It's late summer and the natural world is teeming with photo opportunities

I didn't have to go far to get a photo of this dragonfly, called a twelve-spot skimmer. Apparently it was temporarily grounded by an early morning chill. It flew off when I attempted to scoop it up in my hand.

A white-tailed dragonfly clings to a wild grape vine.

A pearl crescent butterfly spreads its wings.

This marshy stream flows through one our preferred outdoor haunts.

This is our chocolate lab, Tate...

Obviously, this is one of his favorite places to cavort!

A raft of waterfowl, many of them black ducks, take a midday break.

A narrow portion of the stream where it passes through heavy brush.

With a nut clenched firmly in its jaws, this gray squirrel was scurrying on a fallen log when it stopped to relieve an itch.