The cool fall foliage of Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) a small shrub of the forest understory. While most trees and shrubs run from yellow to orange to red. This guy has gone a different route, pink. Waupaca Co., WI #fallcolors #nativeplants #wisconsinplants

Silhouette of a bald eagle on a dead tree. Both the eagle and I are waiting for the sun to come up and warm the day. Forest Co. WI. #baldeagle #birds #Wisconsin

Another sunrise photo from a stop I made at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge this week. This one is of the floating boardwalk from where I took the duck photos. #HoriconNationalWildlifeRefuge #Wisconsin #Sunrise

Ducks paraded their silhouettes through the marsh at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. Such a beautiful sunrise on Thursday. I wonder if the ducks enjoyed it too? #ducks #horiconnationalwildliferefuge #horiconmarsh

I found several Giant Puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), two larger than basketballs, at work yesterday. They were begging to be stomped on, but I thought better of it, though. Breathing in a few billion spores might not be a great idea. #fungus #mushrooms #puffball

A Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus) butterfly hanging out on my corn earlier this summer. It had probably been feeding as a caterpillar on one of the hickories or oaks behind the house. Now this tiny adult is posing on the corn where it has no business but to rest. Rest up! #butterfly #pollenator

I was blessed to witness and share the spectacle of the Northern Lights with my family last night. The light pollution in my neighborhood outside Oshkosh, WI, isn't too bad. #northernlights #auroraborealis #wisconsin

People grow milkweed for Monarch Butterflies, and it is easy to see why; however, many other species also need the plants. While they aren’t Monarchs, the Large Milkweed Bug is just as important a part of the ecosystem and is most welcome on the milkweed plants in my yard. #milkweed #nativeplants

A painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) suns itself on a log while doing a little leg stretch. #turtle #reptiles #nature

youtube.com/shorts/_5xE0... Some clips from a beautiful sunrise this week along the Rock River and the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. Growing up, I spent a lot of time on the Rock River, and I can always hear the geese when I close my eyes. #wetlands #wisconsin #naturephotography #horicon

Red-legged grasshopper (Red-legged Grasshopper) on a Prairie Dock leaf. I am not sure if I interrupted the grasshopper's meal, or if it was just hanging out. #blackandwhite #insectphotography #macrophotography

Backlit Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) leaf glowing like a stained-glass window just before sunset. Get down on your knees and look. You will see beauty and maybe find reverence for natural things. NE Wisconsin prairie remnant. #prairie #nativeplants #plants

Sunset over a Wisconsin cornfield on the last day of August. The corn is well on its way, and like the end of the day, so is the end of summer. #sunset #corn #photography

ellow-collared Scape Moths (Cisseps fulvicollis) cover a Blazing star, Liatris ligulistylis, I believe. #nativeplants #naturephotography #moths

I was out walking today, and this honeybee paid me a visit. I think it was looking for salt. #bees #pollinators #naturephotography

I came upon a scene that looked like a funeral for a tree. A tree, likely a hemlock, fell to the ground many decades ago. Something about the lighting of the scene made it appear to me that the deceased was being watched over by its neighbors. #blackandwhite #trees #forest #naturephotography

The broad-winged hawk is a small raptor of the forest. This one happened to fly out of a spruce bog in northern Wisconsin and was polite enough to perch and give me a look over. #birds #nature #birdsofprey #hawks