Steven Helmer Publications

My decision to take a walk at lunch today was made at the last minute because of on-and-off rain all morning (and now in the afternoon, so much for mowing the lawn later). I didn't get a ton of photos, mostly because I wasn't sure how long it would stay dry and rushed my walk as a result. I did, however, snap a photo of this frog, which was nice enough to pose for me.

It was warm enough for some of the turtles to come out during my walk at lunch today. Since it'll probably be the last time I'll see them until spring, so I made sure to include them in my photos.

I haven't seen too many turtles the past few days, which is a bit surprising considering it's been hot and sunny out. But, I did come across these two while walking at lunch.

There were quite a few frogs out today (being loud, as usual) so I decided to take a few minutes and get some extra photos of them for your enjoyment.

I saw this little guy swimming around in a puddle on one of the flooded trails. It was well-hidden (or so it thought) and didn't move while I was there so I was able to get a couple decent photos of it.

I had a shorter walk today than usual (I had an errand to run first) and, while I saw quite a few things worth getting photos of, I didn't have a lot of extra time to get in position for a good shot of them and pretty much just focused on getting my walk in. I did, however, see this turtle as I crossed over one of the ponds and grabbed a photo of it.

I avoided my usual walking trails this morning because, between the rain we had yesterday and this morning's dew, I figured my feet would get soaked. And, I didn't have a spare pair of socks with me today. I ended up visiting two parks before coming into work and didn't see much. But, I managed to get a couple photos regardless. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as good of a shot of this muskrat as I did a few days ago. It saw me as I was trying to get a better angle and was in the water shortly after that. And, I learned a long time ago it is pointless to try to wait it out. Muskrats can stay under the water for a very long time. It's hard to see it, but there is another muskrat in this photo. This one was by the lake and was a young one. But, much like the other one, it saw me coming, hid then slid into the water before I could get a better shot of it. I saw this female mallard swimming near where I spotted the muskrat and, since she wasn't ...

I just went for a walk up the street this morning because it was wet (more rain) and foggy. However, as I walked through Swan Park, I was pleasantly surprised to see this little guy. I've seen this muskrat at the park before. But, it is usually in the duck pond and I've never been able to get a photo of it before it dived under the water. Today, it stayed out in the open long enough for me to get a couple shots of it.