Image #199 – A Wintery Sky

What an incredible winter this has been. On the news tonight I learned that Chicago is likely to break the record that has been in place since 1885 for the longest period of below zero days. The joke in Chicago is -20 is the new 40. How awful.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I have decided to leave it all behind and visit Florida for a few weeks. I have gotten out of Dodge just in time. The heavy snow has already started in the mountains. I’m half way to my Florida destination, spending the night in Valdosta, Georgia. The most amazing part of today’s drive was the endless convoys of electric company repair trucks heading north. Easily a couple of hundred trucks and some of them sported other vehicles “hitching” a ride. These looked like National Guard vehicles. Looks like a rough time ahead.

This picture was shot last night from my back porch. There is some adage about a ring around the moon being a bad omen. It seems that might be the case. ❧

February 10, 2014 0

Image #198 – The snow is coming, the snow is coming

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinals)

I never tire of these guys (and gals). Cardinals are a special bird. “Winter’s flowers,” as one friend said. They have so brightened my days. This particular fellow was digitally captured during our recent snow storm. Another is forecast for this week…8-12″ are predicted. I hope to be far away by then. I am throwing in the towel and fleeing to Florida for a few weeks. There is plenty I can do there. If I stay here I can watch the Cardinals…which isn’t a bad thing…but life is short and it is best to make hay when the sun shines. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled and medical marijuana will be on the ballot in November 2014. I plan to do what I can to make sure that it passes. Stay tuned. ❧

February 9, 2014 1

Image #196 – Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

A good snow fall, like the one we had last week, brings many birds “out of hiding.” The Eastern Towhee is one of those birds. Throughout the months that I have been here I would catch a glimpse of the Towhee, normally its backside, frittering about in the underbrush but rarely did I have a chance to study this beautiful bird. The snow changed all that. This fellow was grateful for the scattered seed on the porch as well as respite from the wet underbrush. I have now learned that Towhees are part of the sparrow family and it is wide-spread throughout North America. And apparently I am not alone in my inability to study this bird. According to Wikipedia, “The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the Spotted Towhee were considered a single species, the Rufous-sided Towhee.” ❧

February 4, 2014 1

Image #194 – Sisters in the snow

Two female Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Two female Cardinals during our recent snowstorm. I have quite a flock of cardinals: two, possibly three males and at least four females. ❧

February 1, 2014 0

Image #193 – Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) - Slate colored — Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) – Slate colored

The snow and clear, arctic air have combined to give absolutely gorgeous lighting for my bird shots. This Slate-colored junco has some beautiful highlight on his brilliantly white underside and all thanks to the snow. Had I walked outside and placed a spotlight I could not have done it better. ❧

January 30, 2014 1

Image #192 – Practical or Greedy?

Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) — Female Northern Cardinal (*Cardinalis cardinalis*)

I think practical. The bird seems young and it is probably her first snow fall so why not take as many seeds as the beak will hold? ❧

January 29, 2014 1

Image #191 – Snow Event

We had snow today, at least three inches. It started in the early morning and lasted all day with varying degrees of intensity. I was delighted since it was what I had stayed for–winter. Photographers want to record experiences and I wanted some pictures of winter. I’m not sure why. I hate the cold but, oddly, snow seems warm to me. Tango and I had a good walk in the early afternoon, up Potts Branch Road to Little Cove Rd. The snow was coming down steadily. It was quite lovely.

Tango had never seen snow and he thought it was …well, who the heck knows what he thought? He seemed to enjoy it. I could tell he was confused about smells. He would nuzzle his nose deep into the snow, trying to follow a scent. I worried a few times that he would topple over into one of the many creeks that was along our walk but he is too clever for that. In the end, as you can see, he was happy and, like me, enjoying the experience. ❧

January 28, 2014 2

Image #189 – Dry Falls — Summer and Winter

Here’s another view of the Cullasaja River. Yesterday’s post (#188 – Cold, Cold, Cold) showed a peaceful portion of the river but it is more renown for its remarkable series of waterfalls, there are four major falls on a relatively short span of river and all can be seen from the highway that runs between Highlands and Franklin. In fact, the Cullasaja River is solely contained in Macon County. It spills out of the mountains near Highlands and then empties into the Little Tennessee River near Franklin. Eventually the water makes its way to the Mississippi River after passing through the Little Tennessee, the Tennessee, and the Ohio Rivers.

This post gives you two very different views of the rather oddly named Dry Falls. There is certainly plenty of water so I was unclear as to why it is called Dry Falls but learned it is because you can walk behind the falls and remain relatively dry — most of the time.

On Friday no one was walking under the falls. The ice was too severe, the way too treacherous. Quite a contrast to the second photo of the very same falls taken last July. People strolled leisurely under the falls in the warm summer day. ❧

January 26, 2014 0

Image #188 – Cold, cold, cold

My friend Bonnie on the Cullasaja River. Don’t let the sun fool you. It was cold!

Cullasaja means “honey locust place” in the Cherokee language. It runs through a gorge that has multiple waterfalls and scenic overlooks. The gorge is part of the trail followed by Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto in 1540. ❧

January 25, 2014 2

#187 – Got Your Back

This sparrow, I think it is a White-crowned Sparrow, landed on the handrail of the deck near my gargoyle. During this frigid weather, that has seized most of the nation, the birds are flocking to my feeders in great numbers. Normally there are waves of birds who will all fly off at once and leave the feeders empty for a while. Now, however, it seems the feeders always have visitors. Some look very ragged and I wonder if they will make it through the night. The wonder is that any of them make it through this cold. ❧