Taking a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey was one of the real highlights of my time there. Seeing the fairy chimneys and valleys from the air brought the entire region to life.
Some balloon pilots navigated their baskets of tourists down low to the ground, close enough to pick apples from trees – pretty cool! Our experienced pilot had fun taking us high, into the cold cloud cover of the early morning, high above all the other balloons. It was surprising how quickly the hot air balloons could rise or fall, depending on how much fuel he released into the balloon.
This photo was taken as we were descending. It was hard to get the right angle, but this image makes me smile and gives me that fun ‘feeling of falling’, a great memory from a stunning country.
The Feeling of Falling - View from a Hot Air Balloon in Turkey
Once expected to be extinct by the year 2000, great efforts were made in the past few decades to resurrect and protect the Utah Prairie Dog.
Extremely social animals, they live in large colonies, building complex networks of tunnels underground. These tunnels can be very destructive to farmland, which is why they were poisoned and killed to the brink of extinction. They are still listed as a threatened species.
The Utah Prairie Dog has the smallest range of all prairie dog species and can be distinguished by it’s black ‘eyebrow’ marks and the white tip on its tail. They are only found in Southwestern Utah. This one was photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park.
Utah Prairie Dog standing watch at Bryce Canyon National Park
Whether you call them Zeb ras or Zee bras these black and white striped horse-like creatures are one of Africa’s most easily identifiable animals.
There are Mountain Zebras and Plains Zebras, with more than half a dozen different subspecies. This one here is the Crawshay’s Zebra, photographed in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. Variations in the size and colouration of stripes, as well as general body size and shape are common ways to tell Zebra species apart.
A Crawshay's Zebra in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
No big mammal for this week’s wildlife photo, instead it is a little butterfly.
Monarch butterflies are arguably the most famous. and common, butterfly found in North America. A Canadian summer doesn’t seem the same without seeing them, yet they don’t stay in Canada all year. These butterflies are the only ones in the world to do a round-trip migration similar to what birds do.
When weather starts to turn cold in Canada, they begin a journey south towards Mexico, where they stay until spring before returning to Canada. With more than 100million butterflies making the migration, Monarchs are known to congregate in huge numbers when they arrive in Mexico, often covering entire trees and turning them ‘orange’.
Monarch Butterfly at Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
One of Africa’s ugliest creations, the Warthog somehow finds a soft spot in most people’s hearts. Perhaps it is the rough look of these creatures that makes them lovable, either way they can be fierce and have even been known to chase off Hyenas and Lions.
Able to go for months at a time without drinking any water, Warthogs have adapted well to the harsh conditions of the African savannah. The Southern Warthog is the subspecies of the Common Warthog that is found in Chobe National Park, Botswana. It was a rainy day when this mother and youngster were out grazing. Wet, muddy and dirty; this photo seemed to personify these ‘cute’ creatures quite well.
Southern Warthog Mother and Baby in Chobe National Park
