The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.
– Charles Darwin
Egidio’s challenge this week is all about wildlife. My choices have to be mostly wild landscapes, and Iceland is one of them. Today I read about a new volcanic eruption near Grindavik – again. But people are used to it – being rather ”wild” themselves.
Another wild landscape is the jungle – in the Amazon there are still a multitude of creatures – even if human intrusions and atrocities are escalating. We should be very very anxious to keep these forests alive – if we want this planet to survive.
The Amazon was one of my greatest adventures. And the night walks were spectacular. The big spiders are not for me…to love, but it was a fantastic experience to see them too in real life. Clearly going by canoe is the perfect way to get close to the wildlife here.
The landscapes of the Galapagos islands are wild in another sense, there is almost no vegetation, but a multitude of animal species. Many of them are endemic, and if your read Darwin’s works you will realise that this is a veritable Paradise, where the animals have few enemies and you can come very close to many of them. I found the iguanas very interesting, both land iguanas and marine iguanas.
The land iguanas love the Opuntia cactus ( known as the prickly pear cactus), and eat it with relish. In the Galapagos islands it can grow up to 12 meters and the iguanas up to 1.30 meters length.
In Sweden, and in the other Nordic countries, the wildlife is of course different from that of a jungle…the biodiversity is not as big, but we do have big predators like bears, wolves and wolverines. The nearest wolf habitat is a forest only a kilometer away from my home.
I guess Sweden’s nature is most famous for Carl von Linne’ and his categorizing of it. So, here is his own wild flower – the tiny, delicate Linnaea borealis.
I would say one of the things carachterizing the wild life, is its resiliense and adaptability. But surely there is a limit… This bee sat frozen on a flower in my garden – representing my closest ”wild life”. It came alive again and started foraging with the warming sunlight.
It’s a wild life, Egidio says…and with dogs, at least my dogs – it really is!
The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
– Mahatma Gandhi
This past week, Tina’s challenge brought out many personal favorites. So beautiful responses! For this week, we’ll look forward to seeing what your wild imagination will focus on. Don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag for your post so we can easily find it in the Reader.
The first challenge for April will come from me, Leya/Ann-Christine. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history.
Leya 
I liked your picture of the lizard on a less than perfect leaf. It made it really stand out.
Thank you – a night photo taken with a pocket lamp on!
Lovely post, I find the image of natural wildlife in sweden to hit the sweet spot. We get so much joy from the small wild things just outside our doorsteps. And dogs enjoying what nature has to offer 😀
Thank you, Ritva – yes, we are lucky to live in the nordic countries. In fact I think of it every day.
Great selections. I love those dogs loving the water!
Haha – me too, but cleaning them afterwards…
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Hi – I enjoyed so much here for the wild theme – and my favorite part today were the details – the shiny leaves, water texture, flower petals, etc – and cheers to the message about protecting more of the wild spaces because they are crucial for survival
♥
A wonderful post as always Ann-Christine. i loved the variety both in creatures and locations. And of course you photography is perfection as always. Loved the little frozen bee and flowers and of course your pups !
Thank you, Tina! Hope you are well and Spring is coming!
Wow! It must’ve been amazing to be in all those places and seeing the incredible wildlife from so close..
Thank you, it was. When childhood dreams come true you can just be so grateful!
Indeed..
The planet definitely needs protecting, sadly not enough people will do anything about it and see it as the role of governments, and they only care about money and power. Protecting the environment isn’t big on that list. It is part of the reason why I made the decision to stop travelling.
The places are beautiful and you can see how wild they are. Stunning photos Ann-Christine.
Thank you, Leanne. You don’t travel anymore then – good. We have almost stopped too – flying as little as possible. Train is preferable. Sweden used to be good at environmental care, but our new government is prioritizing law and order – and moneymaking… I am so tired of all these big shots, but at least we are not in such a bad situation as the US…yet.
Stay cool and thank you for your always interesting posts!
What an incredible array of wild things, Anne-Christine! The shot of Iceland is such a stark contrast to the Amazon Jungle. Stunning images, of course I love the dogs cavorting in the water!
Thank you, Terri! Well, having dogs is an adventure and constantly hilarious!
Beautiful pictures! You have travelled to so many great places and enjoyed the wildlife in each. A great selection for this week’s theme.
Thank you, Joanne – I am grateful to have had the opportunity to travel. Especially now when we are growing older and cannot travel that much. And, flying is a less wanted option due to the climate.
Ann-Christine, I love the variety of wild things and places you have included here. The bee on the flower is fantastic! I love the dogs in the water!
Thank you, Beth – those two are favourites!
Oh, what a lovely selection of wild photos! You’ve captured the Icelandic scenery perfectly (and I was just seeing the Grindavik eruption on our news here as well as in Facebook posts from my friend in Reykjavik). I love your perfect little bee while the land iguana took me back to my own Galapagos visit 🙂 And the monkey peering down from that tree is adorable!
Thank you, Sarah. A great challenge with many interesting posts to read!
Beautiful images, and a wonderful post. Yes, there must be limits to resilience. How close we are to testing them is the big question. But since they are still here, it may be time to step back, at least in places, and let them recover.
I love that photo of the forest gecko getting a little bit of the sun.
Thank you – yes, time will show…and I too love geckos, lizards and the likes.
Dear Ann-Christine
We love best your picture of the river in Iceland.
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Love it, Ann-Christine! Beautiful shots, you covered so many different aspects of what wild can be.
These shots really epitomise the wild. Despite no savagery here, these show uninterfered with Nature at its best.
Beautiful!
I love your selections from around the world Ann-Christine. That Iguana sure has eaten lots of Prickly Pear
Ann-Christine, thanks for taking us on this world-wide trip from the Galapagos to the Amazon to Sweden. Beautiful photos!
Wildlife carries something beautiful along with the wild
A wild and wonderful selection Ann-Christine! 💚 xxx
Brilliant response to the challenge as I knew it would be! You have travelled quite widely and in the process seen much interesting wildlife and wild landscapes
Beautiful wild things. 😊
You are a much travelled lady and the images you bring us are spectacular xx
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These are beautiful images and reminders about the importance of wild places. Thank you Ann-Christine. May we preserve and protect them for the world’s benefit.
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