mmckinneyphoto13

The very regal-looking butterfly is a monarch. They can be found across southern Canada and are known to travel almost 5000 kilometers during a long two-way migration. They travel to California and Mexico

This Snowy White Owl is a rescue bird; it had an injury and can't fly anymore, so it ended up under the care of my local Calgary zoo. It has an open enclosure where you're actually are inside where this

There was a pair of these gray wolves doing laps in their enclosure; their determined jog didn't stop or let up other than when they would change directions. They both moved so quickly that I couldn't

It's hard to get sparrows up close, and the one place where I seem to have the most success is at the Calgary Zoo, where they seem to be everywhere. Maybe they are a little more used to people being around.

There are three different subspecies of bighorn sheep; this one is of the Rocky Mountain variety. The other two are the Sierra Nevada and Desert Bighorn types. These images are of a female; they typically

Caribou are members of the deer family. In Europe they are sometimes called reindeer. Larger than a deer and smaller than a moose, their thicker coats enable them to live in colder environments. They also

I enjoy seeing animals up close, and you can almost see a bit of their personality in these faces. These Big Horn sheep were fairly mellow and lazing about. The larger one with the fully developed horns

The proverbial bird on a wire, and it seems that whenever I see a bird perched on a cable like this, it seems to be something that keeps the bird from moving too much so I can get some nice close-ups.

I liked watching this giraffe eat, as it was interesting to get a closer look at the facial features of this very tall, magnificent creature. When looking at these shots closer in monochrome, I really

This group of king penguins was out for a walk, and it was neat to see them up close. This is a guided walk that the zookeepers take these birds on when the conditions are right for it. They reminded me

This spider was in the act of spinning its web, which was really neat to observe. It very dutifully kept working, the inherent skills very apparent. I could tell this spider has done this many times before,

The little tiny structures that flowers make are fascinating to me; it's like they were made with some kind of purpose. As I have learned, the different looks that flowers have are partly intended to attract

This is the chubbiest little Robin that I have seen; in fact, many of the ones I encounter seem somewhat slender. Looking into this, it seems to be somewhat of a mystery as to why robins get chubby like

I seem to have found these Big Horn Sheep during nap time. This was at the Calgary Zoo; their enclosure is set up to be similar to the Rocky Mountains from which they hail. They were all lying down enjoying

I spotted this chubby little sparrow on the floor of my local supermarket just hanging out. A woman was trying to get her attention and mentioned that it is here when she comes. It seemed very content

The orange, red, yellow, and golden glow in the sky is one of my all-time favorite things to capture, like many photographers, I'm sure. Watching the clouds change color as the setting sun illuminates

In Calgary, and I'm sure this might be similar in other cities, we have many neighborhood northern flickers. They seem well adapted to living among houses, telephone poles, and trees. When I hear the

The tiny little veiny structures that connect these leaves really stand out even more in monochrome. They remind me of some random patterns I used to draw, not very symmetrical but ever-present throughout

I saw this jackrabbit grooming itself after a bit of a rainstorm. It looked like he had been caught in the rain and all of a sudden found some shelter near the trees to wait it out. For several minutes

This squirrel seemed to be a bit paranoid as it ate whatever snack it had just acquired. It kept looking around as if it were concerned someone might be watching. It would spin around as it stood in a