Rich Thiesfeld got a great shot of a great blue heron at Alligator National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. “He seemed so intent on fishing for food that he let me wander up pretty close,” wrote Thiesfeld.
Steve Daniel sent beautiful photos of great egrets at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. The egret population increases in the fall as birds from the north are migrating south and feeding with the year-round residents.
Reuben Rohn photographed a white-crowned sparrow near the Harris Teeter Retention Pond in Virginia Beach. “Although this is considered a rare visitor here, at least one has been spotted in this location for at least three years,” wrote Rohn.
Jonathan Snyder sent a beautiful photo of a northern parula warbler perched on a branch at Back Bay National Wildlife Federation in Virginia Beach. Parula warblers are found in areas with Spanish moss and usnea lichen that are used for nest-building.
Carmen Scherrer photographed a catbird filling up on the beautyberries in her yard in Chic’s Beach in Virginia Beach.
Harold Winer sent photos of a pair of bluebirds visiting his worm bowl and birdbath in the Kings Grant area of Virginia Beach.
Susan Knowles Faulkner sent photos of a monarch chrysalis in her backyard in Pine Meadows in Virginia Beach. “My husband and I find great joy in planting milkweed for monarchs and parsley for swallowtails,” wrote Faulkner.
Connie Owen photographed a beautiful buckeye butterfly on a seaside goldenrod at Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore. Buckeyes are named for their conspicuous eyespots on the hind wings. Host plants include gerardia, plantain, and common backyard weeds.
Benjamin Gerber got a close-up of a bee foraging for nectar on goldenrod flowers in the Western Branch neighborhood in Chesapeake.
Kristin West photographed a praying mantis that was hanging by her back door for two days in Sandbridge in Virginia Beach. “I think it was attracted to the marigold plant I have in the yard,” wrote West. “I love how you can see its pupils and it is just watching me as I watch it.”
Gary Williamson spotted a southern leopard frog camouflaged among the leaves in Northwest River Park in Chesapeake. “It can be identified by the white spot on the tympanum,” wrote Williamson.
Mike Weirich got a photo of a cottonmouth crossing the road while biking at False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach.
Robert Parker got a photo of a coyote crossing a lawn in the Churchland area of Portsmouth.
Caroline Prevost got a photo of the critically endangered red wolf pup at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. “There are only approximately 25 red wolves in the wild,” wrote Prevost. “I have searched for the red wolf for two and a half years and was thrilled to finally see one.”
Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net
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If you go
What: Winter Wildlife & History Tram Tour
When: 1-5 p.m. Nov. 5, 19 and 25
Where: False Cape State Park, 4001 Sandpiper Road, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Parking Lot, Virginia Beach
Cost: $8 per person
More information: Reservations are required. Call 757-426-7128.
![A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]](https://www.pilotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/04/14/3X2JI5FLARG3XCZMNVHACWQSAA.jpg?w=535 "A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]")