Sheila Kay Photography

04/11/2026

06/09/2024

I was finally able to go through my Wild Lupine images from this year's bloom. As usual, I took way too many photos, and it was hard to pick just a few! 🪻🌱

06/03/2024

It’s baby season! Give me all the babies! 🦢🪶🐣

05/31/2024

This little gosling was waddling down the dirt road by himself, deep in thought about his life's choices—including the bad ones, like his current solo adventure. No worries, though! Mom, Dad, and his siblings were just off-camera to the left, and he soon found his way back to them. Together, they all waddled away into the water. 🦆🌾

05/20/2024

🌼🐝 Happy World Bee Day! 🐝🌼

Today, we celebrate World Bee Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about the essential role bees and other pollinators play in our ecosystem. Bees are not only vital for the production of food but also for maintaining biodiversity and the health of our environment. However, bee populations are declining due to factors such as habitat loss, pesticides, climate change, and disease.

Here are some easy and effective ways you can help support bee populations:

1. Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden: Fill your garden with a variety of native flowers that bloom at different times of the year. Bees love plants like lavender, daisies, sunflowers, and clover. Avoid using pesticides and opt for organic gardening methods.

2. Provide Water: Place a shallow dish of water with pebbles in your garden. Bees get thirsty too, and this will give them a safe place to drink.

3. Support Local Beekeepers: Purchase honey and other bee products from local and sustainable sources. This supports beekeepers who are working hard to maintain healthy bee populations.

4. Create Bee Habitats: Leave some areas of your garden a bit wild. Bees need safe places to live, so leaving logs, twigs, and leaf litter can help. You can also build or buy bee hotels to provide nesting sites for solitary bees.

5. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Climate change impacts bees significantly. By reducing your carbon footprint through actions like driving less, using energy-efficient appliances, and supporting renewable energy, you can help create a healthier environment for bees.

6. Spread the Word: Educate others about the importance of bees and what they can do to help. The more people who take action, the better off our bee populations will be.

Thank you for helping to protect our buzzing friends! 🌺🐝

05/12/2024

We had planned to go birding someplace else today for , but didn’t feel like fighting traffic and construction. So we ended up at the refuge. And had an amazing morning of birding! 47 species of birds in three hours! Highlights were a Golden-Winged Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Warbling Vireo, a lifer Least Bittern, and this showy male Belted Kingfisher. Guess what I’m doing for Mother’s Day? 🪶🪺🐦

05/08/2024

It was a beautiful Sunday evening for birding! We managed to get 40 species at two different locations on the refuge, in about 3 hours. Including this Palm Warbler. I believe this is my best photograph of this species! I can’t wait to go again this weekend! 🐦🪶🪺

04/23/2024

Happy Earth Day from your favorite Facebook tree hugger. Those who know me well know that I love birds, pollinators, and have a general love for nature and wildlife. I try to do my best for them every day. The American Bird Conservancy (link in the comments) has an entire page of how you can help in your day to day life that will help birds, pollinators and wildlife. The main ones are:

1. Stop using lawn care services and using pesticides, insecticides, and neonicotinoids. These products kill birds and the insects they eat. They have also been linked to cancer in your animals who run and play in the grass in your backyard.

2. Stop using rat poisons/rodenticides to get rid of moles, gophers and mice in your yard and house. Poisons like d-CON cause fatal hemorrhaging in eagles, hawks, owls, and other wildlife. In fact, these poisons are killing off the very predators that help us keep rats and mice in check. They also harm dogs, cats and children.

3. W**d Killers. They kill more than weeds! Common chemicals used to control weeds in home gardens and on lawns, such as 2, 4-D and glyphosate (used in Round-Up) are now known to be toxic to wildlife and aquatic organisms. Glyphosate was found in 2015 to be a probable human carcinogen. In addition, the surfactant chemicals (transport agents) added to formulations of these herbicides can also be toxic.

4. Get the Lead out! In addition to pesticides, toxics like the heavy metal lead (Pb) continue to be a widespread threat. An estimated 16 million birds are poisoned by lead every year. Some birds, like Bald Eagles, accidentally ingest lead shotgun pellets and ammunition fragments when scavenging on carcasses or remains left by hunters.

Other birds such as Mourning Doves mistake spent shot for seed in fields and forests, while birds like Common Loons and Trumpeter Swans swallow lead fishing tackle while foraging on lake bottoms.

Non-lead options, such as copper, tin, and tungsten, are readily available; the more these products are used, the more affordable and widely accepted they will become.

And last, but not least, grow a pollinator garden! There is so much information on the internet how to do this. I've done it on my small apartment deck. Anyone can do it!

OK....my Earth Day rant is over!

04/18/2024

As far as sunsets go, I've seen better, but every sunset holds its own beauty. It's a perfect way to conclude your day, regardless of its challenges. Capturing this felt special, as this was my first sunset in over a year.🌅

This day also signified the start of our 11th year volunteering as Roving Interpreters on the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge's wildlife drive—a seemingly crazy, yet true commitment. With the adjustments I'm making, I hope to dedicate more hours to volunteering this season. 📋🧢

We also introduced the refuge and birding to a newcomer, and he embraced it with enthusiasm. Sharing the wonders of nature with beginners is always a rewarding experience. 🙌🏻

We're out there every Sunday night. Come join us and discover the beauty of Sherburne! 🚗🦅🪻

04/18/2024

What an amazing story! Bats are so good for the environment! 🦇❤️

Happy from WRC!

To celebrate, check out this mother who just gave birth at our center! She arrived pregnant, emaciated, and dehydrated, but made a quick recovery with the help of dedicated volunteers and lots of juicy mealworms.

Just this weekend she gave birth to twins! They are so small, they could fit on a fingernail.

Just like with last year's in-center bat birth, we will be taking special care of her and her infants until they have grown up enough to all fly away together.

Found a bat that looks like its in trouble? Give us a call and we can help! We man our phones and answer messages from 10am-6pm every day of the year.