People often ask me where I get all my nature photos, so I thought I’d show you. Hop in with me, and let’s take a quick spin around the Lake of the Woods area in Minnesota, where I live.

First and foremost, are the farmlands and lakes. With 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, this is a common sight. It’s a perfect ecosystem for the migrating birds that nest here.

We also have woodlands adjacent to the fields of crops, and that makes a great place for deer. They stay in the woods most of the day and gather in the fields overnight. Needless to say, there are no starving deer around here.

We also have quite a few marshes scattered here and there. Call them wetlands, lowlands, or just plain swamps, these areas are the perfect ecosystem for birds, especially songbirds. The problem is you can’t just walk out in one, and that’s where the zoom lens comes in handy.

Finally, there’s the big bad bog. This ecosystem is totally alien to all the others. I was here the other day and discovered something new: the funnel spiders build their webs directly over the carnivorous pitcher plants in a symbiotic relationship. The intoxicating aroma of the nectar in the pitcher plants wafts up through the web, attracting all kinds of insects, which the spider then makes short work of. In return, the pitchers get a steady flow of “crumbs” from the spider.

Isn’t life amazing and wonderful? Thanks for riding along.

–photos by me