​​Monday, 12:40 PM - I always consider it “my lucky day” when I discover or stumble upon a reptile, particularly a snake. This afternoon, the sun was sending warm rays through the cool, partly cloudy sky and presenting a beautiful sixty-one-degree fall day. I left the confines of my office at lunch break and was planning a short stroll up to the pond. But not even 50 feet out the back door of my office, I spied an odd looking “stick” laying across the access road. 

Noticing that his initial relaxed position was now tensing into slight curves along his body, I knew he too had seen me.  I raised my camera to get a few shots from a distance should he quickly shoot off either side of the road into the edge of the woods or into the pond.  But there he lay, subtle as can be, not moving an inch, except for the gradual tensing of his muscles.  I was able to walk quite close by and made a loop around him to the edge of the road where I could squat and get some eye-level photographs. He lay perfectly still, perhaps repeating in his not-wanting-to-be-noticed reptilian mind, “I’m a stick. I’m a stick. I’m just a stick.”

Desiring a different pose, I approached him and gently tapped his tail with my foot. Instantly he assumed the dreadful defensive position and feisty, aggressive attitude by which this species, and most watersnakes, are known. He assumed the most perfect coil giving him the advantage of maximum striking distance. His body flattened out, making him appear much more heavy bodied and Cottonmouth-ish. 
​
After a few calculated and precise strikes at my boot and leg, he decided retreat was in order and quickly shot his way down the bank, winding toward the pond where, diving into the water, he disappeared into the watery vegetation on the edge of the pond. No doubt he will be back out again on another warm day, craftily disguised as a stick on the bank of the pond. Truly, it was my lucky day. 

​November 11, 2012, 8:45 PM - Amanda spotted 3 deer crossing from a neighbor’s yard; 1 doe and 2 fawns. They slowly sauntered across the road, hooves clicking on asphalt, before disappearing in the wood line two houses down. These are most likely the family we frequently see in our area, though now grown bigger and browner. 

​November 3, 2012 - on a drive south to the Rock Ranch in Thomaston, GA saw
- 3 roadkill raccoons
- 1 roadkill bobcat
- 1 roadkill deer

​At sunset on the drive home, beautiful golden rays and shadows casting across the landscape, we passed 2 Red-tailed Hawks along the way sitting on pasture fences. One smaller hawk, either a Coopers or Sharp-shinned, flew swiftly in front of our vehicle. At almost dusk, while crossing over a bridged creek near Monticello, a Great Blue Heron flew up from the creek, over the road, and curved around back down into the cover of the trees. 

​With the time change, this first week of November has placed my drive home in the golden hours of dusk. Now it looks like fall! The reds of the sumac and dogwoods absolutely glow. The orange sunlight gives even the yellows a beautiful, deep golden radiance. Truly, it “looks” like fall, even if the temperatures, still going above 70 degrees, feel like a lingering summer. 

​Amicalola Falls State Park Lodge is a Georgia state park located in Dawsonville, Georgia. A spectacular, towering waterfall, the highest waterfall in Georgia can be viewed from above and below or by climbing a hiking trail of hundreds of steps; an exhilarating day hike! Appalachian Trail hikers begin their journey at Amicalola Falls on the access trail to Springer Mountain. The park has a campground, and access to the eco-friendly Len Foote Hike Inn.

​Tallulah Gorge is a State Park in North Georgia. The Tallulah River cuts through the 1,000 foot deep Gorge and contains several waterfalls. Over 1000 steps lead down to a suspension bridge and lowest waterfall. It is a great day-hike location.  As we peered down into the gorge, a large White-tailed Deer buck swam across the river in the bottom of the canyon. 

​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