Taking in Life Around Me.....#Sundaystills...Theme: Wildlife

This #sundaystills challenge is hosted by Terrie from Second Wind Leisure. I've also been loving visiting the blogs of the other participants and being inspired by their interpretations of the theme.

This weeks theme is "wildlife". I had hoped to go to our local wildlife refuge yesterday morning, but was trying to get some other things done because I'm going to babysit most of the day today (Sunday). I wanted some fresh and new pictures to share. I did go for a 3 mile walk around one of our local lakes with my daughter (when they invite you to do something, you do it..lol). It was beautiful and I did bring my camera just in case, however I didn't see much wildlife. Some birds on a log, but it was hard for me to get the right settings before they flew away. So I suppose I'll dig through my archives and see what I find. I really love wildlife and if I had more opportunity, would love to photograph it more. 

If you're "anti-zoo" I'm sorry. I happen to enjoy them, and I was so impressed when we visited the Ft Worth Zoo back November of 2020. I felt like they did a great job in planning the zoo and how it would look. Someday I'd love to travel to South Africa where we have friends who do safari trips. That would be amazing. 

All of the above photos were from the Ft. Worth Zoo. We were there in November and there were several exhibits that were being reconstructed but what we could see was beautiful.

These sandhill cranes were in my aunts backyard. Apparently they visit yearly...they've watched them grow up from newly hatched to full grown. They aren't afraid of you, in fact I was sitting in a chair on the lawn and just ate around me. My aunt and uncle would feed them. 

The photos above and below were from yesterday when we went for a walk. These birds were the only "wildlife" I saw and I couldn't get a great picture of them. 

We regularly have deer that visit our yard. Mamas and their babies. When we were first working on our house and before we had the porch area prepped it wasn't unusual to find a deer or two laying under the covered area. 

Very rarely do I see more than two mamas and their babies, but one year we had 6 hanging out in the yard. Several years ago there was a herd of elk that visited the homes on our road but they haven't been around for quite a few years. I think there was easily a head of 30+. I looked around and found the photo below. This wasn't even all of them. One night I was driving home and pulled into our driveway. I was greeted by a bunch of eyes. It was dark so I didn't know what they were (I was a bit freaked out). I backed up, and slowly pulled back in. It was the elk laying in our neighbors yard. Yikes!!

In Sunriver, where we like to vacation, deer are abundant and again, they aren't afraid of people. I'm sure they know they're safe. 

The remaining photos are ones I took at the wildlife refuge a few years ago. It was the first time I'd ever gone and it was so fun. I really need to go back. 

This spider was on it's web when we were in Florida. I HATE spiders, but he was kind of cook looking and far away from me. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin