Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • This stocky female black bear was photographed above Spray Falls above Mount Rainier's Lake Mowich on one of the final days of summer. Although she had two large cubs with her, she was so preoccupied with the wild blueberries she was gorging on that she didn't seem to mind me nearby. I had a hard time figuring out if she was a grizzly, mainly because of the large shoulder hump, but the size of the ears and flat facial profile prove that she is the common black bear (yes - they are often brown!) and is probably better described as the subspecies known as a cinnamon bear (Ursus americanus cinnamomum) found in the Pacific Northwest.
    Black Bear
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Northern Olympic Mountains of Washington along the Sol Duc River.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • The black huckleberry is considered by many to be the prize of the mountain berries. These juicy, sweet member of the blueberry family are found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (with a few isolated locations eastward) and have been enjoyed by wildlife and humans for millennia. This official state fruit of Idaho is a particularly important food source for grizzly and black bears, and traditionally the Native Americans have been eating them in dozens of different ways: fresh, dried, smoked, crushed up in soups or mixed with salmon roe - to name a few. These huckleberries were photographed (then eaten) just below the tree line at the edge of a subalpine meadow in the North Cascades National Park, near the Canadian border in Washington State.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Western Olympic Mountains of Washington in the Hoh Rainforest.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Northern Olympic Mountains of Washington along the Sol Duc River.
    Black Huckleberry
  • A Pacific Northwest delicacy! The black huckleberry is an important and nutritious food source for black and grizzly bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, elk, moose, and ruffed grouse. Commonly reaching 6 feet in height, it is common to understory shrub, dry to moist coniferous forests, and open areas. These were found growing in the Northern Olympic Mountains of Washington along the Sol Duc River.
    Black Huckleberry
  • The black huckleberry is considered by many to be the prize of the mountain berries. These juicy, sweet member of the blueberry family are found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (with a few isolated locations eastward) and have been enjoyed by wildlife and humans for millennia. This official state fruit of Idaho is a particularly important food source for grizzly and black bears, and traditionally the Native Americans have been eating them in dozens of different ways: fresh, dried, smoked, crushed up in soups or mixed with salmon roe - to name a few. These huckleberries were photographed (then eaten) just below the tree line at the edge of a subalpine meadow in the North Cascades National Park, near the Canadian border in Washington State.
    Black Huckleberry
  • Sometimes the King of the Everglades is on the menu. This black vulture in Florida's Fakahatchee Strand perches on the floating corpse of an alligator that has been dead for several days.
    Black Vulture and Dead Alligator
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • This delicious little wild raspberry is found in most of the western states and in Canada's British Columbia, and if anyone has ever had candy, sno-cones, syrup or any other flavor called "blue raspberry" - this is the berry where that taste was modeled from. Any easy identification tool for this wonderful little fruit is the underside of the leaves, which are white. These were found growing in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula within sight of the Hoh River. I've personally found both the red and fully ripe black raspberries to be absolutely delicious!
    Western Black Raspberry
  • A member of nature's clean-up crew, the black vulture is a very important and necessary part of keeping the environment healthy and beautiful. This one was photographed in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Black Vulture
  • Belonging to the group of beetles known as fireflies or lightning bugs, this black lampyrid firefly beetle unfortunately isn't one of the types that glows, but is one of the few species found on the West Coast in the Pacific Northwest. This one was found in under a log in rural King County, Washington near Issaquah.
    Black Lampyrid Firefly
  • The culinary delicacy known as the black morel is found in many places throughout the Pacific Northwest. This one was one of a few found near the top of the heavily forested Larch Mountain - just outside of Portland, Oregon.
    Black Morel
  • The improbable-looking black skimmer  - the unique bill is used for catching its food while skimming the water's surface with an open beak - in flight!
    Black Skimmer
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting among the trees insects in Southwest Florida's Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, in Fort Myers on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-6
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting through swarms of flying insects in Southwest Florida's Corkscrew Swamp near Naples on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-4
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting through swarms of flying insects in Southwest Florida's Corkscrew Swamp near Naples on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-2
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting through swarms of flying insects in Southwest Florida's Corkscrew Swamp near Naples on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-1
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting among the trees insects in Southwest Florida's Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, in Fort Myers on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-5
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting among the trees insects in Southwest Florida's Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, in Fort Myers on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-7
  • 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
  • This beautiful black-and-white warbler is a forest and swamp-loving songbird and is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. Found across most of Eastern North America, it spends its winters in warmer climates from Texas and Florida down to northern South America. This one was found and photographed while it was hunting through swarms of flying insects in Southwest Florida's Corkscrew Swamp near Naples on a chilly November evening.
    Black-and-White Warbler-3
  • 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
  • Eventually the King of the Florida Everglades ends up getting eaten. This alligator met its demise in the Fakahatchee Strand, and provided a meal, ready to eat for this black vulture. Without carrion birds such as this to keep the ecosystem clean from decay and rot, very little of the habitat would be safe for wildlife.
    Black Vulture
  • The black-chinned hummingbird is a common hummingbird at lower elevations in most of the American Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest, occasionally wintering near the Gulf of Mexico, but generally moving much further south along Mexico's Pacific Coast for the colder months of the year. This female was waiting her turn as some of the larger buff-bellied hummingbirds were chasing her away from the wildflowers she was trying to feed from. She finally paused for a moment for this shot in the Lower Rio Grande Valley on a warm winter morning near Weslaco, Texas.
    Female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Ar..dri)
  • An adorable Columbian black-tailed fawn stays close to its mother on an chilly fall afternoon just below Hurricane Ridge on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
    Columbian Black-tailed Fawn
  • A young male Columbian black-tailed deer feeds on the foliage below Hurricane Ridge in Washington's Olympic Mountains. This subspecies of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is found only in the coastal temperate rainforests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Northern California to Washington.
    Columbian Black-tailed deer Young Buck
  • A young male Columbian black-tailed deer feeds on the mountain grasses and forbs in a subalpine meadow on Hurricane Ridge in Washington's Olympic Mountains.
    Columbian Black-tailed Buck
  • A bold female Columbian black-tailed deer feeds on the wild grasses growing along Hurricane Ridge in Washington's Olympic Mountains. This subspecies of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is found only in the coastal temperate rainforests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Northern California to Washington.
    Columbian Black-tailed Doe
  • Common along the entire west coast of North America, this dark little member of the sandpiper family was found grooming and bathing in a tidal pool among some rocks just outside of Los Angeles.
    Black Turnstone
  • The black-chinned hummingbird is a common hummingbird at lower elevations in most of the American Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest, occasionally wintering near the Gulf of Mexico, but generally moving much further south along Mexico's Pacific Coast for the colder months of the year. This female photographed resting in a mesquite bush near La Joya, New Mexico - is not as flashy and brightly-colored as her male counterpart, but is very active among the desert wildflowers and somewhat aggressive to anyone getting in her way!
    Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  • The black-chinned hummingbird is a common hummingbird at lower elevations in most of the American Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest, occasionally wintering near the Gulf of Mexico, but generally moving much further south along Mexico's Pacific Coast for the colder months of the year. This male photographed near La Joya, New Mexico - if seen in the right position in the sunlight reflects bright iridescent feathers with an electric magenta throat!
    Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  • You never know what you will see when driving through rural Florida. This alligator head - probably a leftover from poachers - was being picked clean by vultures in Hendry County.
    Black Vulture
  • Of all of the neotropical songbirds of North America, the black-crested titmouse has to be the cutest of them all! A member of the Paridae family of birds (which includes chickadees and other titmice), these little passerines are found in forests and riparian environments where they hunt for seeds, nuts, berries, insects and insect eggs from Central Mexico north through Central and Western Texas and just barely into Oklahoma. This adorable little one was found flitting among the trees in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus a..tus)
  • Of all of the neotropical songbirds of North America, the black-crested titmouse has to be the cutest of them all! A member of the Paridae family of birds (which includes chickadees and other titmice), these little passerines are found in forests and riparian environments where they hunt for seeds, nuts, berries, insects and insect eggs from Central Mexico north through Central and Western Texas and just barely into Oklahoma. This adorable little one was found flitting among the trees in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus a..tus)
  • Common along the entire west coast of North America, this dark little member of the sandpiper family was found grooming and bathing in a tidal pool among some rocks just outside of Los Angeles.
    Black Turnstone
  • Common along the entire west coast of North America, this dark little member of the sandpiper family was found grooming and bathing in a tidal pool among some rocks just outside of Los Angeles.
    Black Turnstone
  • The black-chinned hummingbird is a common hummingbird at lower elevations in most of the American Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest, occasionally wintering near the Gulf of Mexico, but generally moving much further south along Mexico's Pacific Coast for the colder months of the year. This female photographed near La Joya, New Mexico - is not as flashy and brightly-colored as her male counterpart, but is very active among the desert wildflowers and somewhat aggressive to anyone getting in her way!
    Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  • The black-chinned hummingbird is a common hummingbird at lower elevations in most of the American Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest, occasionally wintering near the Gulf of Mexico, but generally moving much further south along Mexico's Pacific Coast for the colder months of the year. This male photographed near La Joya, New Mexico - if seen in the right position in the sunlight reflects bright iridescent feathers with an electric magenta throat!
    Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  • The biggest black-and-yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) I've ever seen! This huge female was positioned on her massive orb web between a couple clumps of palmettos and some live oaks near Hickey's Creek in Alva, Florida.
    Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider
  • I was photographing native turtles along Lake Trafford in Immokakee, Florida when I passed an overflowing dumpster near a restaurant swarmed with vultures. This one posed for me long enough to make a portrait.
    Black Vulture Portrait
  • Of all of the neotropical songbirds of North America, the black-crested titmouse has to be the cutest of them all! A member of the Paridae family of birds (which includes chickadees and other titmice), these little passerines are found in forests and riparian environments where they hunt for seeds, nuts, berries, insects and insect eggs from Central Mexico north through Central and Western Texas and just barely into Oklahoma. This adorable little one was found flitting among the trees in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus a..tus)
  • Not commonly seen in southern Florida, the black-throated blue warbler is native to Eastern Canada down to the Carolinas, and is one of the few blue-colored birds in the Southeast. It is usually only seen while it is migrating south to the Caribbean or Central America where it spends its winters. This one was photographed in the Big Cypress National Preserve of SW Florida on a brisk fall morning.
    Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • A trio of black-necked stilts wading through the salt marshes of North Florida's St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in search of juvenile fish and small crustaceans, just outside of Tallahassee on the Gulf Coast.
    A Trio of Black-necked Stilts
  • One of the most friendly and curious of American songbirds, this black-capped chickadee pauses on a stick next to me, watching me as closely as I was watching it in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
    Black-Capped Chickadee
  • The always popular black-eyed Susan growing in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Florida. These can be seen all over Florida in many habitats.
    Black-eyed Susan
  • Native to the deserts of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, these tiny, noisy relatives of the wrens are completely at home in the driest of deserts where they make their living among the mesquite and cacti and feeding on spiders and insects. This black-tailed gnatcatcher was found in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument within sight of the Mexican border in Arizona.
    Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
  • A juvenile black-crowned night heron practices to hunt for prey in a tree overhanging a pond in the Big Cypress National Preserve in SW Florida.
    Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • Nevada's Valley of Fire is one of the most spectacular places in the United States. Unbelievably red sandstone canyons, rock formations and rare habitat-specific wildlife make for one of the very best places for a hike or hiking trip one could hope for.
    Into Valley of Fire - Black & White
  • A juvenile black-crowned night heron practices to hunt for prey in a tree overhanging the Sweetwater Strand in the Big Cypress National Preserve in SW Florida.
    Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • The cracked cap polypore is one of those woody shelf mushrooms often seen on the sides of old trees and has a special affinity for black locust trees, but can be found on certain oaks and acacia trees as well. Found across most of the eastern half of North America, and parts of the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. This particular one was found on the side of a black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) in Hidalgo County in South Texas.
    Cracked Cap Polypore (Phellinus robi..iae)
  • The cracked cap polypore is one of those woody shelf mushrooms often seen on the sides of old trees and has a special affinity for black locust trees, but can be found on certain oaks and acacia trees as well. Found across most of the eastern half of North America, and parts of the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. This particular one was found on the side of a black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) in Hidalgo County in South Texas.
    Cracked Cap Polypore (Phellinus robi..iae)
  • The cracked cap polypore is one of those woody shelf mushrooms often seen on the sides of old trees and has a special affinity for black locust trees, but can be found on certain oaks and acacia trees as well. Found across most of the eastern half of North America, and parts of the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. This particular one was found on the side of a black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) in Hidalgo County in South Texas.
    Cracked Cap Polypore (Phellinus robi..iae)
  • Acarospora socialis - pale yellow<br />
Candelariella aurella - bright yellow<br />
Xanthoria elegans - orange<br />
Caloplaca albovariegata - black/dark green<br />
Xanthoparmelia maricopensis - light gray/greenish<br />
Dimelaena oreina - pale green with black "blotches" (very tiny)
    Mojave Desert Lichen Community
  • Acarospora socialis - pale yellow<br />
Candelariella aurella - bright yellow<br />
Xanthoria elegans - orange<br />
Caloplaca albovariegata - black/dark green<br />
Xanthoparmelia maricopensis - light gray/greenish<br />
Dimelaena oreina - pale green with black "blotches" (very tiny)
    Mojave Desert Lichen Community
  • This truly wild and odd looking lichen is also known in some parts of the world as the nail lichen and is found in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in parts of Eastern Eurasia. The apothecia (round black heads) are the reproductive part of the lichen that will release millions of wind-blown spores (similar to a mushroom) that will start a new lichens if they land on a suitable rock. These were found next to the Greenwater River in Pierce County, Washington at mid-elevation in the Cascade Mountains.
    Devil's Matchstick
  • Black & White image of driftwood and tree stumps on a rural beach on Cape San Blas, Florida.
    Timeless Florida Coast
  • 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
  • This truly wild and odd looking lichen is also known in some parts of the world as the nail lichen and is found in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in parts of Eastern Eurasia. The apothecia (round black heads) are the reproductive part of the lichen that will release millions of wind-blown spores (similar to a mushroom) that will start a new lichens if they land on a suitable rock. These were found next to the Greenwater River in Pierce County, Washington at mid-elevation in the Cascade Mountains.
    Devil's Matchstick
  • This truly wild and odd looking lichen is also known in some parts of the world as the nail lichen and is found in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in parts of Eastern Eurasia. The apothecia (round black heads) are the reproductive part of the lichen that will release millions of wind-blown spores (similar to a mushroom) that will start a new lichens if they land on a suitable rock. These were found next to the Greenwater River in Pierce County, Washington at mid-elevation in the Cascade Mountains.
    Devil's Matchstick
  • Side image of the California kingsnake showing the distinct black and white bands of this native colubrid. These markings have made it a prized species for the pet trade world-wide.
    California Kingsnake
  • Japanese Maple Leaves on a Black Background
    Red Japanese Maple Leaves
  • Relatively common across the United States, Southern Canada and Northeastern Mexico, the bold jumping spider is easy to recognize. It is large for a jumping spider, is usually black and white (some of them have orange or red spots), but the most striking characteristic is the metallic green chelicerae (part above the fangs). This one was found actively hunting on a prickly pear cactus near Weslaco, Texas on a very hot summer afternoon.
    Bold Jumping Spider
  • 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
  • This stunningly red relative of the firefly, the bloody net-winged beetle uses aposematic coloration (warning colors) to its advantage. The bright red and black coloration/pattern is a strong warning to others that might want to eat it that it is toxic to eat and best left alone. This one was photographed just as it landed on a desert shrub below the Chisos Mountains in West Texas, near the Rio Grande River.
    Bloody Net-winged Beetle
  • 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
  • A raft of surf scoters drifts by on Washington's Hood Canal on a brisk late afternoon. A type of large diving sea duck, the drakes (males) have beautifully bright orange and white bills with a black spot while typical in most ducks, the hens (females) have a rather drab coloration by comparison. Surf scoters can be found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, where they typically breed in the tundra of Alaska and Northern Canada, and are very occasionally seen on the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and even the British Isles.
    Surf Scoters
  • A raft of surf scoters drifts by on Washington's Hood Canal on a brisk late afternoon. A type of large diving sea duck, the drakes (males) have beautifully bright orange and white bills with a black spot while typical in most ducks, the hens (females) have a rather drab coloration by comparison. Surf scoters can be found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, where they typically breed in the tundra of Alaska and Northern Canada, and are very occasionally seen on the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and even the British Isles.
    Surf Scoters
  • Also known as the green dog lichen, the common freckle pelt lichen (Peltigera aphthosa) is closely related and looks very similar to its coastal cousin, the freckle pelt lichen (Peltigera britannica) except that there are minor, small physiological differences in the brown/black "freckles" and that this one is not found in coastal environments. It is found commonly throughout the Northern hemisphere at alpine elevations, such as this one that was found in the Cascade Mountains east of Greenwater, Washington in Pierce County. This one shows the reddish-brown apothecia, the reproductive structures that form on the end of its "leaves".
    Common Freckle Pelt Lichen
  • Also known as the green dog lichen, the common freckle pelt lichen (Peltigera aphthosa) is closely related and looks very similar to its coastal cousin, the freckle pelt lichen (Peltigera britannica) except that there are minor, small physiological differences in the brown/black "freckles" and that this one is not found in coastal environments. It is found commonly throughout the Northern hemisphere at alpine elevations, such as this one that was found in the Cascade Mountains east of Greenwater, Washington in Pierce County.
    Common Freckle Pelt Lichen
  • This great find in a purplish prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia azurea) in Big Bend National Park in West Texas was an exciting one for me. This bee assassin bug is a clever hunter of bees and other pollinating insects found throughout much of North America. It is most often found inside flowers waiting to stab the unsuspecting insect attracted to the flower's sweet nectar with its sharp proboscis, where it will literally drink its prey dry. Even though this one is covered in pollen, you can still see the warning colors of black and red (aposematic coloration) warning birds and other predators that this bug is not safe to eat or hunt.
    Bee Assassin on Purplish Prickly Pear
  • 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
  • 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
  • Unmistakable by it's red eye ring and black rings around the face and breast, this killdeer kept trying to get my attention on Bokeelia, Florida - an island on the southwest coast. This is typical behavior when trying to lure potential threats away from it's hidden nest that it builds on the ground.
    Killdeer
  • This baby alligator is probably only a couple of months old where it basks in the late afternoon sunlight in the Shark River Valley of the Florida Everglades. Notice the bold black and yellow camouflage pattern - this will help hide it in its early years from hungry herons, storks, otters, raccoons and other hungry predators in the swamps until it turns the tables and begins to hunt the same animals that once used to hunt it!
    Baby Alligator Close-up
  • A wild northwestern ringneck snake posed in an antelope bitterbrush shrub solely for this photograph. This fast, secretive, nocturnal and beautiful small predator is a subspecies of the ringneck snake found all over North America. Unlike most other subspecies, instead of the normal black background, this group has a blue-gray color variation with the typical striking bright orange belly and neck ring. Notice the curled tail, which serves as a "warning flag" - a common threat display warning a bigger predator (me in this case) that it is toxic to eat, which is entirely a bluff.
    Northwestern Ringneck Snake
  • A gorgeous male boat-tailed grackle shows off his metallic blue/purple sheen on his black feathers at the edge of a pond in Naples, Florida.
    Boat-tailed Grackle
  • Huge female with distinctive "zig-zag" web under a shrub near Hickey's Creek in Lee County, Florida.
    Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider
  • One can find these beauties everywhere in the springtime in the Big Cypress National Preserve!
    Black-eyed Susan
  • One of my favorite snakes to be found in the wilderness of the American Southeast is the Florida yellow rat snake. This very long, mustard-yellow colored subspecies of the western rat snake is not very common, like most gray or near-black rat snakes found in the wild, but it is one of the coolest. I have an affinity for this type of snake and once had one as a pet in captivity for years until I decided to let it go free and "go forth and propagate". These non-venomous constrictors primarily feed on rats and birds, although their habit of sneaking into barns and eating eggs has also earned them the nickname of "chicken snake". This one was found by surprise on accident (as most snakes are usually encountered) as I was walking through the edge of the woods in the Ocala National Forest  in Juniper Springs when the tree limb I grabbed suddenly moved in my hand and tried to bite me. I pulled this beauty out into the open for this shot and let it go. It was just about four feet in length and was fat and healthy!
    Florida Yellow Rat Snake
  • The black-bellied whistling duck is one of the coolest and most beautiful southern dabbling ducks that visit the southern United States, with their tricolor black, tan and brown plumage and bright orange bills and feet.  Widespread from the southern tips of Texas and Arizona to nearly all of Central and South America, their range is creeping northward and they have been seen more and more frequently in more southern states including Florida and the Caribbean. This raft of ducks was just part of a huge number of them found and photographed in a pond near Weslaco, Texas on a late winter morning.
    Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendr..lis)
  • Black-bellied whistling duck is one of the coolest and most beautiful southern dabbling ducks that visit the southern United States, with their tricolor black, tan and brown plumage and bright orange bills and feet.  Widespread from the southern tips of Texas and Arizona to nearly all of Central and South America, their range is creeping northward and they have been seen more and more frequently in more southern states including Florida and the Caribbean. This pair was just two of hundreds found and photographed in a pond near Weslaco, Texas on a late winter morning.
    Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendr..lis)
  • We went specifically to see these exotic invasive lizards on the island of Boca Grande, Florida after hearing about how they are taking over the whole island. We saw about 100 in an afternoon.
    Spiny Iguana
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