"Somebody Needs Coffee" has won second place in the 5/25/2024 #FineArtAmerica contest "Creatures In Unusual Places." Many thanks to contest administrator, Crystal Turnblom, and everyone who voted for my image. Congratulations to the other winners!!
I am both fascinated by #snakes and, if I’m honest, a little scared of them too. Perhaps more than a little.
I know this 4’ central rat snake is non-venomous, and many people would just snatch it up and relocate it. I could not do it! My courage repeatedly faltered at the critical moment.
I eventually discouraged it from climbing up the house. I might have even shrieked when it turned & let go of the brick wall, plummeting 5 feet to the ground.
The Banded demoiselle can be seen flitting around slow-moving rivers, ponds and lakes. The males are metallic blue, with a distinctive dark band across their wings, and the females are a shiny green.
The first a standard 'bird on the woodland floor' shot
the second, is the harder side of nature, as it shows a Jackdaw in flight with the contents of a egg it just stole from either a Nesting Black-headed gull or Lapwing. (It happened too far away from me to be sure which)