The PhotoNaturalist

Public comments are being accepted until November 24, 2023 on the possibility of Wild (Feral) Horses being eliminated or severely reduced in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Go to WildLandsWildHorses.com for details

Comments are being accepted at 

parkplanning.nps.gov (search “Theodore Roosevelt”)

These are the comments I made to the National Park Service:

“I am from the Duluth, Minnesota area but have Visited Teddy Roosevelt MANY times over the last 43 years. Some of my most MEMORABLE experiences had to do with the WILD HORSES. I am a wildlife photographer, videographer, author, naturalist, YouTuber. I am also the Executive Director of a land preservation non-profit.

Watching the behavior of different bands of horses is a mesmerizing experience. We once saw two stallions have a wild clash. And these are just simply stunning animals with a myriad of colors.

I refuse to call these horses “Feral.” They are WILD! And if you’ve ever had the fortune to sit and watch their behavior, you’d agree. These horses have survived in this harsh environment for many decades. 

A “feral” animal is a dog that has ran away and lives on its own for part of its lifetime. These horses have been wild and free for generations. Teddy Roosevelt himself even noted their presence in the area!

From my understanding, their presence DOES NOT AFFECT BISON. This may be an excuse used by some to eliminate the horse herds.

They are part of the COLORFUL HISTORY of Teddy Roosevelt National Park and as such deserve a permanent home here. 

I have NO PROBLEM with MANAGING the herd for inbreeding and health, but to reduce their numbers to such low levels will only increase problems with herd genetics.

Please, please, please consider eliminating this plan and concentrate on CREATING A HEALTHY  HERD AND SAVING A FOREVER HOME FOR WILD HORSES IN TEDDY ROOSEVELT.

Submitted respectfully…

Sparky Stensaas

Sparky and Ryan travel west to Teddy Roosevelt National Park in mid October for some wildlife photography. And the wildlife is abundant! Coyotes, Wild Horses, Bison, Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Sharp-tailed Grouse and more. Part 1.

Clear skies create opportunity for backlit shots and other creative images.

I find some cool things in this episode of Virtually Live from Sax-Zim Bog. Snow Buntings and Pine Siskins have arrived from the north. Then I run across a bizarre sight…A Muskrat is chasing a Wood Duck around a Beaver pond!. Later a Great Gray Owl flies over my van and into the bog so I put on my rubber boots and go in after the owl. Amazingly I find it and plop down in the Sphagnum moss to enjoy the show. Eventually the Great Gray comes within 30 feet or so and plunges into the moss for a vole. Wow! 

Birding and bird photography in Sax-Zim Bog in October.

Also remiders of the upcoming Tiny Bird Art fundraiser, BRRRRdathon: World’s Coldest Birdathon, 2024 Bog Wild Calendar, and Wrap up of Bog BioBlitz XI in Sax-Zim.

Virtually Live #39: Season 4 Episode 4

October 16, 2023

In part 2 of Sparky’s Florida Bird Adventure he travels from Jupiter to Miami and inland to find some amazing birds in interesting locations:

Jonathon Dickinson State Park—Florida Scrub Jays, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Brown-headed Nuthatches.

J.W. Corbett WMA—Bachman’s Sparrow, Swallow-tailed Kite family, 

Grassy Waters Preserve—a very close Snail Kite catching 3 apple snails

Vista View Park—17 Burrowing Owls!

Sparky also shares his best butterfly and reptile finds of the trip.

—South Florida bird photography Part 1—Nearly eaten by Croc!

In Part 1 of Sparky’s Florida birding adventure, he takes his Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens to South Florida…IN SUMMER!

Birding and bird photography stops in the South Miami, the Keys, and the Everglades include:

Brewer Park-Miami (parrot roost-Red Masked Parakeet, Chestnut-fronted Macaw)

Black Point Park & Marina (Mangrove Cuckoo, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Common Myna)

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park-Key Largo (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Big Pine Key (White-crowned Pigeon, Key Deer, Gray Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo)

Fort Zachary Taylor S.P.-Key West (Roseate Tern, Least Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great White Heron, Common Ground Dove)

Key West Botanical Gardens (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Flamingo Boat Launch-Everglades National Park (American Crocodile, West Indian Manatee)

Part 2 will cover Florida from Miami up to Jupiter and inland to Johnathon Dickenson State Park and more.

May 16, 2023

I head down to Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, Wisconsin to search for my Lifer Olympia Marble butterfly. I also stumble upon one of the most beautiful turtles in North America…the Blanding’s Turtle (which promptly “mauls” me 🙂

Vesper and Grasshopper sparrows are singing, along with Eastern Towhees, Trumpeter Swans and Eastern Kingbirds.

It is hot, and the mosquitos are awful, but I find multiple species of butterflies to photograph including Hoary Elfin, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Silvery Blue, and, my main target, Olympia Marble…the butterfly that looks like its been brushed with gold foil!

In Virtually Live 37 S4E2 Sparky shares findings and updates from the Sax-Zim Bog. We join him and Clinton on several Warbler Wednesday & Songbird Saturday field trips. And we find out the results of the First Greater Sax-Zim Bog Big Week!

Wildlife highlights include a huge boar Black Bear, CoyWolf, Cliff Swallows gathering mud, hunting Great Gray, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Flicker nest, dust-bathing Grouse and a variety of warblers.

Too much time in front of the computer lately, so a quick trip to Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Wisconsin was in order. 

My main target was the OLYMPIA MARBLE, a small white butterfly that doesn’t look like much while flitting about a grassland, but when it lands it reveals the stunning underwings that are marbled with a glittery green/gold.

Because of my research on Mike Reese’s wonderful wisconsinbutterflies.org site, I found several only two minutes after I arrived. Hmmmm, this will be easy, I thought. But I quickly found out that these butterflies are very particular about which flower they land on…and it takes them a loooong time to do so.

Their host plant is Rock Cress (Arabis sp.), a 6-12″ unassuming plant with a few groups of 4-petaled white tiny flower at their apex. And there were many in full bloom in this patch of grassland.

With camera in hand, and flash ready to fire, I would follow a flying Olympia Marble across the prairie waiting for it to land on a Rock Cress after which I’d drop to the ground, prone on the prickly prairie, to get an eye-level shot of a stunning butterfly. But 9 times out of 10 (19 times out of 20?) the little butterfly would already have moved on by the time I was in position. The few times it did begin to nectar, it only did so for a very few seconds, leaving while I was still trying to focus on the very tiny flowerhead. I was left to grunt and groan as I tried to get back onto my feet to pursue it yet again.

Not only this, but I failed to realize that while the mosquitoes had not yet emerged in northern Minnesota, they were out if full force at Crex, and they were joined by their friends the Black Flies. No bug dope in my van. Zero. Despite the 75 degree temps I had to don my wool Ullfrotte jacket. Not comfortable.

I still wonder why the Marbles pass up countless Rock Cress that look perfectly fine to me….What do they know that I don’t? Are some already stripped of nectar? If so, how do they know? Smell? Look? 

Finally I was able to get in position and click off a few frames on a couple occasions. It only took 2 hours but I finally had a satisfying image showing the glorious underwings.

**All photos taken with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens; f8 at 1/200 second; fill flash with Flashpoint flash and MagMod flash extender at 1/16 to 1/32 power.

Next post: Blanding’s Turtles out for a stroll

Sparky makes two visits (April 21 and April 26) to find out. Highlights include a huge flock of ducks, a late Rough-legged Hawk, 8 species of ducks, Sandhill Cranes. We look for a Canada Jay nest, listen to overhead displaying Snipe and walk the Bob Russell Bogwalk. Sparky also shares about the Sax-Zim Bog connection to a new book about Dutchman Arjan Dwarshuis’s World Big Year record in 2016.

Plus, we find out about the new boardwalk and trail planned for Sax-Zim in 2023.

Churchill Manitoba on Hudson Bay is a premiere destination for bird photography and birding. It is one of the most accessible tundra habitats in North America. Home to Arctic Hare, Willow Ptarmigan, Short-billed Dowitcher, Tundra Swan, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Nelson’s Sparrow, Common Redpoll, Common Eider, Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Hudsonian Godwit, Beluga Whale, Harbor Seal and more.

Cape Merry is an awesome spot to watch the hundreds of Beluga Whales feast on Capelin fish in the Churchill River. Many Red-throated Loons are flying by at eye level!

In part 2 of my June 2022 trip, I take you along on a birding and bird photography trip; Halfway Point, Fox Drive, Twin Lakes Road, Goose Creek Road, Coast Road. We also do some bushwhacking out on the wet tundra looking for birds and nests.

I get a little too close (accidentally) to a Parasitic Jaeger nest. I also takes you along on a zodiac tour of the Churchill River with James of Sea North where we get up close and personal with dozens of Beluga Whales.

(Yes, this was June of 2022…and it has taken me 10 months to finish this part 2 video!)