“I escape into the great outdoors; where freedom’s soul forever roars.” Angie Weiland- Crosby

Are you still enjoying the Great Outdoors? Today is a BIG day with folks celebrating Father’s Day and the Official Summer Solstice converging on this Sunday. If you reside in the northern hemisphere, no doubt the sun is up early and goes to bed late.

Here in Eastern Washington, we get almost 18 hours of daylight this month. Light enough to see the wildlife enjoying the early mornings and late evenings.

Welcome to My New Photo Challenge: Animal, Bird, or Creature of the Month

Like my monthly color challenge, this new feature will highlight a creature from the animal kingdom each month—an animal, bird, insect, reptile, or any other critter. Some months may include a subtheme; others will simply invite you to share a favorite creature of your choice.

As always, your interpretation is entirely up to you. I look forward to seeing how participants bring this theme to life through their photos and stories.

• Share an animal, bird, insect, or other critter.
• Follow the monthly subtheme when one is provided.
• Use your own creative interpretation of the theme.

This Month’s Subtheme is WILD

For this week’s challenge, wild refers to animals living in their natural state, without human control, domestication, or regular care. Think of creatures observed in their original habitats, behaving as they would in the natural world.

They may include mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, or other critters.

Four-Legged Wild Things

Almost daily, we watch the mule deer that live in the surrounding forest visit our backyards. I spied these two young bucks, antlers in full velvet, strolling on the side of the road.

Moose on the Loose

I have seen a few moose in the years I have lived here. When seen up close, they are overwhelmingly BIG! But THIS only happens occasionally… My neighbor shared this with me, which happened in early April.

Near the end of May, a young bull moose wandered down our street, then strolled nonchalantly through our backyards. All the neighbors stood and gaped at the sight!

He then heard and saw my dog, Brodie, barking on the other side of the fence from our property and quickly ambled up over the neighbor’s berm.

My images were a bit blurry due to lighting (and the moose’s speed), so I enhanced this one above with Google Image AI to give you a better idea. The nearby lake attracts both moose and deer.

Wild Wings Singing the Blues

Let’s start with this cute Black-crowned night heron I saw at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in March. He looked more blue-gray than black. He may be wild, but he seemed accustomed to the visitors. They are stocky, but reach a length of about 2 feet (66 cm), and their wingspan is typically 45 to 46 inches (115 to 118 cm).

Back in the backyard, July is a busy month for all the bird species that congregate here.

This Western Bluebird pair enjoyed our birdbath last summer.

I mentioned we live near Lake Spokane. Bald Eagles congregate here with their nests and perform fly-overs above our backyard on occasion.

That about does it for the Wild Things this week.

I’m sharing this week for Dan’s CFFC Color Challenge: Blue; Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday; Kym & Sadje’s Writers’ Quotes (WQ): Connecting with Nature, and Pepper’s One Step at a Time.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

• Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
• Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
• Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
• Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
• I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret the new feature this week. Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Please join me next week as we look to the FUTURE.

July themes are ready to view on my Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Page, which is updated monthly.

“And the deer—how beautiful they are, as though their bodies did not impede them. Slowly they drift into the open through bronze panels of sunlight.” – Louise Glück

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