​On our way back from a marriage retreat with our church at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, we stopped in Chimney Rock to climb and admire the views. Chimney Rock State Park is in Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. This beautiful park with an incredible 315 foot granite monolith is surrounded by breathtaking views and a popular day-hike destination. 

“Caw! Caw! Caw!”  The sound of the alarm broke the still afternoon air. It was a pleasant Labor Day afternoon. A passing rain shower had dropped the summer temperature about 8 degrees. It was humid, but what does that matter when the most strenuous activity planned is sitting on the front porch reading Bartram’s Travels. In the silence, I couldn’t help but hear the American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) going at it. 

Crows are great for sounding the alarm to all other inhabitants, whether listening or not, that an oppressive adversary is near. Whenever I hear crows sounding alarm I take notice, knowing a wildlife photo-op may be materializing. If they sound the alarm in the in the air, there is normally a hawk nearby; if sounding the alarm on the ground, there’s a snake. I have even read the account of one 19th century naturalist on the trail of some game when he was alerted to danger by crows. While stalking his prey, the overhead alarms alerted him that he himself was predator turned prey. A Mountain Lion (Felis concolor) was tracking him as stealthily as he was his game. 

On this afternoon, two crows were sitting and cawing in the top of a tall, slender White Oak (Quercus alba) across the street. All of the White Oaks in our neighborhood have been affected by a blithe causing them to loose most of their foliage and lateral branches. Most stand as snags with bushy bundles of leaves near the trunk in their middle sections, leaving the top branches bare for perching birds and woodpecker activity. The calls of the two crows quickly drew in several more. Each new crow to arrive flew straight toward the oak, dove at the crown, then turned upward into a vertical climb of about twenty feet before settling back down to perch nearby and raise a racket. I discerned the arriving crows were dive-bombing some adversary hidden in the White Oak tree. But what foe deserved such a greeting?

I didn’t have to wait long. After the arrival of the eleventh dive-bombing crow, the oppressor emerged. Flying gracefully from the oak as if no crow were jaunting him, a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) took flight. His straight course southwest seemed undeterred by the loud, cajoling crows which all followed him in tow like a bunch of playground bullies. But the hawk, larger than his bullies, seemed unaffected and gave not the impression that it was the cackling crows that dislodged him from his perch. Nevertheless, the crows were quite satisfied that their calls of alarm had saved all from the enemy. 
 
Though I didn’t get any photos of this aerial battle, the scene was repeated a few weeks later on September 28, 2012. This time, the Nikon was in hand and the battle was close enough to document with my 300mm lens. 

​After being incessantly chased and harassed by the group of crows, one flying daringly close on his red-tailed end, the gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk, perhaps the same from the previous battle, perched again across from my house. While majestically poised on a perfect perch, the crows kept up the alarm for at least fifteen minutes. Unable to drive off their oppressor, the crows finally left the area. But a brave little Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) flew up to throw in his few insults. 

Dyar Pasture Waterfowl Management Area - September 3, 2013

A walk in my neighborhood - September 3 and 10, 2012

​A few cool mornings had left the impression we were turning the corner of the dog days of Georgia summer to the cooler fall season. But the passing of Hurricane Isaac gave us another big dose of humidity. Nonetheless, we hiked. 

My daughter and I opted for the four-mile Cook’s Trail that runs between Sandy Creek Park and Nature Center in our hometown of Athens, Georgia. Though we set off early, the humidity had already peaked. Fifty-five percent humidity is just a statement of fact. But what was 55% humidity? The reality was a breezeless, sub-tropical, stifling wet blanket of air causing stickiness even between the fingers! Within a quarter mile my shirt was soaked and my mind was wondering how Georgia was settled in a time before air conditioning. 

​But on we pushed, happy to be outdoors. On the trail under the Highway 441 overpass there was the usual stampede of raccoon, opossum and deer tracks in the mud. They must gather each evening for real southern hoe-down. The tracks overlap so much, tracks on top of tracks, that getting a clean plaster cast is nearly impossible. 

​Passing on, and passing a not-so-timid squirrel, we came to another opening in the privet lined creek. As I approached the bank, a snake’s tail stirred a cloud of silt in the creek as he plunged off the bank below my feet. Knowing that the snake couldn’t hold his breath forever, we waited patiently. Sure enough, in a few minutes he stretched up from the mud like a long eel emerging from a coral reef until he broke the surface for a breath. He was totally attuned to our presence and barely sat a moment for a photograph. Off he sped in a blur of chocolate silt. 

As an added bonus to our 4 mile hike along Cook’s Trail, we took the one mile Oxbow Loop to see who stirred in the lily-pad-filled pond. On the marsh was a the usual Great Blue Heron. Also, alongside a Wood Duck hen was a visiting Little Blue Heron (immature white color phase) fishing stealthily over the water; his bright white plumage conspicuously dotted against the deep greens on the pond. 

The next two miles were hastily walked to meet up for a picnic with the rest of the family at the park. Besides some very large mushrooms, a busy Hairy Woodpecker, and a curious deer, the rest of the hike was passed without notable critter sightings. But this was a still quite a list of wildlife observations for one afternoon: 

• Common Snapping Turtle
• Redbellied watersnake
• Northern Cardinals
• Killdeer
• Great Blue Heron
• Little Blue Heron
• Wood Duck
• Pond Sliders
• Whitetailed Deer
• Raccoon scat
• Black Vultures
• A hawk's keeeeeer
• Downy Woodpecker
• Toads

My wife’s parents were visiting us all the way from Romania. During their month-long visit to the United States we wanted to show them some of the local natural beauties of the great outdoors here in Georgia. Being a little older, long hikes were not really an option.

The perfect place for a day trip and a short hike is Anna Ruby Falls in the North Georgia mountains. Anna Ruby Falls is located near the Bavarian themed town of Helen, Georgia. This little town is a great place to stop and enjoy an afternoon lunch and to browse the small shops.

In the immediate area are several wonderful Georgia State Parks: Unicoi State Park, Smithgall Woods and Vogel State Park. And crossing this entire area is the historic Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail. The Springer Mountain trailhead is only forty miles from Helen.

Anna Ruby Falls is a picturesque waterfall nestled within the mountain laurels and rhododendrons. In fact, it is actually a dual waterfall created by two separate streams. Curtis Creek and York Creekjoin at the base of the falls to form Smith Creek. The hike up to Anna Ruby Falls is a short, paved half-mile; perfect for those with accessibility issues. Yet is still maintains a secluded, peaceful Appalachian mountain appeal. There is also a longer trail for those adventurous types. 

A nearby Georgia State Park, Tugaloo State Park was hosting an interpretive program by “Hiss Ministries” by Allen Ash. This was perfect! We were able to combine a day of hiking, a reptile program, and a gospel lesson all into one!
​
Lake Hartwell was very low and we were able to walk along the bare banks for several miles looking for things that would normally be buried beneath the water’s surface. We found plenty of cool driftwood, fish parts and an entire deer skeleton. Most likely the deer was shot during one of the park’s quota hunts, but the hunter didn’t find his kill. 

The retention pond behind the public works building is loaded with catfish of all sizes. All summer long we are able to lure even the big ones to the surface. And what do we use to bring this catfish to the surface? Cat food, of course! 

Saturday, 7:40 PM - The lawn and mulch beds around my house are so inhabited by toads in the summer, you practically have to watch where you step at night! 

True toads are toothless and generally warty in appearance. They have a pair of parotoid glands on the back of their heads. 

Unlike any other planet, our specially designed dwelling place is covered in water. There is water in the seas, water in the oceans, water in lakes and ponds, water underneath the ground, water in the polar ice caps… water is everywhere! In fact, NASA scientists say there are more than 326 million trillion gallons of water covering over 70% of the earth’s surface.

Unless you live in a humid part of the world, you may not realize it, but there is even water in the air. Scientists estimate that on a typical summer afternoon, there are about 50,000 tons of water vapor in the air above a square mile of land. (Although I imagine there are at least several thousand more gallons on a humid rainy night in my home town in Georgia!)
​
All of the water on our planet is constantly moving and changing states. As liquid water evaporates from the earth’s surface and becomes a gas, it enters the atmosphere where it eventually condenses and falls back to the earth again. This process is known as the water cycle. It is an incredible design thought of by our creator to keep our planet from drying out. Instead of vaporizing into space, the water returns and waters our planet.

Some of our water gets into the air through vegetation. Not only do plants need and soak up water, but they also release it back into the air; a process called transpiration. God designed plants to water themselves! A field of corn is reported to give off enough water to re-cover its own field eleven inches deep. Self-sustained recyclers!

​Because of the water cycle, we are able to use the water that God originally created over and over again. The raindrops that hit your umbrella last time it rained have existed for thousands of years and have travelled this world over and over in various places. The “rain falls into the rivers, and the rivers flow into the sea, and yet the sea never overflows” because of the way God has designed our incredible planet. 

Some random photos from July 2012