Red-tailed Hawk pursuing a Golden Eagle (observation is for the eagle). Incredible size comparison; the usually large looking Red-tail looks like a tiny hawk.

Park City mountain trails, Utah.

• Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.
• Sunrise 6:19 am; Sunset 8:45 pm
• Daylight Hours: 14 hours, 26 minutes (-1m 53s)
• Moon: 0.2% Waxing Crescent

Spotted by Gonzalo! I had been wanting to see one for years... thanks, dude!

Snorkeling along the jetty and around the beach at South Pointe with Gonzalo, Benjamin and Jasmine. Visibility was excellent closer to shore but wasn't so great further out. The water just seemed a bit hazy/smoky/foggy (not sure how else to describe it) as we got to around 10ft+ depth swimming east along the jetty. We swam about 250m, a little less than halfway down the jetty, before turning around. There was a full moon and we were swimming during slack high tide according to tides4fishing.com. Winds have been out of the South for the past several days and there was little sargassum on the beach.

Highlights were a small electric ray and gulf flounder on the sandy bottom. Jasmine unfortunately got stung by one of the little jellyfish that come out at night (this one: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/123714438 )
but thankfully the sting wasn't too bad.

All my observations from tonight: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-07-12&place_id=any&user_id=joemdo&verifiable=any

All my night snorkeling observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&user_id=joemdo&verifiable=any&field:Night%20Dive=yes

Alligator capture-tag-release program on Bear Island, 1996. See the online journal at www.williamwisephoto.com.

That's me (not a sasquatch) on an alligator capture-tag-release program on Bear Island WMA, SC in the spring/summer of 1996. I loved gators before this day, but was totally hooked after holding my first juvenile and feeling the growl of an adult as I sat on her to be tagged (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18369794). That weekend started my alligator addiction. See the online journal at www.williamwisephoto.com.

Note distinctive very long pinkish bill; dark brown iris; dark eyestripe; pale supercilium; rusty-brown upperparts; buff flanks. I was absolutely thrilled when I found this one singing in the elephant grass. I also managed to get a good audio clip of it singing. According to Cornell Lab, this critically endangered bird was estimated in 2007 to be around 2,742 individuals on two islands.

My 1,000th alligator posted on iNat!

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Three-day paddling trip from Suwannee Canal to Round Top to Floyd's Island.

• Suwannee Canal (orange canoe trail) between mile markers 6 and 7; N30.77671° W82.23420°
• Clouds and rain, high near 69.
• Sunrise 6:44 am; sunset 6:34 pm
• Day length: 11 hours, 50 minutes (+1m 54s)

See and learn more about the incredible Okefenokee Swamp at www.okefenokee.photography
Help protect the Okefenokee at https://protectokefenokee.org/

Oct 2013; Palm City Florida. A quick visit to my aunt and uncle's in Palm City, Florida. As is typical of Florida, herons were feeding in the neighborhood roadside drainage ditches. http://williamwisephoto.com/photographyblog/palm-city-florida-herons

"Violet, wake up. There's a deer in the field and I think it has a fawn," Margaret said, bending over me.
I turned over groggily in bed, not really caring, just wanting those last five minutes of sleep.
"Oh."
"Don't you want to see?"
"Not really."
Margaret left, and, after those five minutes, I got out of bed and went downstairs. No one else was up yet, and, mildly interested in the deer, I went outside to see if it could still be there.
Indeed, there was a deer in the field, and I thought I saw a fawn under it. So I got the camera and approached the fence. It bounded away (previous observation), and, where it had been standing, I discovered two tiny twin fawns! The grass was all flattened down, and I saw no sign of the placentas. I'm guessing the mother had already eaten it. (Do they do that to hide it from predators?) The last photo is probably my favorite.

Six baby skunks were meandering around on our driveway! They were so adorable! But they were very bold! They just walked right up to us! My dad and I sat down, and the skunks began to climb on my dad’s legs. It was a little bit unnerving! But they were super cute! They even made of strange noise. Notice that there is only one primarily black skunk with stripes. The rest are mostly white. Also they seemed to find refuge by hiding behind this tree.

Gripping the rope keeping a boat in place- the rope rose out of the water several times but the seahorse didn't let go- continued to hang out on the rope, repositioning several times for an hour or two. Didn't let go when lifted out of the water, though..?

ID FOR BIRD ON THE RIGHT. Looking for confirmation that this is a Black Vulture as opposed to a young Turkey Vulture.

©williamwisephoto.com Every fall a mixed gathering of Turkey and Black Vultures descends upon our neighborhood, roosting in the snags in the greenspace, and stays through the first part of winter.

• ​Athens-Clarke County, Georgia
• Sunny with a high near 44°
• Sunrise 7:38 AM, Sunset 5:47 PM
• Day length: 10 hours, 8 minutes
• Moon: 2% waning crescent
• Journal: http://williamwisephoto.com/photographyblog/vulture-party

I didn’t know there are squirrels (upper left) on the planet Pandora… but it is Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so anything is possible; Orange County, Florida

• Partly sunny, afternoon thunderstorms, with a high near 89. Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 2pm.
• Sunrise 6:30 am; Sunset 8:27 pm
• Daylight Hours: 13 hours, 56 minutes (-17s)

videos in comments

now please understand when i say this that i KNOW what i saw, i KNOW bats arent supposed to do that but it absolutely did. this bat landed on the ground and then got up and flew again. as we were watching it fly, my mom said she saw it land in the ground for a bit. i told her it might fly close to the ground but wouldnt actually land because they cant get up. not two seconds later i had to eat my words as i watched the bat land on the lawn. i was shocked, and assumed that it must not be able to get up now, and wondered how this bat that was flying fine just fell like that. i carefully started making my way towards it, and saw it definitely on the ground. and then, while i was still about ten feet away, it popped right up into the air and started flying again! i have no pictures or videos of the event despite filming much of its flying, because i was under the impression i could take a good picture of it while looking at it on the ground to assess it because i thought it wouldnt be going anywhere now that it was on the ground. but apparently thats not true!! my mom witnessed this with me

Exner Marsh Nature Preserve; McHenry County, Illinois.

• Cloudy and 48 degrees. Wind and rain with a high near 59 degrees.
• Sunrise 5:47 AM; Sunset 7:51 PM
• Daylight hours: 14 hours, 4 minutes (+2m 10s)
• Moon 19% Waxing Crescent

Note bronze dorsal coloration and distinctive four toes on the forefoot (last image). This species is native to Papua New Guinea and was likely introduced to the Marianas sometime between the end of World War II and the early 1960s. It was first collected on Saipan in 1964.

Mobbing an Osprey.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort; Orange County, Florida

• Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 2pm.
• Sunrise 6:30 am; Sunset 8:27 pm
• Daylight Hours: 13 hours, 56 minutes (-17s)

While hiking back from plant monitoring in Restoration Area 2019 of the Hole-in-the-Donut (Everglades National Park), we saw movement and heard squealing in the grasses about three feet from us. It was a corn snake grabbing a hispid cotton rat! Such a crazy thing to see although we were only able to see the rustling and didn't see the actually hit. The rat stopped squealing pretty quick, maybe after 5-10 seconds.