Wherever she goes, Dr. Webster makes time to get out into nature with her camera(s). She takes pictures of all types of wildlife from tiny insects to charismatic megafauna. Photography has also figured into her work, as a means of documenting what people actually see for comparison with survey results on perceptions of environmental quality.
Black rhino populations have declined substantially in the last few decades but Namibia’s community-based management policies are helping some rebuild (2023).Greater African flamingos and other coastal birds are thriving in the Walvis Bay Lagoon, which is a RAMSAR protected wetland. Nearby saltworks also provide habitats for these birds (2023).Cheetahs are the most endangered of the big cats. They are threatened by poaching, the pet trade, and competition with other predators like lions. I was lucky to spot this female in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe (2019).Allan’s humming bird eyeing a honeybee. Both are enjoying nectar from an aloe plant. UCSB Campus, Goleta, CA (2020). A quartet of fledgling great horned owls. Coal Oil Point Reserve, Goleta, CA. This reclaimed golf course provides habitat for all sorts of wildlife (2020).Most of the time, if you hear something scrabbling in the undergrowth it is a chipmunk or a squirrel, but this time it was a baby mink. Probably about 8 weeks old, just leaving its burrow. Norwich, VT (2021).Bald eagles are a conservation success story. This one just snatched a fish from the waters below the Conowingo Dam at the northern tip of the Chesapeake Bay (2022). The background is crisscrossed by power lines that provide electricity to much of the region.A green sea turtle heads to the surface for a breath. All species of sea turtles are endangered due to poaching, habitat loss, and other factors. Great Barrier Reef, Australia (2017).Common merganser giving me ‘a look’. Norwich, VT (2021).Virescent green metallic bee on common daisy fleabane. Norwich, VT (2021)Not my photo, but still a favorite. Norman, the Maori Humphead Wrasse, Great Barrier Reef, Australia (2018). We still have a lot to learn about the complicated lives of fish like Norman.
