Happy Halloween from the creatures of the night

On a cool Halloween Day, a colony of bats relax in their bat house on the side of barn near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight, and they head out at night to feast on insects, fruit, and nectar—depending on the species.

 

A recipe for witch's brew?

I photographed some interesting creatures this morning on a late October walk near my home in SW Oregon. Seems like they could make a tasty witch's brew if added to boiling caldron: eye of rough-skinned newt, slime of banana slug, venom of spider. Yummy!   

A rough skinned newt crosses a county road near Elkton is rural southwestern Oregon. The body of a rough skinned newt contains a deadly neurotoxin that is also present in some pufferfish, octopuses, crabs, starfish, flatworms, frogs, and toads. The bright coloration is thought to be a warning to possible predators.

A large banana slug slowly crosses the road nearby. Banana slugs found in the Pacific northwest of North America can reach nearly 10 inches in length and are the second largest air breathing land slugs in the world.

An orb-weaver spider dangles from a thread over the roadway. They’re called orbweavers (family Araneidae) because the webs they spin are the classic, round, flat webs.

 

Links to my recent work

 

Kentucky tornado- Video and stills from my work with Heart to Heart International in Mayfield, Kentucky after the December 2021 tornado.

Haitian Earthquake photos- Two days after the Aug. 14, 2021 Haitian earthquake struck I packed my gear and was on a jet bound for Port au Prince to meet up with a mobile medical team from the Kansas based non-governmental organization Heart to Heart International. I also wrote a story for the local newspaper about the experience.

Esau’s story from Shishmaref, Alaska: Photos, writing, video

Smoke from the Oregon wildfires 2020. Recovery after the Almeda fire, and finding shelter. Video I shot and produced for NGO Heart to Heart International.

Hurricane Dorian: Photos, writing, video

Year in pictures 2021

Year in Pictures 2020

Year in pictures 2019

Recently published photos

Youth Climate Action and YouthvGov

Greta Thunberg

Final resting place for gray whale in Oregon

 A few months ago I made this video of a dead juvenile gray whale being buried on the beach in SW Oregon. It was a somber sight to see this giant of the ocean in his final moments before he was covered with sand.

Rainbow web

Sunlight is refracted through the web of a small spider as it attempts to balloon from a plant in a roadside field near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne.

Sunlight is refracted through the web of a small spider as it attempts to balloon from a plant in a roadside field near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne.NIKSunlight is refracted through the web of a small spider as it attempts to balloon from a plant in a roadside field near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne.

NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S

 

Birds in flight

I photographed both of these birds this afternoon today in SW Oregon.    

A bald eagle takes flight from a Douglas fir tree along the Umpqua River near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. The eagle appeared to be hunting waterfowl on the river below. 

A male western bluebird takes flight from a plum tree while hunting insects in an orchard on a farm near Elkton.

Wild mink with catfish

A wild mink runs with a catfish in its mouth after catching it along the Umpqua River near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. The mink took its catch into a hiding spot under a tree stump along the river bank. Mink are a semiaquatic member of the weasel family. A mink can eat up to 20% of its body weight in one sitting.

 

Recent nature pictures

A few recent nature pictures. The season has changed from summer to fall in southwestern Oregon. It's so nice to get some rain and see the fall colors appear. My work is represented by the international editorial photo agency ZUMApress.

Katydid

A great blue heron with "seaweed" on its foot.

A pair of you black-tailed bucks play fight.

Acorn woodpecker in flight.

Black-tailed deer with fall colors.

Striped garden spider on a dewy morning

Smoke from a controlled burn

Bald eagle takes flight after feeding along the Umpqua River

A dewy black and yellow garden spider and her web