In and Around Nashville

Let's take a peek back at the many places I have traveled 'In and Around' the Nashville area this past Spring and Summer.

1. White Tailed Deer, Long Hunter State Park, Hermitage, Spring

2. Sailboats, Percy Priest Lake, Hermitage, Spring

3. Great White Egret, Cross Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Dover, Summer

4. Edgar Evans Mill, Smithville, Summer

5. Belle Meade Plantation, Nashville, Spring

6. Wood Duck Pair, Murfree Spring Wetlands, Murfreesboro, Summer

7. Ox Eye Sunflower, Bison Meadow, Nashville, Summer

8. Rare Tennessee Purple Coneflower, Couchville Cedar Glade, Hermitage, Summer

9. Great White Egret, Old Hickory Lake, Hendersonville

10. White Narcissus, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Nashville, Spring

I enjoy reading all of your kind notes you leave me in the COMMENTS section of each post. I hope you will leave me a note as to where you have been so far in 2015. ENJOY!

Linking to Saturday Critters and Our World Tuesday

Babes of Spring

After a day of rain a few weekends ago, I drove the short route to Long Hunter State Park located on the southeast side of Priest Lake. I had only visited this park one other time back in February in the dead of Winter. On that visit I captured a few images of a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker which was a Life List bird for me.

On this visit new green grasses blanketed the large fields along the drive into the park with woods on either side. I slowed down half way back into the park as I approached several White Tailed Deer munching on the new grasses of Spring.

Sitting in my car, I watched them as they quietly grazed on the grasses. Occasionally, one of them would wander back toward the edge of the woods and reach up and grab a leaf off of a low hanging branch. All the while they seem to keep an eye on me.

As I was about to pull away and head back home, with dusk fast approaching, this little guy turned before departing into the woods and looked back over his shoulder at me as if to bid me farewell. I snapped a few images of him and then off he went. I will be back soon, but until then have a fantastic weekend. ENJOY!

Linking to Saturday Critters

Winter Jasmine

This past Sunday I spent a brief few minutes walking around Long Hunter State Park near the shore. As I walked over to the edge of a cliff to look out over Couchville Lake, I looked down and saw a plant covered in yellow blooms. That was a shocker considering it's February and the dead of Winter.

It didn't take long to identify the bloom when I did a search online. All I did was type in 'yellow blooms in Winter' and there it was. Yellow Jasmine blooms from November to March. A typically native plant to China, Yellow Jasmine can be found scattered throughout the lower southern states in the U.S. One of the states listed was Tennessee. If you had told me I would discover a flowering Jasmine plant in Winter here in Nashville, I wouldn't have believed it. But here it is. Amazing. ENJOY!

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Long Hunter State Park

On Sunday I took a drive before the clouds and storm began to move in from the northwest. One of the places I paid a visit to briefly was Long Hunter State Park, about ten miles south of Percy Priest Dam. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are quite a few recreational areas, wildlife management areas and parks that are situated all up and down Percy Priest Lake.

Looking back across the lake in Long Hunter State Park, the shore reminded me a little of the shoreline in Acadia National Park. While not nearly as beautiful as Acadia, it was still a nice view. It was also the last of the sun I saw that day as the clouds moved in.

As I proceeded to get back in my car to leave the park, I stopped to watch a Cardinal sitting on a branch brightening up the landscape with his beautiful red feathers. But something else caught my eye near to the Cardinal. A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker was flitting all about the branches looking for sap dripping from the holes he had drilled earlier. I don't know how long it takes for sap to drip out at a good drip, but I am positive this woodpecker knows.

By the way, this is a life list bird for me. I had never seen a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker before. I had to look him up to confirm his identify. He hung out for a bit before heading deeper into the trees out of my view.

This week in Tennessee, including Nashville, we are in a State of Emergency. I had not been out on the streets since Sunday. Monday the ice storm dropped a half inch or more of ice on all of the outdoor surfaces. All day long it rained ice pellets. I cleaned my car of all of the ice yesterday late. Then last night it snowed an inch. I knew it was going to snow which is why I cleaned the ice off my car yesterday late. Today by the time I ventured out to the market the sun had melted most of the snow off of my car thankfully, not to mention the black ice on the roads. I went to the grocery and came right back home.

I am not willing to be out long as temps are falling all day today to reach below zero tonight which will refreeze all of the water on the roads. First ice, then snow and now bitter bitter cold. Not making for a productive week, and more ice and snow is predicted for Friday. I can't complain, however, as I am reminded by the new reports out of Boston of their 100 inches of snow. I should be grateful this week is probably the worst of Winter I will experience. I pray wherever you are, stay safe, warm and take care. ENJOY!