I don’t have to motivate myself to get out in the “woods,” I just know that the more time afield, the more I can learn.

Maybe it is because I enjoy observing whatever I can or the chance I will find something unusual, or maybe, see something for the first time.

Today my column is intended to present to you some photos of a variety of flora/fauna that I have found and see if they are familiar to you. Maybe a few of these photos will pique your interest to find them too or maybe simply to identify something that you didn’t know.

Take a look at the photos and see how many you can identify. The answers are at the bottom of the page so you can certainly peek, but try to challenge yourself. I took all the pictures here in the Times News area with no intent to “throw in” some exotic creatures few have ever seen.

Good luck and remember, these are “out there” for you to see, so get out and enjoy nature.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Over the last 50 years populations of ____ have dropped drastically. A. warblers, B. meadowlarks, C. red-winged blackbirds, D. all of these.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Even though the red-tailed hawk is this region’s largest, it only tips the scales at about 2½ pounds.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.

Answers:

Photo 1: Often mistaken for a copperhead, the milk snake is fairly common, harmless to humans, and in fact, quite helpful to farmers.

Photo 2: This male kestrel, identified by the two facial stripes, blue-gray wings and rusty tail is our smallest hawk. Only 9 inches (actually a bit smaller than a robin), it feeds on large insects in warmer weather and mice whenever they are available.

Photo 3: Not a mouse, this secretive small mammal is the short-tailed shrew. It is our only venomous mammal. It is not harmful to humans.

Photo 4: The puffball (actually a type of mushroom) when “ripe” and crushed will release a cloud of millions of spores, hoping some will find a suitable place to grow.

Photo 5: Somewhat like an eerie Halloween poster, this turkey vulture was perched on a local water tower, drying its wings in the early morning sun.

Photo 6: Technically called wintergreen, this heath family member is used to flavor a favorite ice cream. This is teaberry. They grow best in damp, shady areas but are being stressed by the burgeoning growths of Japanese stilt grass and hay scented ferns.

Photo 7: Showing up in late summer, the Polyphemus moth can span 5½ inches from wing tip to wing tip.

Photo 8: Growing on the forest floor not smothered by ferns, tree club moss (ground pine) can multiply by its spreading stems or by spores.

Photo 9: Not easily found in the tree tops, this female scarlet tanager is certainly not colored like its mate. It doesn’t have a single “scarlet” feather.

Photo 10: This “cute” amphibian, the red eft, is easier to find on damp, misty mornings or evenings. Unlike most amphibians, the red eft (larva of a red spotted newt) lives on land, while the adult lives in the water.