This past year has been all about wildlife here in Maryland. Everywhere I looked, I saw new species and babes and I couldn’t help but take pictures of everything.

Last school year began with Hooded Mergansers, three of them, on a local pond. Two males and a female. Against the backdrop of dormant plants, their colors were incredible.

And then this spring, the babes. THE BABES. First, the dreaded but oh-so-fluffy-I-had-trouble-focusing-due-to-fluff Canadian Goslings and their parents. My goodness those walking piles of fluff were one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. There were six of them and I could hardly keep all of them in view at the same time.

I say dreaded Canadian Geese because they are everywhere and poop everywhere and nobody really likes them but I can’t help taking their photos because they’re everywhere and easy to get close to and I have to admit, I do like them. But their poop. Ugh. So gross.

I loved watching this one bathe, splashing water everywhere. It was a hot day and it was good to know the wildlife had some refuge.

Also in that pond, snapping turtles. Look at this guy, just lurking under the surface. He was HUGE!

On the left you see the tip of his nose and the rest of his head underwater. On the right you see his ginormous tail and hind legs. To give you some perspective, if I had to guess, he was easily a foot and a half across. Lots of algae in this pond which is how I saw him, the algae was “swimming” all by itself across the surface. Did you know they bury themselves in mud in winter? I’ve seen them crawl out, carrying soil and grass on their backs.

Also in that pond? This little guy, what I believe to be an American Bullfrog, peaking through. My good friend Deb will let me know what he is for sure. I loved the light here, around 5:30 pm. Mornings and evenings are the best time to photograph. The harsh light of daytime is gone and the colors and shadows make for beautiful textures. I love him.

On the way to my daughter’s softball practices, we would repeatedly see this Pie-bald deer. Always around 7:30 pm, eating in somebody’s yard with the rest of her herd. I had never seen one in the wild. Almost ran the car into a tree the first time I spotted her. I look for her every practice now and she has been there almost 90% of the time. And yes, I did the math to calculate that.

Then late spring, this guy wandered across the end of my driveway and into my neighbors yard. Another snapper. They find their way into my life somehow as I’ve seen many over the years. Always bigs ones too, although once, I did see just a babe, no bigger than a dollar coin. Cuties when they’re little but they look like dinosaurs as adults! Look at those claws! Dinosaurs, I tell you. Little Dinos.

Where I used to work there is a tree next to the space I park in. One morning I parked, looked up and saw this hanging out of a hole in the tree. See that snake skin? That LONG snake skin (about 3 feet for perspective). If I had to guess, a black rat snake. They love to climb trees and hang out. Never saw the snake but part of this skin went into my classroom with me that day.

And then the bluebirds moved in, Mr. and Mrs. Blue. They’re here every year, repeat renters although their house is free of charge. That’s Mr. Blue on the left and if you look closely, you can see Baby Blue’s little beak sticking up at the opening of the bluebird box. “Mama, I want some food!” She always obliges.

And the wrens, their singing is spectacular. You can hear them a mile away but you’ll never find them. They’re like the Anna Kendrick’s of the bird world, a tiny body with a big voice. This one moved into one of our bluebird houses before the bluebirds could. Hey, first come first served is how I feel.

One day, I went outside and heard all of this buzzing in the air. I looked around and could see flying creatures, hundreds of them, in my backyard, zooming around about a foot off the ground. I ran inside thinking they were bees that were swarming and the more I looked, the more I could tell they weren’t bees. Took me a good 15-20 minutes of watching before some landed where I could see them.

Green June Beetles. Must have been their mating season or something. Hung around for about 3 days and then poof…gone as quickly as they came.

White-tailed deer. My goodness, if I had a dollar for every photo I’ve taken of deer, I’d buy my own island off the coast of Maine, build a small but beautiful cabin and never leave. Anyhoo, the deer. One momma had triplets and she drops them off in our yard to rest in the afternoons. I love being deer daycare, again free of charge. You can see all three on the left and a closer up image on the right. This was just beyond our fire pit, right smack dab in the middle of our yard. It had just stopped raining and I think they needed a place to sit in the sun and dry out.

And then we went on vacation for a week and apparently they hang out now a lot because everyday since we’ve been home they take naps and rest in the tree “island” right off our front door. For perspective, that is lily-of-the-valley they are lying in…maybe 10 inch tall leaves at their maximum height? Those ears. Those eyes. Their spots. Their charcoal noses. I love them. I love them so much.

And then, my favorite July trek to sunflower fields. Mr. Indigo Bunting. Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch. Hello old friends, how I miss you all year!

Even the butterflies were in on the sunflower activity. This is a Tiger Swallowtail. So hard to see the yellow on yellow on yellow!

And then, while on vacation, we were told a turtle nest was going to be dug up. So we ran down the beach just in time to see this:

Apparently the turtles had hatched the week earlier. Some lady who didn’t really care about turtles just happened to be walking on the beach when they hatched. Said they were the cutest things. Some would get off track, and start wandering down the beach instead of towards the water. You’re not supposed to touch them (and she knew this) so she nudged them with her foot back in the direction of the ocean. Can you imagine? You’re minding your own business, walking on the beach after a long day, thinking about work and how crappy it was…I mean wonderful..and you see this dark thing moving out of the corner of your eye and then realize you are witness to a SEA TURTLE BIRTHING?!?! Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

Anyhoo, the nest had hatched and this group of volunteers checks the nests about a week later because USUALLY there are some turtles left in the nest so we were hoping to see some but nope. Not one, nada, nil, not one stinking turtle. However, they did count the hatched eggs and separate them from those that didn’t hatch and this amazing turtle mother laid over 100 eggs and 90 of them hatched. Wahoo, go momma!

Like I said, Maryland (and NC) has been all about the wildlife this past year and I am here, my friends, for all of it. Camera at the ready (not always but goodness I try), willing to climb ladders and get poison ivy and stalk wildlife in the middle of my workday just to see and photograph them. To observe them. They’re so amazing. Just amazing.

My wish for you today? That you see some wildlife. That you pause for a moment and watch them. And that their presence in your life gives you something to smile about.