Penny,

Thanks for the positive feedback. That is a mouse pup that the Small Blue Heron is about to devour. That bird was actual captive at the San Diego Zoo and I caught him at feeding time. The large Purple Heron is one of the most beautiful species of the Heron family. This one was hunting in the papyrus in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Today's post also includes a family of flying critters, this time from the insect kingdom. What nature photographer can walk through a mountain meadow of wildflowers and not snap at least one image of a butterfly flitting among the flowers. Certainly not me. Here are some of my many images of these flitting beauties.

Butterflies

Hey Geo,

The last several are just awesome. Nicely done.

James

Absolutely love the frog peeking out from under the lily pad!
Frogs are great animals.

I was out hiking on the summit yesterday and saw some recent sign that made me pick today's critter. We catch a glimpse of our resident Black bears every once in a while out on the trails. Unfortunately, we always hike with our goldies and our bears up hear are very shy, so I've never really captured a good image of a local bear. These images all come from trips to other areas.

American Black Bear

Today's critter is usually considered a villain by many. They can be a mean bunch when they hunt and scavenge. They are known for stealing the kills of other predators as is shown in a couple of these images I captured when they stole an impala kill from a leopard.

Spotted Hyena

Hey George,

The internet is slow, and it took forever to load, bit it was worth it!

James

Today's critter is one of my favorite raptors, the Osprey. We have several resident breeding pairs around us with all the lakes we have here in the Donner Summit area. Yesterday we had one do some fishing around us as we were kayaking on one of the local lakes.

Osprey

Today's critter is an icon of the Galapagos Islands, a mecca for naturalists. Each island has it's own variation of these gentle giants and a couple of them are included here.

Galapagos Tortoise

On of the advantages of living on the west coast is access to the great marine life that inhabits our shores. Today's critter cruises up and down the coast
during the year but hauls out along the California coast in winter to mate and give birth.

Elephant Seal