Lens-Artists Challenge #225 – Wildlife Close To Home

Kiawah Bobcat

“We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife.” 

Steve Irwin

This week Anne has given us a challenge near and dear to my heart. As a true lover of nature and her many creatures both large and small, our safari in Africa is at the very top of my list of travel memories. Seeing creatures in their natural habitat shows us the world as it was meant to be. On Kiawah we are fortunate that there is a high level of focus on / appreciation of / habitat preservation for our local wildlife. Our deer population is primarily controlled by the bobcats who roam the island. They are elusive creatures but are occasionally seen crossing the roads or raising their kittens in the high grasses that surround us. If we’re really lucky we see them hunting small prey along the grassy edges as shown above.

Kiawah’s Deer

“Without free animal life I believe we will lose the spiritual equivalent of oxygen.”

Alice Walker

Our wildlife is a bit less skittish around humans than in many other places. Deer, for example, will allow us to get quite close. The image on the far right above is actually a deer licking salt from my leg on a hot summer day. I’d stopped my bike to capture an image of her fawn and unfortunately was using my zoom lens so I was unable to get a better image of the doe. I was a quite startled by the whole thing, but I did at least manage to document the incident 😊.

Kiawah’s Dolphins Strand Feeding

“Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.”

Mila Kundera

We are fortunate to be among the very few places where dolphin strand-feeding occurs. Basically the dolphins form “teams” that gather to push baitfish onto the shore at very high speed. Once there they (along with the opportunistic pelicans that follow them) feast on the unlucky fish. It’s a recognized illustration of animal intelligence and learned behaviors which we are only now beginning to understand. National Geographic spent months here on Kiawah filming the behavior for their Predator series a few years back.

Birds of Kiawah Island (Some of them anyway!)

“Without birds, where would we have learned that there can be song in the heart?”

Hal Borland

I’ve featured many of the birds of Kiawah through the years and will admit that before moving here I hadn’t given birds much thought. Kiawah’s bird species number over 300 strong. We are a stopover point for the amazing red knot species whose annual migration covers 18,000 miles. Last year we had 6 bald eagle nests on our 10 mile island as well as owls, osprey and multiple species of hawks. Shorebirds like skimmers, seagulls, brown pelicans, sanderlings, willets and piping plovers nest and roost along our beaches. Along our wetlands herons, egrets, ducks and kingfishers as well as many others thrive. Our most recent inhabitants are the beautiful pink roseate spoonbills which it seems are moving to our area due to climate change.

Big Ole Boy – Gator Alert!

“Every once in a while an alligator has a lightbulb moment and decides to take a stroll and see the world a bit.”

Maureen Johnson

I had to laugh at the quote beneath my alligator image above because especially during mating season we often see them crossing our streets or strolling along the paths of our golf courses. For the most part however, they stick to their normal habitat which is in and around our lagoons and ponds. Although they appear placid they can be dangerous and there are signs everywhere warning visitors to keep their distance. Often we see them sharing a spot in the sunlight beside egrets, cormorants and herons, neither bothering the other – unless or until the gator decides it’s mealtime. Then we see nothing but the feathers that were lost in the frenzy. They’ll eat most anything, including full-sized deer which they drown before eating. Residents know to keep their distance but we occasionally need to warn inquisitive tourists. They can grow quite large, are very fast, and should never be considered friendly.

Too Close For Comfort

“Making a difference to the welfare of Animals doesn’t require a massive effort; it requires small actions that can make a significant impact.”

Paul Oxton

I’ve often thought about how humans have defined other creatures throughout the years. Why are bobcats and eagles seen as beautiful and worthy of admiration, while squirrels and crows are seen as pests and treated with disdain? How have we come to love dogs and cats yet we treat coyotes and wolves as demons worthy of eradication? I’l admit despite my respect for wildlife I don’t tolerate creatures like marsh rats, mice, or armadillos. I love and have many photographs of butterflies but insects like ants and the dreaded “palmetto bugs” make my skin crawl! And yes, occasionally I do eat meat. We humans are a fickle species, aren’t we?!

A Butterfly Flutters By

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

Maya Angelou

Thanks to Anne for the opportunity to explore one of my favorite subjects. I look forward to seeing what other creatures our followers around the world choose to highlight. Please remember to link your response to Anne’s original here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag.

Thanks to Sofia for last-week’s exposure challenge, and to those of you who responded with so many different approaches. It was great fun seeing how creative and diverse your results were from adjusting exposures in such a wide variety of applications. Finally, we are excited that next week our challenge will be Guest-Hosted by Jude, aka HeyJude of Cornwall in Colours and hope you’ll join us for that. Until then, as always please stay safe and be kind.

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Tags: Kiawah, LENS-ARTISTS, local, nature, Photo essay, wildlife

• November 12, 2022
• Photography
• 99 Comments