Steven Helmer Publications

I haven't been skipping my daily walks but have been neglecting to take my camera with me, mostly because I've been walking along the shoreline (which has less photo opportunities) rather than somewhere with more nature. However, I did manage to get out to the park today and, while there weren't as many animals as I normally would expect to see (either that, or they were hiding in the tall grass), I did get some photos. Garter snake skin

It was a little humid out at lunch today but still cool enough to get a walk in. The highlight of my walk had to be the young muskrat I encountered while on one of the trails. It must not have seen me because I was able to get within a reasonable distance of it for my photo. I did, however, make sure to make some noise after I got my picture because I didn't want to get too close and there was only so much room on the narrow trail. Here are some of the photos I was able to take:

As part of my daughters' birthday celebration (my youngest turned 8 yesterday and my oldest turns 13 in a little over two weeks), we took them to Horicon Marsh today. We ended up walking more than planned (3.68 miles according to my fitness app) but did see quite a few cool things along the walk, including egrets, snails and frogs. Here are some of the photos: I wasn't sure what the bird in the above photo was when I first took the picture. But, I later learned it is a black-necked stilt, which is apparently rare in this state. The bird people who identified it for me said they have only seen them at this marsh and only during nesting season.