Beaches and Coasts

Lakes and Rivers

Forests

Mountains

Deserts

Wetlands

Prairies

Panoramas

From the rocky coasts of the Pacific Northwest’s mighty Pacific Ocean to the tops of the Canadian Rockies, through Florida Everglades’ River of Grass and across the painted deserts of the American Southwest then over the Appalachian Mountains … these galleries have a little bit of everything that the best of North American landscapes can offer.

Brushfoots

Gossamer Wings

Swallowtails

Skippers

Sulphurs and Whites

Moths

Metalmarks

North America is wildly rich in butterflies and moths. In the United States and Canada alone, there are roughly 750 species of butterflies and a whopping 11,000 species of moths! With careful and painstaking research, more new species are still being discovered all the time!

Birds A-M

Birds N-W

When it comes to birds, North America is fantastically rich in native species diversity. While some species are found all around the world, the vast majority are found only here and nowhere else.

Bison, Goats, Sheep

Squirrels, Chipmunks

Deer and Elk

Rabbits, Hares, Pikas

Rats, Mice, Voles

Seals and Sea Lions

Foxes, Wolves

Raccoons

Pigs

Pronghorns

Armadillos

Manatees

Bears

Weasels, Otters, Badgers

We mammals have come a long way since the time of the dinosaurs. We’ve conquered the land, sea and air. North America has more than 740 species alive today.

Dragonflies

Grasshoppers

Arachnids

Insects

Marine Invertebrates

Snails, Mollusks

Crustaceans

Myriapods

96% of all currently living animal lifeforms alive today are invertebrates. Included are all the insects, arachnids, worms, crabs, shellfish, starfish, corals, and more! One thing they all have in common? No backbone.

Alligators, Crocodiles

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles, Tortoises

Long before the first dinosaur walked the earth, reptiles ruled the world. 65 million years after the last dinosaur drew its final breath, North America’s modern crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards, and turtles and tortoises are still keeping our native natural history alive!

Tree Frogs

Toads

Spadefoots

True Frogs

Salamanders

Did you know the word “amphibian” means “two lives”? All amphibians start their lives in the underwater, but after they go through a series of metamorphosis stages to adulthood, most trade gills for lungs and live the rest of their lives out of the water.

Arethuseae

Calypsoeae

Cranichideae

Cymbidieae

Cypripedieae

Epidendreae

Malaxideae

Maxillarieae

Neottieae

Orchideae

Pogoniinae

Polystachyeae

Triphoreae

Vandeae

Vanilleae

One of the largest families in the plant kingdom with nearly 28 thousand species around the globe, orchids are also one of the most popular and most sought-after flowering plants in history. In Victorian times, entire foreign expeditions were sent around the world at great personal risk led by fearless (and often ruthless) orchid hunters to acquire the next new unknown exotic species from the most distant corner of the Earth. Luckily for us, North America is rich with unique native species found nowhere else in the world!

Wildflowers by Color

Wildflowers by Family

By far our largest collection of galleries, these wildflower image sets are arranged by both color and by taxonomic family for use as a casual identification tool or field guide, or for more thorough scientific research for deeper understanding.

Pitcher Plants

Venus Flytraps

Bladderworts

Butterworts

Sundews

Sometimes called insectivorous plants, these amazing plants have adapted to a life in places where the soil is so poor in nutrients, that they’ve gained the ability to grow by trapping their food with modified leaves. By taking root in a harsh habitat, they have eliminated most of their competition from other plants.

Light-spored Gilled Mushrooms

Brown-spored Gilled Mushrooms

Dark-spored Gilled Mushrooms

Polypore and Crust Fungi

Morels

Jelly-like Fungi

Unique & Unusual Mushrooms

Puffballs

Club, Coral and Fan-like Fungi

Cup-fungi

Boletes

Lichens

Slime Molds

Without the enormous and nearly invisible world of fungi, there would be no forests or plants as we know them, no animals living, feeding and hunting in the forests and nothing to break down what organic matter is left. It’s this wonderful (and often weird) group that keeps nutrients moving and cycling through our world’s ecosystems.

Fruits and Berries

Cacti

Ferns

Bromeliads

Agaves and Yuccas

Palms

Saprophytes

Mosses

Horsetails

Deciduous Trees

Coniferous Trees

Botanical Images

This last and final collection of galleries include all the non-wildflower images such as our native trees, ferns, palms, fruits and berries, cacti, saprophytes, mosses, bromeliads and more!

Red Fox on Mount Rainier

by | May 9, 2011

This past week I was on personal business in Washington State – Seattle to be exact – and unfortunately did not have time allotted for photography. I was on a tight schedule, and didn’t feel like dragging my gear from the Southeast to the Northwest if I wasn’t going to use it. The scenery was outlandishly beautiful for this Floridian, and I did get a couple of chances to take some short hikes and see some of the natural landscapes around Puget Sound. After my business was as complete as it could be in the five days I was in Washington, it was time to head to the airport. Guess what? I missed my flight home.

A good friend of mine was also in the area and his trip had been delayed a day, so we decided to make use of the day by heading down to and up Mount Rainier. He had his Nikon with him and very generously lent me a memory card, and we shared the use of his camera and lenses. Here is the first shot from the trip up the mountain (where it was snowing!)

The first photo I’ll be posting from this trip is a red fox that was seen trotting through the snow about a third of the way up the mountain. I’ve been trying to get a shot of one of these for years, and luckily this missed flight gave me my chance!

Stay tuned….. many more shots from this day are on the way, and major updates to the website – including a whole new section of  North American nature photography!

Sharing and commenting via the social media links below will help me greatly, and is much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

ALL IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PRINT OR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. JUST CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND ADD TO CART.
 

Related posts:

Sea Stacks and the Coastline (and a Local Quinault Legend!) Looking Back at Summer: Twelve New Images! The Forgotten Coast – Unforgettable Florida North American Wildlife Potpourri #1

13 Comments

  2. Stacey Lynn Payne
    Stacey Lynn Payne on May 9, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    WOW! Imagine what you’re going to do when you LIVE out here! You are uber-talented!

    Reply
  3. Theboatlady
    Theboatlady on May 9, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    great shot..can’t wait to get to Seattle in July and see this for myself

    Reply
  4. Beverly Everson
    Beverly Everson on May 9, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    Wonderful shot! So glad you were able to make good use of a missed flight!!

    Reply
  6. Gerald Nickel
    Gerald Nickel on May 10, 2011 at 3:13 am

    Yah…. I am glad you missed the flight too…. we have alot more shots like this around here all year…. Come on back when ya have more times….
    Jerry or Grandpa J.

    Reply
    • RichLeighton
      RichLeighton on May 12, 2011 at 1:41 pm

      Thanks Gerald – I’ll be back in about 6-7 weeks. Maybe we can meet up for coffee?

      Reply
  7. Jacquee Gardner
    Jacquee Gardner on May 10, 2011 at 5:05 am

    Great shot, glad you like our side of the states…lol snowed just for you.

    Reply
  9. Doreen Cross
    Doreen Cross on July 15, 2011 at 3:15 am

    Stunning shot.  wow love the detail.

    Reply
  10. Doreen Cross
    Doreen Cross on July 15, 2011 at 3:16 am

    Wonderful shot Rich.    🙂 it screams for my graphite pencils.  

    Reply
  11. Ktywest
    Ktywest on October 14, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    Love this! Can’t wait to see more of your wonderful work and the new website 😀

    Reply

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  1. How Blue Can You Get? Steller’s Jay! - Leighton Photography & Imaging - [...] thanks for the huge response to my Red Fox on Mount Rainier, the first post from this series. And…

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