Other Wildlife at OBX
I do have a passion for birds, but I also love and enjoy photographing all wildlife, great and small.
Here’s some of what I’ve happened upon during my walks at Pea Island NWR and along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Grasshopper
Moon Jellyfish
Cannonball Jellyfish
If you missed my post on another jellyfish, Blue Buttons, click here, they were gorgeous!
Gulf Fritillary
Gulf Fritillary
Black Racer
Black Racer
As I headed to an observation deck at Pea Island NWR, a female White-tailed deer came out of the brush. She stayed ahead of me, walking a little, then stopping to see where I was. I followed, and stopped when she did.
I felt like I was playing the children’s game, “Red Light, Green Light”! 😅
“Red Light”
“Green Light”
“Red Light”
“Green Light”
“Red Light”
We continued our game, all the way to the observation deck.
Okay, now I’m wondering if she’s going to walk up on the deck. 🤔
White-tailed Deer & Pea Island Observation Deck
I wasn’t sure what to do. She waited there several minutes and then turned to her left and started walking away. I continued to and up on the observation deck and saw her heading away, with a glance back at me several times.
“Goodbye”
I’ve never been escorted to an observation deck by a deer before! 😊
“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.” — John Muir
Photos by Donna 
Donna, I really enjoy your examples of macro photography. The “green light, red light” with the deer is precious. I have been blessed with playing the same game with a few white-tails in my walks at a couple of nature parks nearby.
Thank you! It was a wonderful experience with the doe, I’ll not forget it. 😊
Precious photos..
Thank you!
Welcome🙂
A perfectly glorious post, Donna. thanks for the wonderful photos of all the creatures in your midst. I espec. like that handsome grasshopper and long shiny racer. The “Red Light Green Light” game with the white-tailed deer was a fantastic series, and how enchanting it must’ve been to experience. I also enjoyed the jellyfish, and had missed the Bluebuttons, so all were a great treat.
Thank you for your kind words, Jet, as you and Athena, I am in awe of it all, great or small. 🙂 It was a special treat to play with the doe, although I did worry she was going to go up the ramp to the deck, lol. I had a Great Blue Heron do that to me down in the Everglades, walked ahead of me up the ramp. It finally flew up on the handrail and I ended up walking by it (looking away), and it stayed put. hehe
Thank you for letting us tag along so we could share so much beauty! I feel refreshed.
You’re quite welcome, Wally, any time! 🙂
Such a variety of subjects in this great post. I enjoyed all the images and creatures! If only people would slow down and walked like you did.
Thank you, Hien! Many people miss so much by not slowing down. I am a real slow-poke and see so much more than they! 😉
Wow…excellent pictures, Donna! Loved reading your description 🙂
Thank you very much, Indira! 😊
All great images but the Gulf Fritillary is my favorite. I have a soft spot for macros and butterflies are not easy to photograph. Nicely done! 😊👏
Thank you very much, Irene! I ‘worked’ that butterfly with a couple dozen shots hoping for good focus, you’re right, they aren’t easy! 😊
I so enjoyed your nature trail, Donna. What fun you had with the sweet deer. 😃
Thank you, Sylvia, I am happy you enjoyed tagging along! The doe was a sweetheart! 😊
Such a wonderful variety of life. I hope that snake wasn’t venomous(?) If so, it looks certainly more dangerous than any glacier! 😉
Thank you, Mike! No the snake isn’t poisonous, but I did see that snake on two different days in the same area (so I figured it was the same one). I know I paid more attention to where I was walking after spotting it the first time. Nah, not near as dangerous as a glacier! 😉
Love them shots of the Frits.
Thank you, Brian!
I really like that you documented your game with the deer. That’s an impressive observation deck.
Thanks David! I’ll play a game with somewhat tame wildlife any day. It was kind of fun, and I was glad no one else was around to ruin it. 🙂
Very nice Donna! Looks like you are having a Great time! Keep the images coming!😊
Thank you Reed, will do! 😊
Great series of excellent photos, Donna.
I think you are a real deer “whisperer”. No? It wouldn’t surprise me. 🙂 🦌
Thank you very much, HJ! Hmmmm….maybe! hehe 🙂
Great collection, Donna! I love your red light/green light commentary and photos and it’s great to see the non-bird wildlife you are experiencing.
Thank you very much, Ellen! My biggest dilemma is trying to stay away from the spiders and their webs. 🥴 😅
No shortage of great subjects and photos!
Thanks, Belinda, I’ve been having a blast!
Donna these are all wonderful pictures. I love the interaction with the deer. I wish I could interact in that way with our regular great blue herons. They seem to be okay with our presence, up to a point, but I’ve never been able to ‘commune’ with them. Thanks, as always, for sharing!
Thank you, Susan! Funny thing, when we were down in the Everglades this past winter, I had a GBH walk ahead of me, and then up a boardwalk ramp to an observation deck. Be sure, it was a slow walk, lol, they don’t move fast. S/he finally flew up to the handrail and I walked up the same ramp and right by it standing there. What a crazy experience that was!! 😅
What a curious experience being led on by a deer must have been.
It was! One I won’t forget. I’m used to seeing the backside and white-tail up as it leaps and runs. 🙂
I love your narration. Awesome collection of photos Donna!
Thank you, Sandra! Nature is so enjoyable and fun!
Love your macro of the grasshopper Donna, and the other wonderful captures. The deer provided some lovely moments for you, with a little intrigue. Loved your picture story.
Thank you very much, Ashley! I really expected the deer to run at any moment. It surely was a special time together for me. She may think otherwise, lol. 😉
Love the deer playing red light green light! What a special moment. I loved your John Muir quote, too, he has some wonderful insights.
Thank you so much, Sue! How fun to play with wildlife. 🙂 Yes, John Muir has wonderful insights!
Deer or any other animal can recognize when another animal is looking at it. We can do that as well. You can tell If someone is staring right at you even If they are hundreds of metres away!
Having a animal stare at you makes you uncomfortable because that’s exactly what happens just before they attack!
So If you want to get closer to an animal do not walk towards It and do not look at it. Make your route random with only occasional glimpses at the animal your wanting to take shots of. Some wildlife photographers wear mosquito masks to cover the eyes,nose and mouth.
If you see the same animal day after day,It will accept you as not being a predator and so relax more so.
Even doing that some are just naturally very skittish no matter what you do.
I like your shots Donna.
We have more eyes on us than we know whenever we roam! Oh, I know well the drill with approaching wildlife, I’ve been photographing wildlife for over ten years, some on a daily basis for a whole season. 🙂 I wasn’t trying to approach the deer, I wanted to go to the observation deck; and it came out in front of me on the trail. It was an enjoyable moment!
Such a lovely collection of images… (Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne!
You have quite the wonderful collection here! At least your black racer wasn’t a Copperhead. I’ve nearly stepped on a couple this year.
Thank you, Vic! Oh boy, I imagine even the snakes have ventured further out with less humans about in their territories. 😲 Glad you weren’t bitten. There were signs along a boardwalk at Bodie Lighthouse that stated to stay on the boardwalk due to poisonous snakes below (I didn’t see any). But that was somewhere else than where I saw this racer snake. I did keep my eyes out everywhere I walked though and didn’t walk through tall grasses!
I’d never laid eyes on a real Copperhead in my life and, this year, I’ve literally stumbled across two. The good news is, they weren’t too startled by me. They just looked at me and then buggered on off.
The first time, I wasn’t sure what kind of snake I was looking at. I took pix and came home to find out. Even Ken wasn’t sure. A local dog breeder on FB told us…”Yep. That is a young Copperhead. They are deadlier than the full grown ones.” OY. Yeah. Glad he/she was in a good mood.
The second one, my buddy Ray was closer to but, it was warming itself on the Riverwalk part in our local family/dog park. There are a LOT of children & walkers in that area. It was another small one…and just as uninterested in us as the one I found in town on the road in front of someone’s house.
Two in less than six months and none in my life, prior. OY! 😳😖
Absolutely stunning shots, Donna. Thank you son much!
Thank you so much, Isabel!
The close-up of the gulf fritillary is exquisite! I love the sequence of the game you were playing with the doe. I wonder what she was thinking about you…
Thank you very much, Barbara! I’m began to see more and more gulf fritillarys and have been working on them some more. They really are a tease, lol, just like the deer. Having fun with wildlife can really make us feel happy! 😊
What fun! Like she knew where you were headed! The words wonderful from a great man!
Thank you, Gunta! 😊