Drive the Refuge

Come along as I drive the Duck River Unit of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, a birder's paradise. Here's a collection of images as I made my way into and out of the refuge.

The refuge is home to birds in all shapes and sizes and colors and in all the varying habitats within the refuge. A twist in the road and you scare up a large wading bird who takes flight from the intrusion. You don't mean to intrude, but with the grasses along the road obscuring what lay on the other side, and the swamps adjacent to the road much lower, it is inevitable. A few of the birds I encountered:

Great Blue Heron, Great White Egret, Mallard Ducks,
Eastern Kingbird, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, Bobolink, Yellow Headed Blackbird

I hope you enjoyed the drive and would love to know if you have a favorite photo.

If you are in the Eastern United States, we're in the throws of a full blown heat wave, so be careful out of doors. Have an enjoyable weekend all. ENJOY!

2017 Year In Review

As I look back at 2017, I found a harsh political climate, not to mention a climate that left us with hurricanes in the South and wildfires in the West. We saw more terrorism in many states, even in my own. Demonstrations plagued our cities, big and small. We are a divided nation it seems. Then came a giant leap in the women's, and even human rights movement. With the unearthing of sexual harassment, this brought to bear one's credibility. With it came destroyed careers, shattered lives and broken families. And we are left in shock and disbelief in this the supposed greatest nation in the world.

In my world, however small, I awoke each day with new hope of capturing Mother Nature in all her splendor and beauty. As best my mind's eye could focus through the lens in my Nikon, I snapped image after image at every twist and turn on the road I traveled. I long for more, but this year ends on this day and I am left wanting.

The year 2018 will bring more opportunities and more images, with different settings and beautiful scenery. I hope to bring you, my friends and followers, who so graciously compliment me as I post, more of what is beautiful in this world. Thank you for all of your well wishes. I will cherish them always. I leave you with my very best images I brought up from the depths of my archives of this year 2017. 

I pray all that is wrong in this world will be overshadowed by all that is right in this New Year. Whatever climate we find ourselves in, be it political, weather or controversial, I hope you will look to Mother Nature for the beauty and splendor in our world. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Linking to Foodie Friday and Everything Else and Metamorphosis Monday

'Nesting' Black Crowned Night Herons

A visit to the Heron Rookery on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville Sunday afforded me a plethora of species of birds. Since I rarely get more than a glimpse of a Black Crowned Night Heron, I thought I would post images of them first. They were very busy flying in and out of the rookery. In this image, you can see the late afternoon sun casting its golden glow.

This Heron Rookery never ceases to amaze me with the different species that nest together in one large tree along the shoreline. I wonder have you ever tried to capture a Black Crowned Night Heron in flight? It's not like photographing a Great Blue Heron. They move much much slower than Night Herons. Night Herons fly much faster as they are not nearly as large a bird as their Great Blue Heron cousins. One never knows when you snap an image of one in flight, if it's even viable, but on this day I got very lucky.

I had trouble differentiating the leaves and tree branches from the Black Crowned Night Herons. The Great Blues stick out more as they are bigger, but the Night Herons being so small blend in. I snapped an image of a Great Blue Heron standing on a nest only to realize later that this Black Crowned Night Heron was sitting on its nest right below it.

Today there were Great Blue Herons, Black Crowned Night Herons, Cormorants and Great White Egrets flying all about the Heron Rookery, not to mention Barn Swallows and Canadian Geese. What a plethora and a pleasure to be in the company of such great species and able to photograph them. I will share Great Blue Heron images in a post soon. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We finally, as you can see from these images, had a beautiful day Sunday with blue skies and low temperatures in the 70's. It was wonderful. ENJOY!

Duck River Unit, TN National Wildlife Refuge

There are several units of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, and the Duck River Unit is one I have wanted to visit for some time. I knew from being a frequent visitor to Tennessee's page on the bird.aba.org website that the majority of waterfowl are located in far reaching areas of this refuge. That was quite accurate, as way off in the distance I could see a flock of American White Pelicans, not to mention quite a few Great White Egrets, wading in a huge wetland area. Choosing to stay on the gravel roads, I stopped in several spots to capture images of the wetlands and waterfowl as best I could. Bald Cypress Trees were plentiful in one swamp and had turned their customary burnt orange hue for Fall.

Not far from the Bald Cypress Trees in my first image there sat four Cormorants perched on a large tree branch in the middle of the wetland sunning themselves, accompanied by a lone Turtle. It was very difficult to get a decent shot as they were a good distance away so I had to crop significantly. My apologies. I snapped a few images in the car and then as I went to get out they flew off.

Just to the right a distance from the Cormorants stood a Great Blue Heron wading in the water as he fished for a meal. He too was not happy as I exited my car and hightailed it flying off making quite the ruckus as he went.

Down a side road I traveled quite a distance, got out of my car and walked a bit finding myself between two large wetlands. I scared something up as it lifted off and flew away in a hurry. I snapped a few images not even knowing what it was. Turns out it was an American White Pelican of all things. I didn't get to see it up close at the refuge, but my software helped hone in on it. It's Hunting Season in the refuge which could explain the waterfowl being so skittish. I didn't get to the west side of the refuge. Perhaps another day. ENJOY!

Egret in Flight

A beautiful Great White Egret flies over Old Hickory Lake on a Summer day. There are only a few Egrets that make the lake their home in the warmer months. More often you will see Great Blue Herons. But when I do happen upon a beautiful Egret, I have to stop and take a photo. They look so graceful. During Fall you will find dozens of Egrets on the lake as they stop over on their migration to the Southern states. ENJOY!

Black Crowned Night Heron

There is a creek call Drakes Creek right off Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville. It meanders north through the heart of Hendersonville. As it does there are areas where trees have partially blown down and branches are sticking up out of the water. Great Blue Herons, Great White Egrets, Green Herons and Black Crowned Night Herons are just a few of the common resident bird species that make this creek their home.

As I come and go throughout the week I take the short cut passing by Drakes Creek always checking to see if the resident Black Crowned Night Heron is perched on a particularly large dead tree branch that sticks out into the creek near the road. On this day, he was perched on the perfect branch just low enough and near enough to the edge of the creek for me to get a decent photo. This is the image I had tried to capture at a distance in early March, but that image was really not good even though I did post it. This bird species is one of the shorter, stumpier species of Herons obviously. But he is just as determined a fisher as any Great Blue Heron or Great White Egret is. Hope you enjoy this much better image of such a beautiful bird. ENJOY!

Now on a personal note, I have been grounded for a week with a stomach bug which kept me from a major conference for work this coming week. Needless to say, this didn't make me happy, but one has to do what one has to do. It has been a trying few months what with bronchitis, then major dental work and now this bug. But I will bounce back. You can count on that. Twenty years ago today I was involved in a serious accident which left me with many injuries which took weeks and weeks to recover from. But I did recover albeit I was much younger then which probably helped. Now this week, my oldest sister, Linda, experienced a serious trauma while on vacation in Florida. She is currently out of ICU, but has a very long and grueling recovery ahead. I mention this for one reason. I hope you will keep her in your prayers. God Bless.

Pair of Great White Egrets

All along Old Hickory Lake which is part of the Cumberland River that runs through downtown Nashville and northeast to Hendersonville and Gallatin, there are many small tributaries where you can view the many species of waterfowl that make this lake their home. There are also many species who migrate through on their way North or South during Spring and Fall.

It was mid May and as I was on my way home for the day, I spotted quite a few Great White Egrets gathered in one of the backwater tributaries of Old Hickory Lake situated next to the main road. It was late day and harsh light, but I got out of my car and stood and counted 26 Great White Egrets in that one area. It was an amazing sight. My 300 mm just couldn't get close enough to get the images I had hoped for, but I wanted to share one of the images with you. I have been way under the weather since New Year's Day, but wanted to share this first image of the New Year with you. ENJOY!

Great White Egret, Old Hickory Lake

Back in early Summer I captured this image of a Great White Egret standing in a meadow at Old Hickory Lake. He seemed content just standing there and I certainly didn't want to interrupt his quiet moment. So I snapped a few images and moved on.

Now I am moving on. Soon I will be moving to Hendersonville, Tennessee, just northeast of Nashville and home to many country music stars. It was Johnny Cash's last home which was situated on Old Hickory Lake. My place will be right across the street from Old Hickory Lake. I am so excited. I hope you will join me in my excitement. Some day when my property in Louisville is sold, I will consider putting down real roots, but for now I am excited I found a place with a lot of the things I would look for in a home. And especially being right across the street from the 'lake' can't wait. Egrets and Herons, I am a coming. ENJOY!

Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge

As wildlife refuges go, Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge is simply that, a wildlife refuge comprised mostly of swamps and bottom land with Lily Pads and Lotus blooms scattered here and there. The 8,000 acres plus wildlife refuge is situated in northwest Tennessee just west of Clarksville, outside of the town of Dover.

The wildlife refuge runs parallel to the Cumberland River so while you drive the main refuge road and view the refuge on one side, in other parts of the refuge you will find the river on one side and the refuge on the other.

One nice thing about this refuge was how it offered photo ops other than the standard wading birds standing in a swamp. There was one large section of land just as you entered the refuge that was covered with blooming Lotus flowers. Unfortunately, I could not get close enough to take better images.

I did manage to capture this Great Blue Heron on the prowl for a meal standing knee deep in the middle of a cornfield. He looked to be on a serious mission so I moved on after clicking a few frames.

The temperatures here in Middle Tennessee, as the locals call it, have stayed in the low 90's for over a week now and do not appear as though they are going to change any time soon. UGH! All one can do is take cover in the air conditioning. I hope wherever you are, you find it cooler than what I am experiencing. Luckily, we have missed the heavy rainful brought on shore by Tropical Storm Bill. Most of that weather moved farther north before turning east. Back soon. ENJOY!

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Great White Egret

Scratching an itch. Another view of the Great White Egret settling down on a branch at Drake's Creek on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

To see other views of the Egret, go here. It's going to be a rainy weekend here in the South. Have a fabulous Saturday everyone. ENJOY!

Linking to Saturday Critters

The Life of a Great White Egret

First, the back story on this area. Two lakes meander through east Nashville. The northern lake is Old Hickory Lake while the southern lake is Percy Priest Lake. Both lakes are born out of two rivers. The northern river is the Cumberland River while the southern river is the Stones River. Old Hickory Lake is situated northeast of Nashville winding snake like east to west. Priest Lake is situated in southeast Nashville and runs north to south and can be quite wide. 

Hendersonville lies directly north of Old Hickory Lake which is where I photographed on this day. The small town of Hendersonville was made famous when Johnny Cash, one of America's iconic country music stars, made it his home late in life. Now the area is dotted with many country music stars' homes. The town itself lies about 50 miles northeast of downtown Nashville.

On this particular afternoon I drove to Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville to photograph the beautiful Great White Egret. I had seen several throughout the area. The sun was bright on this day and the Egret basically waded through what seemed about a foot of water on Old Hickory Lake near Drakes Creek Park. The Egret was a tad bit away for a really decent image, but then he lifted up out of the water.

And as luck would have it, he had spotted a large branch sticking up out of the water closer to me and landed on top of the branch. What a perfect place to perch and take a rest while at the same time keeping an eagle eye out for fish.

As the Egret settled in, I realized that he was sporting breeding plumage noted by the small patch of neon green skin on his face. I imagine long plumes called aigrettes will grow from his back further into the  breeding season. Imagine if you will the life of a Great White Egret. One of the largest wading birds on the planet, with few animals to stalk you as prey, your day comprised of flying from one location to the next, wading shallow waters of lakes and swamps, occasionally fishing when hunger sets in. As evening approaches you settle in for the night. What a life don't you think? ENJOY!

Linking to Saturday Critters

Mirror Image, Great White Egret

Just a quick post today. I captured this image of this Great White Egret one evening during that 'golden' hour at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

Every time I see this image as I scan my archives the first thing that strikes me is his almost perfect reflection in the water of the lagoon. And the second thing that strikes me . . . is his slightly inquisitive or perhaps apprehensive stance as he peers down into the water. It is priceless. ENJOY!

Great White Egrets, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, VA

Everywhere I turned on Chincoteague, albeit the island or the wildlife refuge, I encountered the Great White Egret. So graceful looking. So beautiful. On this particular day the Egret was busily catching a meal. I was lucky enough to capture that image.

Later the Egret flew off into the distance. I wasn't certain I'd captured a decent image of him as he flew away only to realize after dropping my photos into my software that evening that I had. I love the out of focus feel of the Sandpiper in the upper right background too. Long bills, long necks, long legs. Everything about a Great White Egret is long, large and looming. It commands your attention.

Later this week I'll post some images of the Snowy Egret. I also have images of Sandpipers, American Oyster Catchers and more from my trip. To say I was in my glory at Chincoteague would be putting it mildly. It's still cool here day and night and totally unlike the Ohio River Valley. I'm sure most of us don't know what to do with ourselves, but loving every minute of it, nonetheless. ENJOY!

Great White Egret, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia

Spending time at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge was absolutely a hoot for a gal who loves to photograph birds, especially wading birds. There were so many Great White Egrets which I photographed over the course of several days in resting pose, stalking pose, wading, going after a catch. You name it and the number of Egrets were phenomenal.

I photographed the Great White Egret, the Snowy Egret, the Cattle Egret, as well as the Tri Colored Heron, the Little Blue Heron, the Green Heron, and even some distant images of a White and Glossy Ibis. I was also excited to get some nice Oyster Catcher images which I wasn't expecting at all. This gorgeous Egret blessed me on a particulary bright, sunny day by resting and preening on a dead tree branch next to an inlet that runs along the driving route through the wildlife refuge. I cropped it heavily to eliminate some of the 'noise' from the various branches poking in all directions. Purchasing a longer zoom lens prior to leaving on vacation was definitely the best idea I've had in quite a while. I hope you'll stop by often in the next few weeks as I'll be posting many more images from my trek to the wildlife refuge in Virginia. ENJOY!