Various selections from my personal notebook
February 25, 2007
Spent the last few days watching this little guy. Each day he would be on the
same board on the side of the shed, in a different spot.
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April 15, 2006
A baby raccoon came up on the front porch tonight. I had accidentally flipped
on the porch light instead of the room light while looking for something. We
scared each other pretty good. I dug a small pond in the front yard last week
and we noticed a small critter had been wading in it, leaving tiny handprints
in the pollen-dusted liner. Now I have a face to put with the prints.
April 15, 2006
Went on a walk at Hays Nature Preserve and saw a barred owl. We heard one far
away first, then this guy answered from just ahead on the trail. We kept our
eyes open and finally spotted him. He sat on the limb and looked at us, looked
all around, fluffed his feather a little, harked up a huge glob of what we later
determined was mouse leavings and finally took off for another tree across Glass
Lake from us.
April 13, 2006
The fireflies are out.
April 9, 2006
Discovery Tadpole City today at Fagan Springs in Huntsville.
There were at least 1,000 tadpoles in the shallow water just below the falls
and twice that many eggs just waiting to hatch. The tadpoles were in huge clumps,
there were 11 the size of the one in the picture within a 20 foot (across) circle.
April 6, 2006
I created a section for local wildflowers and have been adding to that every few days.
March 16, 2006
First tadpole of the year!
March 10, 2006
My first sunburn of the year. Funny how you forget yourself, though thanks goodness
I DID cover my face. Any more freckles and I would be all one color from the
neck up.
We went rock-hopping at Cherokee Rock Village.
I did not see a single new flower, but we did see 2 butterflies, were attacked
by tiny black biting bugs once or twice and we saw a total of 4 different anole
lizards. We also saw a huge frog out the window in the pond at the 67 Hangar
restaurant during breakfast. (how's THAT for overusing prepositional phrases?)
March 8, 2006
Went to Sportsman's Lake today and walked the nature trail in the wildflower garden. Saw a variety of new growth. I took pictures of all and plan to upload it all at once as a Spring Wildflower Guide for this area.
March 4, 2006
Today we hiked back to Welcome Falls with the land-owner's nephew to have a
look around. My husband had seen them last as a Cub Scout with his dad leading
the hike.
March 3, 2006
Home
Tonight Matt had to work LATE, so the kids piled up in my big bed and one by one, dropped off. I put down the book I was reading and came into the livingroom to look out the front to see if I saw headlights-one advantage of living in the middle of nowhere is that you see someone a long way off. When I looked out, lo and behold, our fox was on the porch! I have not seen him all winter, I am pretty sure October was the last sighting and that was in the back pasture, running over one of the hills.
He is slim, grey with a bushy tail and a white bib and stripe around his nose. He was chowing down on the 'stray' food we put out each night-a cornucopia of cat food, kitchen scraps and the occasional wildlife cookie-a hard wheat cookie made with honey and seeds and berries.
Our front porch feeding station has attracted 2 possums that come nightly, a huge orange cat with half an ear and no tail and a raccoon. Other yard visitors of the mammal persuasion we see in the daylight include rabbits, squirrels and 2 huge groundhogs that whistle back and forth and run off with tomatoes and who will mug for bread. We occasionally get a skunk or deer, I have yet to see my heart's desire-an armadillo. My brother assures me they smell like 'a ziploc bag of pee kept in the trunk for a week in July' and that I do not really want to see one. He lived in Talladega where the locals would often prop beer cans on roadkill 'dillos that were belly-and-feet-up. Delightful. They are easy to roadkill because they leap straight up when startled, making full impact practically guaranteed. Poor things.
March 1st
Guntersville Lake
We hiked the Tom Bevill Interpretive Trail today. Other than the fact that the
trail goes up and down with alarming frequency and was NOT 'flat' as it was
described in a trail book I read before heading out, I noted a few things growing.
Along the trail at the old homestead sites were Christmas fern and daffodils.
In the wilder areas were the shoots for toothwart and the leaves of wild ginger.
I was really surprised I saw no Spring Beauty. In the spring along the trail
we saw a salamander.
After the hike we went on to the swim beach, where we saw a dead fish, but no live ones, 2 Canada geese and about 60 river gulls. On the way home, we went to the South Dam and saw heron, more gulls and a small flock of turkey vultures that were eating a dead beaver. They were very exact about it-the feet were picked to the bone and they had started on the belly when we disturbed them. They flew into a near-by tree and loomed around like something out of a B movie, making menacing flaps and following our progress as we passed.
February 28, 2006
Hurricane Creek Park
Dropped off the Grandpa Trail, crossed the creek, went up by Kissing Rock and
took the South Ridge Hiking Trail Loop, through Twilite Tunnel, crossed the
creek again, walked down the trail to the campsites and past about 1/4 mile,
turned around and hiked back out on the Hi-Trail. Saw very early saxifrage and
one bluet.
February 26, 2006
Hurricane Creek Park
Went down the Hi-Trail to the camping area and back-tracked to the picnic area,
crossed the creek and went past Kissing Rock to the Twilite Tunnel, back on
the same trail, recrossed the creek at Kissing Rock and climbed out via the
Grandpa Trail.
Saw a hawk and 2 butterflies.
February 25, 2006
Tennessee Aquarium
Saw all the captive creatures, so I can't claim any 'nature study' finds, but
it was an enjoyable trip.
February 24, 2006
Hurricane Creek Park
Hiked down the Lo-Trail, crossed the creek at Kissing Rock, went to Twilite
Tunnel and back out same trail, climbed out via Grandpa Trail.
February 21, 2006
Cathedral Caverns/Guntersville Lake
Rainy, chilly, foggy. The cave was unchanged, though Jake noted with some awe
that a different tour guide makes it a different tour. We were there a year
or so ago.
The lake was amazing-the fog was SO thick and heavy even by mid-afternoon that
the small islands looked like mountain tops in the clouds, the water was just
gone. I kicked myself about 100 times that I forgot my camera.
February 19, 2006
Home
Today was Bird City at the feeder. I have not seen so many different birds in
one day all winter. There were sparrows-4 different kinds, cardinals, chickadees,
titmice, wrens, robins and doves on the ground and towhees, a few orioles, goldfinch,
and a few I did not know. I guess after naming them all, it was not that there
so many kinds, but just that there were so MANY.
February 13, 2006
Home
Full Moon
February 7, 2006
Home
Possums!
I love the possums, the smaller has
been coming for a year now, the larger just a few days. They could care less
if you walk out there as long as they do not see your feet. We stand with the
door open and talk freely and they look up and go back to eating. A possum has
some 32 teeth on the bottom and 34 on the top. Quite the bite.
When the little one was much smaller, she got in the trash can one night and
the garbage guys apparently grabbed the bags and did not flip the can because
it was the next day before I found her, covered in rain in the bottom of the
trashcan. She was a miserable sight and the stress of being trapped and then
discovered sent her into 'possum' mode and she siezed up. I rolled her out into
the weeds at the edge of the woods and there she lay for the next 4 hours, eyes
open, mouth open, stiff as a board.
January 27, 2006
Rainbow Mountain
I have seen these berries before. I wish to goodness I was better at remembering
or even knowing in the first place what things are. I took a picture in hopes
I would ID them.
January 24, 2006
Home
Kitchen
My forced forsythia is in full-bloom! It makes such a cheery backdrop to the
bland color in the world this time of year. I am tired or dead grass and dormant
trees. Hurry Up, Spring!
January 12, 2006
Home
Pasture
Started taking pictures and trying to identify the 6-8 different dried weeds
around the pasture edge using a 'winter weeds' guide. I have decided I have
no talent for it.
January 10, 2006
Home
Woods
Found a great log covered in beautiful bracketing fungi.
January 8, 2006
Home
Creek
Lost another tree to the winter floods.
January 2, 2006
Home
First Flower of the new year
