Shared Moment: A song in my heart

Poised as if to croon a Sinatra ballad, an Arctic ground squirrel feasts on flower buds.

Photograph by Matthew S. Brown
PhotoZone
Oct 09, 2021

ON A BEAUTIFUL FALL DAY in Alaska’s Denali National Park, Matthew S. Brown was photographing distant bears when he spotted an Arctic ground squirrel “twittering through the bushes,” eating dried flower buds. Poised as if to croon a Sinatra ballad, this little squirrel gave Brown one of his favorite frames. “It’s just about joy to me,” he says. Retired from law enforcement, Brown says nature photography has always helped him decompress. “It changed me,” he says. “When I immerse myself and patiently watch any species, I feel a connection. My goal now is to capture special moments that breed emotion.”