Monday, December 30, 2013

Last Hike of 2013

My last hike of the year was spent on the Bent Twig Trail in Bernheim this weekend. Bent Twig is a very easy half mile hike with no elevation climb at all. In fact, the trail winds through a forested area taking you across four small wooden bridges as it crisscrosses a creek and actually leaves you feeling as though you are out in the wilderness. In fact, the trail runs into the forest between two main roads in Bernheim and you actually can see the main road that takes you into the main forest area as you near the end of the hike. I love this hike because I generally find a good deal of fungi and mushrooms on the downed trees during the damp winter months.

As I ended my hike I took a quick detour to Kingfisher Pond, but found no wildlife there. As I was about to head to my car a Brown Creeper flew over to a hardwood tree and began making his way up the tree trunk beginning fairly close to the ground.



Of course, I had to snap a few images and little did I realize they'd turn out pretty well. You just never know with a Brown Creeper if the images will be sharp enough to post, as they are constantly on the move.



Brown Creepers remind me of the Nuthatch. They both creep up and down tree trunks and branches eating whatever insects they find there. After the Brown Creeper disappeared around the trunk of the tree, I did see a Nuthatch and snapped a few images, but as I suspected, he was too far up a tree and moving to fast. No amount of sharpening in my software could fix that.



As it happens, the last image I managed to snap of the Brown Creeper shows a side view of him. They are very small birds and boy do they look just like the bark on some trees, in particular, this hardwood. I have to admit though, I really love his feather pattern. He's a beautiful little bird. Well, here we are at the end of the year. I hope wherever you are and however you choose to spend New Year's Eve, you stay safe and sound as we make our way into the New Year. ENJOY!

1 comment :

  1. Wonderful way to end the year, with more superb photos of the lovely birds in your place. Happy New Year Greetings, Jean.

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