Stan Tekiela

Stone-cold killer predators come in all shapes and sizes in the natural world. We often think of large, menacing critters with long, sharp claws and razor-sharp teeth as predators and don’t give a second thought to small carnivores. Maybe because some of these small predators are borderline cute. Well, that’s what makes them so cool.
I was thinking about this a week or so ago while photographing an adorable tiny owl.

Nature is fluid and adaptive. Once you wrap your head around that simple truth, answering some of nature’s questions becomes easier.
For example, every few years, several bird species such as the common redpoll, pine siskin, evening grosbeak and others move out of their normal winter ranges and into other areas to seek food. This group of birds is usually referred to as the “winter finches,” and this mass movement of a group of birds is called an “irruption.”

Often when we view nature, we assume that everything in a critter’s life is smooth and easy. No major challenges – just a clean, natural way of life devoid of the stress that we humans expect. I think such assumptions miss the mark. I was thinking about this while editing images from a recent tour to New Mexico.

Recently, I was leading two birding groups to northern Minnesota to see winter finches and northern owls. On both trips, we were successful in seeing a number of different winter specialty species, including at least one great gray.
The great gray owl is the tallest owl species, but it is not the heaviest or most powerful of North American owls.

Change in nature usually comes about in thousands or even millions of years, not in months or a few years. Quick and easy rarely has a place with Mother Nature. Everything moves deliberately, but make no mistake: Nature does change.
Here’s a change I personally have witnessed the past 40-plus years: the expansion of wild turkeys.