{"id":113912,"date":"2023-06-21T01:24:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T07:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=113912"},"modified":"2023-06-20T14:47:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T20:47:18","slug":"red-eared-slider-turtle-portraits-in-arkansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/21\/red-eared-slider-turtle-portraits-in-arkansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-eared Slider Turtle Portraits in Arkansas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning I caught movement out of the corner of my eye while photographing birds in my friend Steve’s yard<\/span><\/a>. Turns out it was a Red-eared Slider turtle<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up Red-eared Slider in grass \u2013 Canon R7, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 1200, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800 mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I quickly told Steve to bring his camera outside and we walked over to photograph the Red-eared Slider together. We were both amazed and intrigued by the turtle being in his yard since there aren’t any water bodies real close by. I thought this might be a female on her way to lay eggs somewhere but I could definitely be wrong about that.<\/p>\n

\"Red-earedRed-eared Slider moving through grasses \u2013 Canon R7, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 2000, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800 mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red-eared Slider looked wonderful in the morning light as it moved through the still dew-laden grasses.<\/p>\n

You can easily see the red marking that gave this turtle species its name. Red-eared Sliders are native to Arkansas, unlike the one I photographed in Utah where they have been introduced. Sadly, they are one of the most popular turtle species that are kept as pets and are often illegally removed from the wild.<\/p>\n

\"Red-earedRed-eared Slider turtle close up in Arkansas \u2013 Canon R7, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800 mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I was doing my happy dance as I photographed this Red-eared Slider even though it doesn’t have feathers or wings. I love the magic of nature and seeing this turtle in Steve’s yard was akin to being magical. I know it brightened up my morning and left me grinning for most of yesterday afternoon. Magic is out there, you just need to keep your eyes open to see it. I keep my eyes open all the time.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/span><\/a> to see my Red-eared Slider Turtle photo gallery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning I caught movement out of the corner of my eye while photographing birds in my friend Steve’s yard. Turns out it was a Red-eared Slider turtle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,7960,13951],"tags":[4004,4142,3747,4109,12044,4046,7948,14028,14029,14030,165,7949,7945,7946,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-113912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-red-eared-sliders","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-close-up","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-moving","tag-portrait","tag-red-eared-slider","tag-red-eared-slider-turtle","tag-slider","tag-sliders","tag-spring","tag-trachemys-scripta-elegans","tag-turtle","tag-turtles","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/red-eared-slider-yard-arkansas-mia-mcphrson-1237.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tDi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61322,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/11\/possible-western-painted-turtle-on-a-log\/","url_meta":{"origin":113912,"position":0},"title":"Possible Western Painted Turtle On A Log (See correction)","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Even when I don't have any birds to view or photograph I am always looking for other subjects and yesterday my \"other\" subject was a turtle sunning itself on a log at one of my local ponds.","rel":"","context":"In "Red-eared Sliders"","block_context":{"text":"Red-eared Sliders","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/red-eared-sliders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Red-eared Slider turtle on a log, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Red-eared-Slider-turtle-autumn-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Red-eared-Slider-turtle-autumn-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Red-eared-Slider-turtle-autumn-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Red-eared-Slider-turtle-autumn-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166199,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/27\/christmas-day-great-blue-heron-and-turtle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":113912,"position":1},"title":"Christmas Day Great Blue Heron And Turtle At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On Christmas Day I photographed a Great Blue Heron and a turtle in Miner's Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Yes, a turtle in winter!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron and turtle on Christmas Day at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":133569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/02\/urban-three-toed-box-turtle\/","url_meta":{"origin":113912,"position":2},"title":"Urban Three-toed Box Turtle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was enjoying my coffee outside yesterday morning when I spotted this Three-toed Box Turtle walking through the dew-covered grasses. Yes, I had to take photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Three-toed Box Turtle in September, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/05\/cinnamon-teal-short-eared-owl-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":113912,"position":3},"title":"Cinnamon Teal, Short-eared Owl & Red-Tailed Hawk – A Nice Mixture of Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It felt great to photograph a nice mixture of birds yesterday and and to be out enjoying the beautiful scenery of northern Utah. Life is good.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sleepy Short-eared Owl male, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-sleepy-mia-mcpherson-3622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-sleepy-mia-mcpherson-3622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-sleepy-mia-mcpherson-3622.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-sleepy-mia-mcpherson-3622.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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route.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Eared Grebe on the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/eared-grebe-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-0433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/eared-grebe-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-0433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/eared-grebe-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-0433.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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