Critters of Hills Beach

I’m still not done with Maine posts!  I hope you aren’t tired of them yet!

On my morning walks, I encountered a lot of interesting creatures that I don’t often get to photograph at home.  My older daughter has shown some interest in marine biology; perhaps a bit of it is genetic as I always find myself poking at shellfish and crustaceans when I am at the shore.

Just a common little snail here, but I liked how the antennae were visible as well as the trail it had made behind it.

I disturbed this larger snail when I saw it nestled in the mud; I wanted to know if it was another live snail or just an empty shell.  As you can see it turned out to be live, and it worked to pull itself back into its shell.  I was afraid I had unearthed a treat for the near-by sea gulls, but something happened to disturb the birds from the meal they were most definitely eyeballing…

I learned from Rebecca that this happy goldendoodle’s name is Sam.  He seemed to smile as he romped and chased the birds my husband oh-so-affectionately refers to as “dump chickens.”

Here is another jumbo-sized shelled critter that I stumbled upon.  I’m so used to finding only empty shells on the beach, these big, live squishy-bodied creatures took me by surprise.  I picked this one up so you could have a better idea about its size.

The hermit crabs, though numerous, refused to poke out of their scavenged shells unless they were in the water; hence this not-as-clear shot taken in the water.

While a chipmunk is certainly a photo that I could have taken at home, this guy ( or gal, I don’t know!) seemed to be having a very heated discussion with an unseen adversary.  It continued to “buck buck buck chit chit chit” as I took its picture.  It is resting upon a stone wall along the sea, bordering Hills Beach Road.  Maybe it was chattering at this guy…

Here Come the Critters

I still have some photos that I took with my old camera that I’ve been wanting to share; one of those blog posts that had been stacking up in my head over the last few weeks.  Before the fervor of the new camera took over, I’d been wanting to share some shots of a few “wild friends” that I’d taken recently.

First, I like to think that the adult rabbits I see hanging around the yard eating the dandelions might be one of our baby bunnies from the spring.  This rabbit and I did a little “dance” around the yard as I tried to quietly approach and get a shot of the face, but I always ended up with a shot in profile.

Next up, Tracy and I were having a conversation about whether this was a red squirrel or not.  She thought maybe it was a juvenile gray.  I watched for it for several days, and eventually became convinced it was a red, but wasn’t able to get a picture.  Finally, one morning I got this one:

and this one:

The sun was behind the squirrel, and I was pleased with the way it lit up the tail.

I told the story in this post about the pictures of a male cardinal that I have been missing.  I still haven’t gotten a nice close-up, but not for lack of trying and missed opportunities.  On the morning that I took this cropped shot…

… the cardinal had been sitting on my shepard’s hook that holds several hanging baskets of flowers in my backyard.  I had my camera with me outside, but by the time I had it on it flew up to this near-by tree, singing sweetly the whole time.

Another recent visitor to the yard was this one:

I think this chipmunk popped up to the deck perhaps in search of some of the peanut butter crackers I’d been leaving out there in hopes of luring the red squirrel back for a closer shot.  Not wanting to squeak open the sliding glass door and scare it away, I took this through dog-nose smeared glass.  I should really think about getting the Windex out!

This last shot I am sharing because it is an unusual scene for the middle of suburbia.  It was taken during a walk with Teddy and Daphne, so I didn’t really have the chance to nicely compose, but it came out okay for having 130 pounds worth of dog waiting on the leash.

Goats.  Yep, goats.  I remember the first time my girls told me there were goats living at a house on the street around the corner, I didn’t quite believe them.  Why would you have goats?  Maybe they like goats’ milk cheese, I really don’t know.  But here they are.  Teddy and Daphne were pretty sure they were some sort of unusual dog breed.

I think I still have a few pictures from the Olympus waiting for their chance to be featured.  Most likely they are flower shots, perhaps of some blooms that have gone by, so they will get their chance before the Rebel completely takes over the show.