photoldweiler » Animals

Naptime

Matthew — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:09:13 +0000

So this is a puzzle that we haven’t been able to solve. There we were on the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom when our driver stopped the van and told everyone to be quiet. He informed us we were incredibly lucky to see a lion up close and personal. And sure enough, we looked out of our vehicle and saw a lion asleep under the tree right next to our bus!!.
The puzzle is the fact that we aren’t sure the lion is for real!? Honestly, it’s almost too picturesque. So, what do you think? Is this for real?, or is it just another piece of Disney ‘magic’?

Matthew — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:50:15 +0000

On our recent visit to Nantucket, we stopped by the farm where the kiddos Aunt works for a little fun with the animals. I took this shot of her horse during a break from watching the kids feed chickens/hold bunnies/chase sheep/etc.

Matthew — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:49:00 +0000

As odd as it sounds, we were actually running AHEAD of schedule on our recent visit out to Nantucket. Usually it seems as if we are scrambling in an effort to get from point A to point Z in time, but thankfully this time we had time to spare. While we waited for the ferry to arrive, Gramps drove us to a nice little beach in Hyannis.
The sun was just rising over an unusually calm ocean and it created a wonderful, golden landscape. We spent an hour or so walking the beach collecting shells and taking pictures of various birds and wildlife. Just as we were about to leave, I heard a couple geese flying by. I turned just in time to get a picture of this goose as it broke the surface of the water. Such a special memory from the start of an amazing vacation.

Matthew — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:52:29 +0000

So how strange is it that almost one year to the day since seeing our first bald eagle in the tree behind our house, I see TWO bald eagles in the tree behind our house!?! I was driving home from doing some Christmas shopping when I noticed a couple of cars pulled over on our street. I immediately knew what was going on and turned my gaze towards the ‘big tree’. Lo and behold, not just one – but two gorgeous (and huge!) bald eagles were sitting on the tippy-top branches of this giant tree.
I screamed home…ran inside…grabbed my camera…changed the lens and shot back out the door. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. When I returned I was able to get a couple of decent shots before the batter ran low on my camera causing the automatic shutter to not work properly. Regardless, I am pleased to at least have gotten a few good shots. These eagles were much more scruffy looking than the one we saw in January – but still just breathtaking to see in the wild.

Matthew — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:33:32 +0000

Whether it is in the wild or in the zoo, the bald eagle is truly an amazing specimen. Almost as if it knows it’s the symbol for American freedom, this bird seems to just exude confidence and strength. And while I normally don’t enjoy taking pictures of animals behind bars – I had to bend the rules and take a few pictures of this unbelievably beautiful bird.

Matthew — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:13:32 +0000

The entire Walt Disney World ‘campus’ is just crawling with wildlife…literally in this case. We stopped outside the Rose & Crown for a quick beer before our lunch when this little guy crawled up. He was in no hurry whatsoever, and just slowly made his way along the gutter. I guess it is a pretty good gig to be a bug in Epcot.

Matthew — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:53:21 +0000

Given the fact that there are hundreds of seagulls flying around our cottage in Michigan – you might assume that means it would be easy to get a good picture of one. Well…you would be wrong! I took dozens of pictures of these guys flying around and most of them are blurry/off center/etc. This one was about as close as I could get to a ‘good picture’ – and I hope you like it

Matthew — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:20:53 +0000

Wow… prairie dogs are EXTREMELY shy little animals. Sure, at first glance, it looks as if they’re running all over the place squawking at anything and everything…but you better not get within a few feet or else they’ll disappear into their holes!!
I managed to snap this picture while on a bike ride near our home. I actually went on the ride with high hopes of grabbing some great shots of our local wildlife, but after a few minutes I knew I was in for a challenge. Honestly, I couldn’t get close at all to these little buggers without them disappearing. This guy was particularly chirpy, so I just knew he was going to come back out for a peek – and sure enough he did! Thankfully I had the patience to wait for the picture

Matthew — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:17:04 +0000

Well if it weren’t for that darn branch that got right in the way of this picture, I would say this cracks my ‘Top 10 Animal Pics’. Even still, the beauty of this duck is hard to ignore. From the brilliant green head, to the white collar, to the gorgeous feathers down his back – this guy has got it goin’ on. I took this picture during a rare ‘late-winter’ visit to the Denver Zoo.

Matthew — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:55:53 +0000

I remember seeing these big birds flying back and forth along the beach line in front of our cottage, but not giving it much thought. Not sure who, but someone said ‘there’s a bunch of eagles flying on the beach’. I grabbed my camera and went running – only to be surprised to see they were in fact vultures! And a bunch of them. Creeeeepy.