For Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge she is asking us to show “All things bright and beautiful” during this autumn season of bright colors.
Where I live in coastal Georgia we don’t get the bright orange, red and yellow leaves on our trees. Instead, our sunrises and sunsets paint our sky a brilliant orange. The featured image was taken a few days ago when the sky was so glorious at sunset I had to stop and get out of my car to take a few photos.
I still have a few Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia) left in the garden. They are about the only bright orange color I get in the fall. The bloom in the next image appeared to glow as the sunlight hit it this afternoon.
Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge is Hooves and Claws in honor of National Bison Day which was celebrated on Saturday, November 1, 2025. She tells us that “this week’s Sunday Stills photo challenge is not just about bison, but about members of the animal kingdom that possess HOOVES and CLAWS.”
I decided to focus only on animals with hooves and mostly on bison and buffalo. Sadly, the hooves aren’t visible in all these images. The header image is of a small herd of American Bison at Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky.
Bison at Custer State Park, South Dakota
Wood Bison in Yukon Territory, Canada
Water Buffalo in Costa Rica
Budweiser Clydesdales
Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge Hooves and Claws
Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge is World Animal Day which was celebrated on October 4, 2025. Two animals that were on my bucket list were Whooping Cranes in Texas and Elk in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Seeing these animals in the wild was an amazing experience.
Whooping Cranes
According to the International Crane Foundation – North America, Whooping Cranes were near extinction with fewer than 20 individuals in 1941. Today, over 849 Whooping Cranes exist in the entire world.
We traveled to the Texas Gulf Coast one year hoping to see some of the Whooping Cranes who winter in and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. These birds breed at Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park and migrate to Texas every winter. Today there are more than 500 of these beautiful birds.
We found these magnificent Whooping Cranes near Goose Island State Park, south of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. I posted about this amazing experience at Magnificent Endangered Whooping Cranes.
Pair of Whooping Cranes, near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas
Cataloochee Valley Elk
One fall we traveled to Waynesville, North Carolina in search of Elk in Cataloochee Valley on the eastern side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I posted about our Elk viewing adventure at Cataloochee Valley Elk.
In February, 2001, the National Park Service began an experimental reintroduction of elk into Cataloochee Valley by releasing 25 elk from the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Another 27 elk from Canada were released in 2002. Today there are approximately 200 elk.
The breeding season, also known as the rutting season, is in the fall. During this time the bull elk make their bugling calls to attract females and challenge other bulls.
Female Elk, Cataloochee Valley, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge World Animal Day
Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge is Windows. The featured image and the one below are windows from New York City.
Apartment building windows in New York City
Stained Glass Window at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinborough, Scotland.
Windows at historic Fordyce Bath House in Hot Springs, Arkansas
We took a flight seeing trip to see Mt. Denali in Alaska. This is how it looks through the airplane window.
When we traveled in our RV I liked to take pictures out the back window of our fifth wheel camper. This one from Teklanika campground in Denali National Park is one of my favorite views out the back window. There was nothing but wilderness all around us.
Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge Windows
Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge is fountains and falls. The featured image is the Forsyth Park Fountain in Savannah, Georgia. The rest of my images are waterfalls from around the United States.
I’ll start with three different Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls, Keystone Canyon, Valdez, AlaskaBridal Veil Falls Nantahala National Forest, North CarolinaBridal Veil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Here’s three from in and around Yellowstone National Park
Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park Waterfall along Yellowstone Lower Loop RoadUpper Mesa Falls, Idaho
There are beautiful waterfalls in the north Georgi mountains. Here are three of them.
L’Eau d’Or Falls in Tallulah GorgeAda-Hi Falls in Black Rock Mountain State ParkAmacalola Falls, Georgia
Many thanks to Terri for taking us on a trip around Yellowstone National Park with her Sunday Stills challenge Fountains and Falls
Wandering Dawgs 