Steven Helmer Publications

I wasn't sure if I would get an opportunity to get a walk in at lunch today because of a surprisingly busy Tuesday. However, there was enough of a lull for me to get out for a short while and that's all I needed to get some great photo opportunities, including making eye contact with the deer I thought had moved out of the park weeks ago as I was walking past one of the ponds. Here are some of the photos: ____________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photos: Lunchtime Walk Photos 4/30/2018 Lunchtime Walk Photos 8/14/2017 Lunchtime Walk Photos 3/18/2019 Lunchtime Walk Photos 5/15/2019

I got most of my chores done yesterday and didn't have much going on today so I decided to put out one of my trail cameras just to see what visited the bird feeder on the table in front of our house. I wasn't disappointed, and neither were the cats watching through the window, despite the noticeable lack of birds. Here are some of the photos:

 Some photos I took while visiting Boerner Botanical Gardens yesterday afternoon.

Note to Self: Camera batteries charge better if you don't put them in the charger backwards. Fortunately, even though the battery in my camera was almost dead, I was able to get a few photos before the rain clouds started rolling in. Here are some of them:

So, I made a small mistake today. I wasn't planning on going for a walk at lunch because it looked like it would rain. However, the sun came out and I decided to go after all. Since the walk wasn't in my original plan, I didn't bother charging my camera battery. But, I thought there would be enough juice left in it so I didn't worry too much about it. As it turns out, the battery was lower than I thought it was and, as a result of that, I ended up missing a couple photos because I had to turn it off to preserve what battery life it had left. Despite that, I did manage to get a few photos today. Here are some of them:

I wasn't expecting to see this furry critter while out on my walk this morning. I was walking along the shoreline and it was hopping on the rocks near the water for some reason. At first, I didn't think it was going to let me get a photo. But, it did stop long enough for me to grab one.

I spent a good chunk of my walk slowly moving over a very short distance. I saw some turtles resting on a rock and, since they are very skittish, I had to be as quiet as I could while trying to stay out of their sight. In the end, it ended up being worth it because I was able to get pretty close to them and (through the grass) got my photo. And, as it turns out, even though the rest of my walk had to be completed in a relatively short amount of time as a result of that, I was able to find a few more photos as well. I think it turned out pretty well. The bees are still hard at work with winter fast approaching. I originally thought there were just four turtles in this photo. Then I noticed the other two.  As I was taking this photo, I happened to notice something that looked a bit like a snake a little to the left of the bird. And, that's what it turned out to be. It wasn't there when I crossed the bridge (from the other direction) a few minutes ear...

Not as much out this morning as I've seen other mornings (not counting the mosquitoes, at least). But, I still managed to get some photos while I was out for my morning walk. Then, when I got to the office, I saw a little chipmunk running around and was lucky enough to get a photo of him too:

It was a little more muggy at lunch than it was this morning. But, I did manage to see a few more signs of life on this walk, including one of the herons I heard this morning. Here are some of the photos I took: