisqually Delta near Olympia, Washington.
    Golden-Crowned Sparrow
  • This large four-inch yellow moth was hanging around our front porch for a couple days in Tallahassee, Florida. After several bad attempts at photographing it, I finally got it right with a ring flash at about 2AM on the sidewalk.
    Imperial Moth
  • A juvenile grey squirrel cautiously watches from the safety of height and distance in a tree in the Fakahatchee Strand - part of the Northern Everglades near Naples, Florida.
    Juvenile Grey Squirrel
  • A pair of baby gray squirrels peeks from their nest in the Florida Everglades. Gray squirrels are perhaps the most adaptable and hardy of all modern squirrel species, and can thrive in the most diverse kinds of habitat. Not only increasing their range in North America, but are beginning to spread into other continents too, wiping out or displacing native populations.
    Baby Eastern Gray Squirrels
  • A tiny northern scorpion is discovered under a small rock in Central Washington State. Probably only a second or third instar, this almost half-inch fat little arachnid is just about ready to molt, judging by the darkening skin along its sides. When it does molt, it will shed its skin and a fresh, slightly larger scorpion will emerge.
    Baby Northern Scorpion (Paruroctonus..eus)
  • Close-up of an adult female anhinga in the Florida Everglades, near Homestead. There is very clear sexual dimorphisnm in the anhinga: males have a mostly uniform black head and next (besides breeding plumage) while the female had a very pale brown to beige neck and head.
    Female Anhinga
  • An adult barred owl watches from the hardwoods at the northern end of the Fakahatchee Strand early in the morning in Southwest Florida near Golden Gate.
    Fakahatchee Barred Owl
  • This large adult male alligator lives in a pond in my hometown of Bradenton, Florida and is a particularly aggressive fellow. Every time I got near him, he gaped and hissed like he is in this image. For some reason he shut his eyes in this shot.
    Gaping Male Alligator
  • The smallest of all of North America's woodpeckers, the downy woodpecker is also one of the most widespread with a range covering most of the continent except for the most arid parts of the American Southwest. This adult female was found actively hunting for insects in the trees above Ingalls Creek in Washington's Cascade Mountains on a very cold, snowy January afternoon.
    Downy Woodpecker
  • The brown anole is a member of the spiny lizard family and native to Cuba and the Bahamas. Common, and invasive to the United States, it is spreading north from the Florida Keys, and in a little more more than a century it has established itself as far north as Georgia and as far west as Texas in recent years. The problem with this particular species is that it is outcompeting with the native and less aggressive green anole, with the additional pressure of adult male brown anoles having been known to prey on young green anoles. This one was one of many spotted scurrying around hunting among the trees one November evening in the Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, Florida and the nighttime insects started to come out.
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  • The brown anole is a member of the spiny lizard family and native to Cuba and the Bahamas. Common, and invasive to the United States, it is spreading north from the Florida Keys, and in a little more more than a century it has established itself as far north as Georgia and as far west as Texas in recent years. The problem with this particular species is that it is outcompeting with the native and less aggressive green anole, with the additional pressure of adult male brown anoles having been known to prey on young green anoles. This one was one of many spotted scurrying around hunting among the trees one November evening in the Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, Florida and the nighttime insects started to come out.
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  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by leisurely walking among the fallen autumn leaves near the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by sheer chance on a chilly autumn evening at the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by sheer chance on a chilly autumn evening at the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by sheer chance on a chilly autumn evening at the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by sheer chance on a chilly autumn evening at the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The creeping vole (also known as the Oregon vole or Oregon meadow mouse) is the smallest of the Pacific Northwest vole species and can be found from British Columbia to Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains.They are so small that a full-grown adult weighs around two-thirds of an ounce! This was one found by sheer chance on a chilly autumn evening at the beach in Des Moines, Washington on the Puget Sound.
    Creeping Vole
  • The rosary pea is an invasive vine from Asia and Australia that has found a home in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. While these "peas" may be useful in many shaker-percussion instruments, the black and red fruits are highly toxic. One ingested pea had the potential to be fatal to a healthy adult. This cluster of rosary peas was found in a suburban neighborhood in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Rosary Pea
  • An adult Cuban treefrog actively hunting late at night for prey among the foliage in Fort Myers, Florida. These aggressive and voracious natives to Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas are wreaking havoc among Florida's native species of treefrogs, and are outcompeting them in terms of resources and habitat.
    Cuban Treefrog
  • An adult Cuban treefrog actively hunting late at night for prey among the foliage in Fort Myers, Florida. These aggressive and voracious natives to Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas are wreaking havoc among Florida's native species of treefrogs, and are outcompeting them in terms of resources and habitat.
    Cuban Treefrog
  • An adult male anhinga in breeding plumage drying his wings in the Florida Everglades near Homestead. Because anhingas don't have the oil glands found in other aquatic birds like ducks, gulls, swans, etc, when they come out of the water, they will need to dry their wings in order to fly. The advantage of not having this seeming important oil so essential to buoyancy is that when underwater, the anhinga becomes an extremely fast and agile swimmer and a very efficient fish hunter. Throughout the Gulf Coast, this is a very typical sight: an anhinga perched above water,  wings spread drying in the wind and heat.
    Male Anhinga
  • Related to pelican and cormorants, this adult male anhinga in non-breeding plumage perches above a lake in Fort Myers, Florida. Common along the wetlands of the Gulf Coast on the United States, this fish-specialist is widely scattered across Central America and can be found throughout the whole of the Amazon River Basin in South America.
    Male Anhinga
  • Rocks, cypress stumps and other watery perches are the perfect place for anhingas to keep an eye out for fish, and to stay relatively safe from hungry alligators, crocodiles, wildcats and larger birds of prey. This adult female was photographed from the shore of a lake in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Female Anhinga
  • Because anhingas don't have the oil glands found in other aquatic birds like ducks, gulls, swans, etc, when they come out of the water, they will need to dry their wings in order to fly. The advantage of not having this seemingly important oil so essential to buoyancy is that when underwater, the anhinga becomes an extremely fast and agile swimmer and a very efficient fish hunter. Throughout the Gulf Coast, this is a very typical sight: an anhinga perched above water,  wings spread drying in the wind and heat. This adult male was photographed in the Six-mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Male Anhinga
  • One of the most striking lizards of my youth, the southeastern five-lined skink is also one of the fastest. This large adult female - chased down and photographed in Thomasville, Georgia - shows the beautiful stripes common to this species, as well as the brilliant blue tail. This skink looks like it had lost and regrown its tail at some point. Sometimes they will have a bright red nose, and males when in breeding season will lose the blue coloration and much of the stripes, while turning a more brownish color with a broad bright red head!
    Southeastern Five-lined Skink (Plest..tus)
  • This very wary 7-8-foot adult American alligator is poised to launch itself out from under the cocoplum bushes if I wade any closer deep in the wilderness of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida. As part of the Northern Everglades watershed, this area is very rural, there is often no dry land for miles. No help either in case of an emergency.
    American Alligator in the Big Cypress
  • An adult male desert spiny lizard basks in the spring afternoon sun in the desert sand in rural San Bernardino County. This individual had very vivid blues and oranges in the sunlight.
    Desert Spiny Lizard
  • An adult female desert spiny lizard watches warily from mear the base of a desert fan palm in rural San Bernardino County in Southern California.
    Desert Spiny Lizard
  • Common all over the Eastern half of North American, and quickly spreading not only across parts of the American West, but to other continents around the world - the humble eastern cottontail is an explosive breeder. This perfectly camouflaged adult was photographed in Bonita Springs, Florida within an eighth of a mile from where a family of bobcats lives among a tangle of old-growth palmetto palms.
    Eastern Cottontail
  • The brown anole is a member of the spiny lizard family and native to Cuba and the Bahamas. Common, and invasive to the United States, it is spreading north from the Florida Keys, and in a little more more than a century it has established itself as far north as Georgia and as far west as Texas in recent years. The problem with this particular species is that it is outcompeting the native and less aggressive green anole, with the additional pressure of adult male brown anoles having been known to prey on young green anoles. This particular individual resting on a  banana tree in Fort Myers, Florida is a female. Males tend to be larger and more boldly patterned. Anolis
    Brown Anole
  • The Audubon’s yellow-rumped warbler is a subspecies of the common yellow-rumped warbler and is found primarily on North America’s west coast. A bit of confusion exists in regards to the exact taxonomy of this species, and it’s very likely to be changed into its own distinct species. This adult breeding male was photographed in Central Washington above the Columbia River in Kittitas County at the top of a cliff several hundred feet high.
    Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • A tachinid fly feeds on the flowers of Queen Anne's lace outside of Imboden, Arkansas. These specialized true flies have a very interesting reproductive behavior. The eggs (or newly hatched larvae - depending on the species) is laid on a very unlucky host (usually a caterpillar) where the larvae bores into the body. It will begin to eat its host alive, eventually killing it, and soon after emerge as an adult, ready to breed and repeat the cycle.
    Tachinid Fly (Belvosia borealis)
  • This little native to British Columbia, Washington and Oregon was found by chance scurrying across a remote mountain road in the North Cascades National Park. It was very young, and probably just left its nest as it was only about half the size of an adult.
    Townsend's Vole
  • Adult caiman found in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Caimans are found in Central and South America, and this photo generated some interest with Florida Fish & Wildlife. Not a great photo, but the only one we got that day.
    Spectacled Caiman
  • A young great blue heron just beginning to get its adult coloration in the Sweetwater Strand in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Juvenile Great Blue Heron
  • This large, extremely active and fast-moving wasp is best known for it's parenting behavior. At about two-inches in length, this nectar and small insect-eating burrowing predator will search for a large caterpillar which it will sting it with just enough venom to incapacitate it, but keep it alive. It will then pull, fly or drag it into its burrow, then lay a single egg on the paralyzed caterpillar. When the egg hatches, the larvae will consume the still-living caterpillar for days until it pupates then emerges from the ground as an adult and flies away to start the next cycle. While not aggressive towards humans, it can deliver a nasty sting if provoked. This one was found in the sagebrush desert near Naches, Washington just west of Yakima.
    Common Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophil..era)
  • A young adult alligator with a freshly caught great blue heron. An incredible sight to see in person!
    American Alligator with Great Blue Heron
  • Largest and heaviest of our native North American deer, moose are rapidly declining in numbers due to a number of factors other than habitat loss. Increasing numbers of white-tail and black-tail deer due to predator decline are introducing new parasitic diseases such as brainworm and liver fluke into already stressed populations of adult breeding moose. This cow was seen foraging in a pond near the Idaho-Wyoming border near Jackson Hole.
    Moose-1
  • Largest and heaviest of our native North American deer, moose are rapidly declining in numbers due to a number of factors other than habitat loss. Increasing numbers of white-tail and black-tail deer due to predator decline are introducing new parasitic diseases such as brainworm and liver fluke into already stressed populations of adult breeding moose. This cow was seen foraging in a pond near the Idaho-Wyoming border near Jackson Hole.
    Moose-2
  • Largest and heaviest of our native North American deer, moose are rapidly declining in numbers due to a number of factors other than habitat loss. Increasing numbers of white-tail and black-tail deer due to predator decline are introducing new parasitic diseases such as brainworm and liver fluke into already stressed populations of adult breeding moose. This cow was seen foraging in a pond near the Idaho-Wyoming border near Jackson Hole.
    Moose-3
  • A very cool find: a western pondhawk dragonfly laying her eggs in a pond in Soos Creek in Kent, Washington! When the eggs hatch, the voracious aquatic nymphs that emerge will active hunt down any kind of aquatic insect it can find, such as mosquito and mayfly larvae, and even small fish and tadpoles until it is time for them to emerge from the water as adults.
    Female Western Pondhawk
  • The green iguana, also known as the American iguana is a large attractive and often strikingly-colored lizard in the Iguanidae family that is native to the Caribbean Islands, Central America and most of the northern half of South America. Although they are are herbivores and are not particularly dangerous to humans or other animals, they do adapt to new environments very well and are a very special species of concern in places where they have naturalized (most likely as escapes from the pet trade, as they make very friendly and docile pets when raised by humans). Green iguanas are now found in Florida, Nexas, Puerto Rico and Hawaii where these enormously strong lizards burrow into the sides of canals and riverbanks causing unnecessary erosion and damage, destruction of rare native plants other species depend upon, as well as decimating gardens and landscaping. This 6-foot beefy male was found on the side of the road with around 200 other well-fed adults along a one-mile stretch on Key Largo, Florida.
    Male Green Iguana-1
  • The green iguana, also known as the American iguana is a large attractive and often strikingly-colored lizard in the Iguanidae family that is native to the Caribbean Islands, Central America and most of the northern half of South America. Although they are are herbivores and are not particularly dangerous to humans or other animals, they do adapt to new environments very well and are a very special species of concern in places where they have naturalized (most likely as escapes from the pet trade, as they make very friendly and docile pets when raised by humans). Green iguanas are now found in Florida, Nexas, Puerto Rico and Hawaii where these enormously strong lizards burrow into the sides of canals and riverbanks causing unnecessary erosion and damage, destruction of rare native plants other species depend upon, as well as decimating gardens and landscaping. This 6-foot beefy male was found on the side of the road with around 200 other well-fed adults along a one-mile stretch on Key Largo, Florida.
    Male Green Iguana-2.jpg