HURRICANE Dawn...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation.

​Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede.

A Red-shouldered Hawk silhouetted against a hurricane dawn.

Saturday, 7:30 AM - Quite often, backlit silhouettes don’t make great photos, especially in bird photography. However, I couldn’t make myself delete this image of a Red-shouldered Hawk perched upon a snag at sunrise. Not because it was a great shot, but more because it reflected my mood.

Hurricane Florence had made landfall and was dumping rain through the Carolinas. Several friends from our sister church in Jacksonville and Wilmington, North Carolina had either left home, or hunkered down. As the sun rose on the new day, I was waiting for a text or email, praying they were all okay. This silhouetted Hawk against an advancing wave of blue clouds fit the somber mood.

White-eyed Vireo; Clarke County, GA.

But not much later, as the rays of the sun broke the horizon, a White-eyed Vireo perched atop the Persimmon tree and began to call. A ray of hope to break the sullen mood! 

​Thankfully, I received word over the next few days that the friends that stayed it out fared well, and the friends that evacuated made it safely back to homes without any damage. ​

Clarke County, Georgia
Today: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Sunrise Today:7:16 am; Sunset Today: 7:39 pm
Daylight Hours: 12 hours, 23 minutes (-2m 4s)
Moon: 35.5% Waxing Crescent
Florence, now a Tropical Storm, will continue to track slowly inland through the Carolinas this weekend. Life-threatening, catastrophic flash floods and prolonged significant river flooding are likely over portions of the Carolinas and the southern to central Appalachians from western North Carolina into southwest Virginia through early next week.