Thinking about breaking the rules at this park? Go ahead, make this quail's day. #birds

A ring-billed gull hoping to steal a freshly caught fish from an osprey. I'm happy to report that the osprey escaped with its fish. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡📷

A belted kingfisher blending into the scenery. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡📷

A great blue heron coming in for the landing. Captured this morning. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡📷

A very scruffy wood duck. Does anyone know if this looks like a juvenile just getting its adult plumage, or an adult that's molting? #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

"Meow!" I had never encountered this bird before, but when I heard it meow at me, I knew what it must be. A consultation with the Merlin app and a field guide confirmed it. This was the aptly named gray catbird. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

Double trouble! (American mink) #wildlife #nature 🐡

A juvenile crow. Note the blue eyes and pink around the mouth. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡 laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/a-j...

I chose the mink, and I was rewarded. The mink had buddies! There were at least four - juveniles and their mom, I believe. You can kinda see a second mink on the right side. I have more photos that I still need to download and sort. #wildlife #nature 🐡📷

Sometimes life is about making hard choices. Like when you're photographing a great blue heron, and a mink shows up. Do you keep photographing the heron, or do you switch your attention to the mink? Which would you choose? #birds #wildlife #nature 📷🐡

This great blue heron caught a fish! #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

House finch. #birds #nature

Look at all the traffic over the Fourth of July weekend! #wildlife #nature

It's the last day to get 20% off wall art, puzzles, mugs, totes, and more! laurel-gale.pixels.com #birds #wildlife 📷

Downy woodpecker nestling. This is a day or two before the nestlings fledged. laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/dow... #birds #birdoftheday 🐡📷

Downy woodpecker dad with food for his nestling. laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/dow... #birds #nature #wildlife

Western tiger swallowtail. laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/wes... #invertebrate #nature 🐡📷

Portrait of a Busy Dad. This male downy woodpecker has just delivered food to his nest, but he has to go back out to get more. laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/por... #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡📷

A grumpy bewick's wren fledgling. (Grumpy because a crow was trying to attack it, but don't worry - the wren got away.) #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

What a good dad! Video of a male downy woodpecker feeding one of its chicks. #birds #nature #wildlife

It had been a while since I'd seen a barn owl, so I was happy to spot this handsome fellow yesterday. #birds #owls #wildlife

Feedback, please! I'll be selling a 2027 calendar featuring my wildlife photography. I'm including U.S. holidays since I'm in the U.S. and I think many (but not all!) of my followers are. Would there be any interest in an alternative version with no holidays?

Osprey with nesting material. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

A bank swallow in a rare moment of rest. #birds #nature #wildlife 🐡

A red-tailed hawk looking down to examine the prey it has hidden in the grass. #birds #nature #wildlife 📷🐡

This bald eagle was ready for its close-up! laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/mag... #birds #nature #wildlife 📷

Hey, cutie. (bull snake) #nature #wildlife 🐡

It's a good fish -- but I've seen mink catch bigger fish!

While I was watching frogs and belted kingfishers at a pond, a mink swam by. I didn't notice it had a fish until I looked closely at my photo. #wildlife #nature 🐡

Over at the downy woodpecker nest. #birds #wildlife #nature 🐡