Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • These Antelope Island bison have a distinct genetic heritage from all other bison in North America. They are potentially the most pure, in regards to the ancient populations that lived here up until Europeans first encountered them.
    American Bison Close-up
  • Fossil records show that these bison have evolved and expanded across the north hemisphere in North America , Europe and Asia since the last ice age. In North America, several species of bison are thought to have thrived after the arrival of the first humans and the extinction of most of the ancient megafauna and other predators, such as the saber-toothed cat and dire wolf. The lack of competition for grazing across the vast prairies meant virtually no limit to population growth, considering the continent's vast size and recently extinct herds of other large herbivores.
    American Bison on Antelope Island
  • The American bison (Bison bison) is the only surviving species of bison in North America today.
    American Bison
  • These bison are a part of a free-ranging, currently publicly-owned herd of wild bison (commonly and incorrectly called buffalo) on Antelope Island, Utah that number upwards of 700 or more individuals. The habitat is perfect, as there are no wolves, bears or other apex predators, and the only limit to population is the amount of land that can support them.
    Utah's American Bison - The Purest i..ica?
  • The prickly poppy growing in the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeastern Colorado under a big summer sky. The sharp spiny leaves will leave a lasting stinging sensation.
    Prickly Poppy
  • A bull American bison at dusk grazes on Antelope Island with Great Salt Lake getting darker by the minute in the background.
    American Bison on Antelope Island
  • Easily North America's most common scorpion, the striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) is a medium-sized species found across most of the southern states and many of the states in Mexico. Perhaps one of the reasons for its geographical success is the fact that it can thrive in an amazing variety of habitats. It is found in deserts, grasslands, coniferous forests, deciduous forests and is found living under tree bark, rocks and any other suitable environment it can find. Unfortunately this is where it often is found among human habitation. Painful yet mostly harmless, this scorpion is not considered dangerous, unless you are a cricket, beetle or some other such small prey. This one was photographed in the Chihuahuan Desert's Guadalupe Mountains in NW Texas near the New Mexico border.
    Striped Bark Scorpion
  • A particularly noisy sage thrasher poses on large rock on sagebrush scrub on Antelope Island in Utah's Great Salt Lake.
    Sage Thrasher
  • A Mormon metalmark rests midday on a warm late-summer day just east of Provo, Utah in a canyon clearing full of wildflowers and magpies.
    Mormon Metalmark
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed on Utah's Antelope Island, an island near Salt Lake City which lies near the southeastern shore of Great Salt Lake.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • Considered to be one of the desert's oldest living plants, a mature Joshua tree is believed to be between 150-300 years old, and one specimen that reached a height of a whopping 60 feet was believed to have been about 1000 years old! This much younger one was photographed in Southern California's Mojave Desert.
    Joshua Tree
  • Early morning photograph of a native Mojave yucca in its natural habitat on a cool spring morning in Mojave Desert in Southern California. These are often found growing among the Mojave's iconic Joshua trees - another member of the same genus.
    Mojave Yucca
  • The Joshua tree, symbol of the Mojave desert, reaches out into the blue early April sky. One reason it is believed that this iconic yucca is losing habitat, and declining in numbers is in the fossil record of the recent extinction (in geological years) of the Shasta ground sloth, one of the giant sloths that went the way of the mammoths and other American megafauna. Fossilized scat shows the remains of the seeds, leaves and pulp of joshua trees... and was possibly in a loose symbiotic relationship with it as to provide food in return for seed propagation.
    Joshua Tree
  • The Joshua tree is the king of the Mojave desert. Reaching upward to 30'-40' tall, it is also losing habitat quickly. Luckily a few healthy and dense pockets still exist in Southern California such as these in the Joshua Tree National Park.
    Joshua Tree
  • There are a couple places in the American Southwest where you can see the Joshua tree in large numbers. This one was photographed in Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.
    Joshua Tree
  • Photographed slightly from above, this Mojave yucca in the Mojave desert was historically a very important resource for the Native Americans who lived here. The tough yet pliable fibers in the leaves (needles) after beating them to break them apart were braided together to make rope, sandals, and woven together to make cloth.
    Mojave Yucca
  • This Mojave yucca is about to burst into an amazing bouquet of flowers in Joshua Tree National Park in the late morning sunlight of gorgeous April day.
    Mojave Yucca
  • Closeup of the flowers of the Mojave yucca in the late afternoon golden light in Southern California. These flowers are pollinated at night by the Yucca moth (Tegeticula yuccasella), a species that depends on this plant for its survival. Not only will the moth  gather pollen, but she will lay her eggs in the ovaries of the flowers, and the larvae will feed directly on the developing fruit of the flowers, leaving some of the seeds to mature for the next generation of yucca plants.
    Mojave Yucca Flowers
  • A Mojave yucca in Southern California's Mojave desert shows already blossomed, flowers, closed flowers, and new buds late in the afternoon.
    Mojave Yucca
  • One of the numerous species of catseyes found in the United States, the thicksepal catseye is a hardy and prickly native wildflower found in the arid regions of the American Southwest and is a great source of nectar for many of the insects . This one photographed in the Pawnee National Grasslands of Northeastern Colorado.
    Thicksepal Catseye
  • Although not native to North America, this European native everlasting sweet pea is found all over North America, such as this one growing on the western side of Larch Mountain just outside of Portland Oregon.
    Everlasting Sweet Pea
  • Lupine is one of North Americas most variable types of wildflowers, many species found in almost any kind of habitat that North America offers. These silvery lupines are blooming in Yellowstone National Park in Northwestern Wyoming. Very common in most of the western half of the continent in higher elevations, they are also very toxic to livestock.
    Silvery Lupine
  • This whole area was once an ancient shallow sea. These towering buttes of sandstone are all that remain after the surrounding rock and land were washed away by climate change. The rocks are still loaded with fossils of fish and seashells. Marine dinosaur skeletons have been found in region too!
    West Pawnee Butte
  • This whole area was once an ancient shallow sea. These towering buttes of sandstone are all that remain after the surrounding rock and land were washed away by climate change. The rocks are still loaded with fossils of fish and seashells. Marine dinosaur skeletons have been found in region too!
    West Pawnee Butte
  • East Pawnee Butte in the Pawnee National Grasslands of Northern Colorado. This fantastic geological feature was only made more beautiful by the numbers of pronghorn antelope and desert wildflowers found dotted around the region.
    East Pawnee Butte
  • These fantastic cliffs are some of the only stand-out features in this remote part of northwestern Colorado.
    Pawnee Buttes
  • East Pawnee Butte in the Pawnee National Grasslands of Northern Colorado. This fantastic geological feature was only made more beautiful by the numbers of pronghorn antelope and desert wildflowers found dotted around the region.
    East Pawnee Butte
  • The beautiful soapweed yucca  in full summertime bloom growing in northwestern Colorado.
    Soapweed Yucca
  • East Pawnee Butte in the Pawnee National Grasslands of Northern Colorado. This fantastic geological feature was only made more beautiful by the numbers of pronghorn antelope and desert wildflowers found dotted around the region.
    East Pawnee Butte
  • A wild and free American buffalo (or bison) posed beautifully for me in the Grand Teton National Park in Northwestern Wyoming.
    American Buffalo
  • A particularly noisy sage thrasher poses on large rock on sagebrush scrub on Antelope Island in Utah's Great Salt Lake.
    Sage Thrasher
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed on Utah's Antelope Island, an island near Salt Lake City which lies near the southeastern shore of Great Salt Lake.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • These ripe fruits of the Joshua tree range in size from 2-4 inches, and are clustered on the tall flower "spikes" that can be from 12-60 inches from the center of the rosette where new leaves form. These were photographed from below with a nice morning golden light in the Mojave Desert in Southern California.
    Fruit of the Joshua Tree
  • Found in nearly all of the western states and provinces of North America, the silvery lupine is very tolerant of many conditions and can be found in a suprising number of different habitats. This one was photographed at a rather high elevation in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park.
    Silvery Lupine
  • These fantastic cliffs are some of the only stand-out features in this remote part of northwestern Colorado.
    Pawnee Buttes
  • These fantastic cliffs are some of the only stand-out features in this remote part of northwestern Colorado.
    Pawnee Buttes
  • This whole area was once an ancient shallow sea. These towering buttes of sandstone are all that remain after the surrounding rock and land were washed away by climate change. The rocks are still loaded with fossils of fish and seashells. Marine dinosaur skeletons have been found in region too!
    West Pawnee Butte
  • This fascinating plain chachalaca was found and photographed in the Rio Grande Valley in Hidalgo County with a number of others of its kind one the ground and in the mesquite trees. At the northern tip of its range, this large upland game bird can be found from the southern tip of Texas, throughout Mexico and south to Central America. Noisy as other members of the galliform family (turkeys, chickens, pheasants, grouse, etc.), the name chachalaca means "chatterbox" - a fitting name!
    Plain Chachalaca 3
  • This fascinating plain chachalaca was found and photographed in the Rio Grande Valley in Hidalgo County with a number of others of its kind one the ground and in the mesquite trees. At the northern tip of its range, this large upland game bird can be found from the southern tip of Texas, throughout Mexico and south to Central America. Noisy as other members of the galliform family (turkeys, chickens, pheasants, grouse, etc.), the name chachalaca means "chatterbox" - a fitting name!
    Plain Chachalaca 1
  • This fascinating plain chachalaca was found and photographed in the Rio Grande Valley in Hidalgo County with a number of others of its kind one the ground and in the mesquite trees. At the northern tip of its range, this large upland game bird can be found from the southern tip of Texas, throughout Mexico and south to Central America. Noisy as other members of the galliform family (turkeys, chickens, pheasants, grouse, etc.), the name chachalaca means "chatterbox" - a fitting name!
    Plain Chachalaca 2
  • Jive turkey pose! This noisy and unsuspecting chachalaca was found and photographed just as it noticed me with this great surprised pose and look in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in near Weslaco, Texas. At the northern tip of its range, this large upland game bird can be found from the southern tip of Texas, throughout Mexico and south to Central America. Noisy as other members of the galliform family (turkeys, chickens, pheasants, grouse, etc.), the name chachalaca means "chatterbox" - a fitting name!
    Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula)
  • Prickly sharp, the miner's candle is a native plains wildflower that grows on open gravelly plains and mountain foothills, like this one found in Central Wyoming on a chilly summer day.
    Miner's Candle
  • A band of pronghorn does look nervously toward a photographer on a mountain bike far out in the Pawnee National Grasslands on the plains of northeastern Colorado. Known to be the second fastest animal in the world (the cheetah is first), the pronghorn is the only surviving modern member of the mammal family (Antilocapridae) in North America. Evolved to outrun the now extinct American cheetah, the pronghorn has still retained its speed.
    Pronghorns!
  • A male juba skipper pauses for a moment on a clump of asters on a windy spring day on Whiskey Dick Mountain in Central Washington just west of the Columbia River near Vantage. Similar in appearance to other related skipper species in the sagebrush deserts and plains of the northern western states, this one is dependent on certain native grasses for their young to eat.
    Juba Skipper
  • A subspecies of the common ringlet,  the northwest ringlet is a member of the satyr subfamily of brushfoot butterflies and is a regular sight in the grasslands and plains of the northern western states with a slightly lighter coloration with brighter oranges.  This one was found near a lake in the sagebrush desert or rural Grant County in Central Washington.
    Northwest Ringlet
  • The Japanese honeysuckle is an Asian import that has found its way into the wild into most of the continental United States excluding Oregon, the Rocky Mountain states and the Great Plains. It can also be found in parts of Ontario, Canada. This beautiful honeysuckle was in full bloom in a small wooded area in Kent, Washington.
    Japanese Honeysuckle
  • The Japanese honeysuckle is an Asian import that has found its way into the wild into most of the continental United States excluding Oregon, the Rocky Mountain states and the Great Plains. It can also be found in parts of Ontario, Canada. This beautiful honeysuckle was in full bloom in a small wooded area in Kent, Washington.
    Japanese Honeysuckle
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Newly budding bitterroots growing at the top of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. A sometime food source of many of the Native Americans who inhabited the Western plains and sagebrush deserts where the bitterroot grows, the first European explorers found the roots too bitter to be palatable, so the first to arrive - the French named this plant the "racine amer" translated literally as bitter root. Not are these some of the most beautiful of all the flowering plants of the summer, these are also the toughest!
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Newly budding bitterroots growing at the top of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. A sometime food source of many of the Native Americans who inhabited the Western plains and sagebrush deserts where the bitterroot grows, the first European explorers found the roots too bitter to be palatable, so the first to arrive - the French named this plant the "racine amer" translated literally as bitter root. Not are these some of the most beautiful of all the flowering plants of the summer, these are also the toughest!
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and one of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • As the vastness of the open Canadian prairies butt into the Rocky Mountains, vastly different habitats converge, resulting in an enormous amount of variety in both flora and fauna. Weather patterns are disrupted when open plains meet up with towering rocky towers of rock, which means more rainfall, resulting in mountain erosion giving minerals, shade and shelter that promotes the growth of thick rich forests that teem with wildlife. Such a place is seen here in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta, Canada on a spectacular summer sunset over a marsh.
    Where the Canadian Prairies Meet the..kies
  • Also known as the Mexican grackle, the great-tailed grackle is a member of the new world blackbird family (Icteridae) and is very common from the American Great Plains, the American Southwest and all of Mexico south to also include all of Central America. This glossy blue/black male was first noticed making an awful commotion with a number of other males and females in a tree in rural Van Horn, Texas.
    Great-tailed Grackle
  • Also known as the Mexican grackle, the great-tailed grackle is a member of the new world blackbird family (Icteridae) and is very common from the American Great Plains, the American Southwest and all of Mexico south to also include all of Central America. This glossy blue/black male was first noticed making an awful commotion with a number of other males and females in a tree in rural Van Horn, Texas.
    Great-tailed Grackle
  • Also known as the Mexican grackle, the great-tailed grackle is a member of the new world blackbird family (Icteridae) and is very common from the American Great Plains, the American Southwest and all of Mexico south to also include all of Central America. This brown/black female was first noticed making an awful commotion with a number of other males and females in a tree in rural Van Horn, Texas.
    Great-tailed Grackle
  • Close-up of a red-spotted toad, one of the few amphibians found in the deserts and plains of the American Southwest. Because water is scarce in these areas, they can be often heard after a heavy rain as a piercing high-pitched trill that means the males are calling for females, as breeding opportunities are few and far between. Eggs are laid singly and fertilized, and will hatch within hours. Six to eight weeks later, the tadpoles (if they survive and the water lasts long enough) will reach adulthood.
    Red-Spotted Toad
  • This high plains and mountain-loving member of the rockcress family is found across most of the northern half of North America including all of Canada (excluding Newfoundland and P.E.I.) and nearly all of the northern American states including some southwestern states. Easily recognized by their purple to reddish flowers, this spreadingpod rockcress was found growing in Cowiche Canyon in the eastern foothills of Washington's Cascade Mountains.
    Spreadingpod Rockcress
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This patch was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-3
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This one was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-2
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This one was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-1
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. This one was found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Large for a sandpiper, and of the four species of godwits in the world, the marbled godwit is the biggest. This beautiful cinnamon-mottled shorebird breeds in the central North America's Great Plains (Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska) and travels to the coasts to winter where it can be found along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Mostly associated with marshes, mudflats and sand flats, these uncommon shorebirds can sometimes be seen on the beach, such as this one along with several others in Los Angeles, California near the Del Rey Lagoon.
    Marbled Godwit
  • Also known as the Mexican grackle, the great-tailed grackle is a member of the new world blackbird family (Icteridae) and is very common from the American Great Plains, the American Southwest and all of Mexico south to also include all of Central America. This glossy blue/black male was first noticed making an awful commotion with a number of other males and females in a tree in rural Van Horn, Texas.
    Great-tailed Grackle
  • Also known as the Mexican grackle, the great-tailed grackle is a member of the new world blackbird family (Icteridae) and is very common from the American Great Plains, the American Southwest and all of Mexico south to also include all of Central America. This brown/black female was first noticed making an awful commotion with a number of other males and females in a tree in rural Van Horn, Texas.
    Great-tailed Grackle
  • Very common throughout western and central North America, the wavyleaf thistle can grow in many different habitats and can grow to a height of 6 feet. This one was growing in the plains of Northwestern Colorado near the Pawnee Buttes.
    Wavyleaf Thistle
  • This rather small plain brown amanita mushroom, but if you stop and look at it, it has the spots very similar to it's famous relative, the Amanita muscaria. This one was found in a heavily forested area above the Carbon River near Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Candlestick Amanita (Amanita calyptr..des)
  • The common red elderberry is found throughout most of North America, excluding the Gulf coastal plain and the states of South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. Not as often used as it once was in the past, elderberries are known to make fantastic jellies and wines. The very fragrant white flowers in spring attract many species of hummingbirds and butterflies. Traditionally used medicinally by Native Americas - the inner bark was sometimes used as a diuretic or as a way to induce vomiting. These were found and photographed in the North Cascades just east of Mount Baker in Washington State.
    Red Elderberry
  • The southern white fringed orchid (Platanthera conspicua) is another of the delicate, feathery terrestrial orchids found along the Gulf Coastal Plain upwards along the Atlantic Coast into Canada where it is still sometimes found in Quebec. Usually associated with wet meadows, ditches and low pinelands, this incredibly beautiful and perfect specimen of its species was found along with about a hundred others in northeastern Florida's Osceola National Forest near some equally beautiful pitcher plants.
    Southern White Fringed Orchid (Plata..cua)
  • The common red elderberry is found throughout most of North America, excluding the Gulf coastal plain and the states of South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. Not as often used as it once was in the past, elderberries are known to make fantastic jellies and wines. Caution should be used before consuming them - unless properly cooked, elderberries can cause nausea in most people, and the leaves and bark contain toxic compounds that produce arsenic. This one was found and photographed in a small wooded area just south of Seattle, Washington.
    Red Elderberry
  • Close-up of the flower of Schnell's pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava var. rugelii) found growing in the Apalachicola National Forest in Northern Florida. This stunning carnivorous insect-eating plant is found in seepage bogs across  the East gulf coastal plain from Alabama to Virginia, and is a subspecies of the more common yellow pitcher plant.
    Flower of Schnell's Pitcher Plant
  • A female Horace's duskywing rests on some sort of aster just outside of Punta Gorda, Florida in a pineland scrub. A somewhat small and plain member of the skipper family of butterflies (and easily confused for a moth) this easily photographed  species has a home range from all over the Eastern United States and all the way west to the Rocky Mountains, which is an effective natural barrier.
    Horace's Duskywing
  • Queen's cups are a small plain white lily that often grows in vast carpets in the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest. After the flower wilts, a bright blue berry develops and although it is inedible for humans, it is eaten by grouse, who then spread the seeds for the next season.
    Queen's Cup