Winners of “The Wild Side of the Peninsula” Photo Contest 2022

Lizards are everywhere, but have you to really looked at them closely? Once I started taking photographs in Palos Verdes, I realized how much detail and texture so many things we see everyday had. Even the smallest creatures express so much character. Next time you go for a walk along the trails, stop and look closely at the little things around you and not just the big picture.
Lizards camouflage within their surroundings, yet when spotted leave an impression.

My image depicts the striped shore crab, also known as the Pachygrapsus crassipes, which I found in a tide pool along the coast near Trump Golf Course. This little red and green crab was resting in a small tide pool when he peered out of the water to watch me take his photo. I feel that many automatically think of the peacocks and birds that grace our hill but I wished to capture a major part of our animal population that is often overlooked, the smaller sealife.

“I took this photo while down at Bluff Cove. It shows a wave splashing against a rock and a bird in the background.”

"Peacocks are the royalty birds of Palos Verdes. I think that they are very pretty!"

My photo, Hidden Beauty, is inspired by my brother who loves bugs— caterpillars especially. This caterpillar is most likely a Pyrrharctia Isabella Caterpillar more commonly known as the Wooly Bear Caterpillar. These caterpillars are very common around my home, and while they don’t turn into butterflies, they turn into the most gorgeous moths. I named this piece Hidden Beauty because many people don’t see the beauty in a lot of the wildlife around Palos Verdes, especially not in moths.

Goat-(Capra aegagrus hircus). This photo depicts an animal that is tightly linked to the Palos Verdes community. Goats serve as a win-win as they get fresh grass to eat, and our community is protected from forest fires.

As I was sitting down at the Terranea Resort with my puppy, she started to bark as if she had noticed something. When I look over to see what it was, I saw a squirrel holding a strawberry in its hand and starting to eat it like it was a regular human. This animal was the Eastern Fox squirrel with the scientific name of Sciurus Niger.