What Reader Doesn't Like Nature?

I can answer that one in a heartbeat. No reader of mine doesn't like nature, otherwise they would have moved on long ago! Or am I just imagining things?

There is just so much to tell you about that I am slightly overwhelmed, thus I am dedicating this post to flowers, deer, butterflies and what would a Gail Peck post be without birds?! Plus a few other things thrown in for good measure.  Let's get started then.

One afternoon recently, while Bruce was in the gym, I planned to walk on the, you guessed it, river walk. At the very moment I was gathering my gear, Nancy called and as it was crazy hot that day, I went over to the pavillion next to the courts to sit in the shade and chat. Well chat we did, for so long that I decided to begin my walk. After crossing over the bridge I was greeted by a beautiful display of pink (Barbie anyone?) phlox, as well as another pink flower that I am unsure of. What I was sure of though was that there was a gorgeous Swallowtail flitting about so, putting my phone on speaker and setting it on the curb, I continued talking as I shot photographs. Here is one of said photographs.

As you can see it was bright and sunny and although I took a bunch, I kind of like this one with the sun shining through the wing. Not only was there that beautiful black one but a little further down the path, the yellow version was flitting everywhere, mostly hovering over the dirt which is something I also saw when we visited the Hiwassee Dam, a field trip which I've yet to mention.

On that day there were two who kept hovering above the rocks. Go figure.

Pro tip....take loads of nature photos as the action unfolds in order to get the best shot. Not very often, well make that once, and I cannot even remember where it was, but I was talking to some folks about taking photos and my advice was thus, start shooting the moment you see something unfolding even if you are far away as you never know when your subject decides to fly or run away! But you knew that already, didn't you?

The bird feeders are providing endless entertainment as they are hung just outside the living area window. Oh yes, the hummingbirds like my nectar just fine.

Do you care to guess how many hummingbird photos I have attempted? Double or triple that guess!! Tufted Titmouse,

as well as Carolina Chickadees are the most common visitors, that is if you don't count the Goldfinch family. They will not be making an appearance today, however very soon as I might just have finally gotten some shots that I am happy with.

I do miss my raptors which are so prevalent where we live, so I was surprised and delighted when a hawk finally landed high in a nearby tree. 

Staying close to home, I have mentioned that I am slightly obsessed with finding mushrooms haven't I? Well count me thrilled to have found some Chanterelles that I cleaned, not this one but you get the idea, and dry sautéed them to freeze for later use. All that rain we were experiencing has all but disappeared, thus the mushroom count is slightly down. Hard for me to imagine, but I am now missing the rain, in part because it has been replaced with some very, very warm, well let's be honest, hot temperatures!

Still near home, the other day we were returning when lo and behold, near the turnoff, what to our wondering eyes should appear? 

You have to act fast in this situation and not shooting through a windshield yields much better results! Some days the deer just stare at you, especially when Bruce begins chatting with them in a soothing voice.

If you are viewing this on a phone enlarge the above photo in order to appreciate the antlers. How amazing are antlers? Pretty darn amazing; that's my opinion anyway.

We made another trip to the folk school gardens, where there are still delights to be found.

Not quite as many flowers, but still enough to please anyone who appreciates the hard work of the gardeners.

I freely admit being enthralled with the structures in both the herb and flower/vegetable gardens. I imagine you kind of are too.

Should you have been wondering when I was going to get to birds, wonder no more as I have two interesting things to share. One is that I have no clue if these are young Purple Martins or Barn Swallows but there were a bunch of them flying around.

You might note that the day was gray, however the skies produced no precipitation and it was cooler so there was that. At any rate, as Bruce was dragging me away from the above spectacle, he abruptly stopped as did I following in his footsteps. (no pun intended) On the ground in front of him was what we believed was a hatchling and after further investigation, we discovered it was a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher. 

Which brings me to something I wanted to discuss and that is how darn awesome the sound id feature is on Merlin.  Using the sound feature, it identified the bird we were hearing, thus it led us to the conclusion that this was a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher which is a mouthful indeed. In order to keep this moving I won't show you the flying attempts, but we believe it was unhurt and just learning to fly. Don't delay, download Merlin today! You will love it.

Our next stop that day was the fantastic Crane Creek Winery in Young Harris, GA where some of the grapes were ripening,

and gorgeous flowers were blooming.

Red Echinacea are new to me but darn, I am in love.

I cannot wait to show the winery photos, however, that is a post for another day.  As most anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows, I am never without a real camera no matter how inconvenient.  God bless Bruce who has stopped along streets, roads, and highways countless times when I see something that interests me. Not to mention turned around! Who wouldn't be interested upon seeing this amazing floral display along the road?

This is but a tiny fraction of this person's labor of love. Seriously, it was downright amazing and I will have to go back to my library and dig out more photos of this incredible display. Just the other day I am like honey, "can you back up?" Sure darling, he replies. Yup, he is wonderful like that.

Around the corner was a huge Hydrangea bush which for some folks is a common sight, however, for a Floridian, not so much. I am pretty sure that is a Pink Magnolia tree just beginning to bloom above it.

All of what we have seen is beautiful and requires love and attention which can all be destroyed in short order by the Japanese Beetle that Bonnie pointed out as so devastating.  I am pretty sure that is what caused this. Apparently they eat the leaves and leave the rest.

As we parked for church one Sunday the sound of a nearby Cardinal caused me to scan our surroundings. Well that was easy! Right above our head was a male Cardinal that appears to already be molting.

I wonder if that means something? There has been a four part series in the newspaper with what the author calls "mountain signs" regarding the natural world that has been very interesting. Speaking of the newspaper, yesterday we picked up the North Georgia paper and there was such a heartwarming story on the front page it begs to be repeated. A parade. yes a parade, was held in nearby Blairsville for a 24 year old resident who suffered a devastating brain aneurysm on January 8 and was not expected to live. Large crowds greeted her return to continue her rehabilitation closer to home. She was not expected to ever walk or talk again, both of which she can now do. There may not be a lot of shopping options in small towns but by golly, there is seemingly a good deal of caring. 

My goodness the weeks are flying by. We are nearing the end of our seventh week, each and every one of them has been filled with joy.  But being surrounded by nature will do that for a person, or in this case couple.

From the very simple to the more elaborate, we find something to appreciate by all that we see. I keep pinching myself and wondering how we got so lucky? 

Here's hoping you enjoyed our nature walk today and as always, I remain,

your friend,

Gail