A Salute to Our National Mammal

By Jim | Published May 11, 2016




While I was on the road recently, it was announced that we now have a “National Mammal”, the American Bison. As I participate in art shows and festivals throughout the Midwest, I constantly find that the American Bison tends to be a popular choice of my show clients.  In a salute to this wonderful animal, […]

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Fun Friday: My Personal WatchDog

By Jim | Published January 23, 2015




A funny moment in Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains … woke up one morning and looked outside my camper to find my own, personal bodyguard … a large American Bison: Bison roam freely on the Wichita Mountains NWR, even in the campground! I had to carefully exit the camper and walk around my camper and to the […]

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Awesome Wildflowers

By Jim | Published June 7, 2014




When hiking the meadows in the Wichita Mountains (SW Oklahoma) recently, I came upon a small clump of some wonderful wildflowers: With some help from some nature friends, I found out these are Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana). They were pretty similar to the Wild Hyacinth we have on our prairies back in Missouri, but were […]

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Fun Friday: Lady Beetle

By Jim | Published June 6, 2014




Commonly called a “Ladybug”, this is really a beetle (I remember going through Master Gardener classes 12 years ago, and this was drilled into our heads by our entomologist instructor!). Actually our “ladybug beetles” are in the Family Coccinellidae, and are comprised of several species, within at least three genera. Not sure, but this one […]

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White Beauty

By Jim | Published June 4, 2014




While hiking around the Wichita Mountains recently, I found a nice clump of these white beauties … Prairie Larkspur (Delphinium virescens). Here are a few of my favorite images from the meadow: And a focus-stacked image, made from 12 images, showing the wonderful detail in the wildflower:   Photographic Equipment Used: Canon 1D Mark 3 […]

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Fun Friday: The Pups of the Wichita Mountains

By Jim | Published May 23, 2014




From my recent travels in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, today’s “Fun Friday” post includes some cute Black-tailed Prairie dog pups (Cynomys ludovicianus). I can never stop and photograph these mischievous little guys without getting some laughs. While groups of pups will always leave a smile on my face, I very much enjoy capturing pups […]

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Beautiful Carpet

By Jim | Published May 22, 2014




While recently traveling from Texas to Oklahoma, I began spotting Indian Carpet wildflowers along the highway. Once in Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains, I made sure to grab some images of this beautiful wildflower: I always love seeing the Indian Carpet blanket the landscape. Unfortunately, I could not find a dense carpet in the Wichita Mountains … […]

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Turquoise Treasure

By Jim | Published May 21, 2014




Another interesting inhabitant of the Wichita Mountains (southwest Oklahoma) is the Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris). During my recent visit, I saw several male lizards, but no females. Makes me think the females may be busy nesting right now. These creatures are cold-blooded, staying in their dens on colder days. During my visit, it was […]

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A Special Summer Bird

By Jim | Published May 20, 2014




After a week and a half on the road, for art shows and some nature photography, I’m now back home. I’ve got some interesting images to post, so today I’ll start with a beautifully-colored bird. While in the Wichita Mountains the other day, I stopped by one of the picnic areas for a quick lunch. […]

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Just a Bit Shy

By Jim | Published May 17, 2014




During my recent visit to the Wichita Mountains NWR in southwest Oklahoma, I was driving one of the refuge roads when a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) ran across the road in front of me. As I stopped the vehicle to grab some images, the bird made a dashing run into the brush. Fortunately, I rolled […]

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