Steven Helmer Publications

After some uncomfortably hot weather the past several days, we are back to some cooler temps. This made my walk at lunch a bit more enjoyable because I didn't end up drenched in sweat.  The city recently did some landscape work at the park, opening up some areas that were previously difficult to get to because of high grass. This did lead to me getting some photos, like the one of the sandhill cranes below that I probably wouldn't have gotten.  Here are some of the photos I took: _____________________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photos: Lunchtime Walk Photos (7/6/2026) Lunchtime Walk Photos (7/21/2026) Morning Walk Photos 4/27/2018 Some Heron Photos

I cut my walk a bit short today at lunch because I had no interest in tackling the hill when it is as humid as it is. On my way back to the car, I spotted this squirrel as it tried to hide from my view but still watched me.

  I'm not a big fan of seeing birds migrating south already but decided to fill my bird feeder yesterday so some of them could stop for a snack. I grabbed my camera and snapped this photo this morning of one of our visitors. 

We didn't get the rain that was in the forecast, so I slipped out for a walk at lunch today. Since they were mowing the trails, there wasn't as much to see but I did come across some pelicans swimming in the pond and grabbed a couple photos.

The heavy rain last night left most of the trails a bit too watery for me and when I discovered the bridge over the pond in the center of the park partially emerged, I had to cut my walk short. However, as I was wading my way back to my car, I came across this turtle sunbathing. It was super cooperative and let me get a photo.

The trails are still a bit muddy, but the weather was too nice to stay indoors all day, so I ventured out with my camera and got a few photos. Here are some of them.