I love when my camera lets me see, with its zoom lens, what I can’t quite see without the magnification. Above is a turtle that has been basking on logs in my backyard river, Coyote Creek. I have seen several of these, but this one is often with her baby, which I was able to photograph, below, with my point and shoot. Much grainier and fuzzy but by the time I got back with my tripod and bigger camera with the 10x zoom, baby had gone a-swimming. Their shells are so shiny in the sun I had to underexpose the photo to see the patterning. Now I know these are called red-eared sliders and that they love to bask in the sun. I have never seen them in my creek until this year. Sometimes I’ll just hear the plop as they drop into the water and swim away when I come down to the lower yard. Maybe they’re getting a little more used to me. I love the reflection of their shells in the water, like crescent moon scoops. We’re all enjoying the sun as we draw closer to the summer solstice.
Beautiful and informative! Thank you.
Lovely! You are blessed!
You know, I do feel blessed seeing these turtles. I have heard them for years but until this year had not seen them. Recently I have been more active in knowing my patch of land, particularly this creek, and have been rewarded many times over by this daily practice.