Wildlife Walk, Radnor Lake State Park

Come hike with me as I walk the lake trail at Radnor Lake State Park today. Did I mention we will get to visit with some of the local wildlife as we take a walk on this bright sunny day with temps hovering in the high 60's. Radnor Lake is in the middle of metropolitan Nashville surrounded by large neighborhoods, so it gets a lot of visitors.

After about a mile into the lake trail, I turned toward the aviary trail and hiked another quarter mile into the woods. To my surprise as I neared a clearing in the woods, a huge bird flew up from the clearing and perched in a nearby tree. I have never seen an Owl in the wild, until today! A gorgeous Barred Owl sat perched in a tree perfectly positioned for picture taking. Every now and then he would turn his head all the way around and stare down at me. I was about 200 yards away on the path. You suppose he knew he was the star of my show! Did I mention this is a Life List Bird!

The trail to the opposite side of the lake cuts through the lake and a swamp. As I walked I peered into the water and saw something swimming parallel with the trail. A Muskrat swam past me and disappeared into the deep water carrying a large stash of vegetation. Lunch!

As I peered into the depths of the swamp, a huge Turtle swam by. He didn't seem to mind the company at all.

The Turtles were out in force sunning themselves on downed branches in the lake close to the shoreline.

There were various species of Turtles sunning themselves. I hope they put on sunscreen.

As I turned to make my way to the aviary, I snapped this image looking back at Radnor Lake. It's a beautiful lake and quite large. The perimeter lake trail, if you choose to hike it all the way around, is three miles. I did the entire hike on my first trip here to Radnor Lake in 2016.

I wished I could contain my excitement at seeing my first Owl in the wild. Needless to say, when I checked out my images in Lightroom, I had some fantastic photos of the Barred Owl. He had a sleepy look on his face as he sat motionless lazily sunning himself. His perch was the perfect spot for me to capture quite a few pics of him. I doubt he knew he was the star of my show!

Hopefully, you've enjoyed this hike around Radnor Lake. It's a beautiful park and very flat surfaces to walk on with half of the lake trail paved. I want to go back soon to see if I can capture the Barred Owlettes. Word is they fledged, but perhaps they will come back to the nest. The nest was on the opposite side of the lake from where I hiked, so I didn't make it there on this visit. Have a wonderful weekend all. ENJOY!

A Spring Evening at Bernheim

For a brief few hours today as early evening moved in, the sun came out and Bernheim was bathed in a beautiful light with a gorgeous blue sky.

I made my way out to Bernheim just to catch the early evening light and take a few images before the next rain storm moved in. As I walked about the Arboretum, I happened upon this Mourning Dove sitting quietly in a tree not far from a nest. My guess is he's contemplating his next move. He watched me closely as I snapped a few images.

As I walked around the Pavilion checking out all of the Spring blooms, this beautiful flower greeted me.

After leaving the Pavilion area, I walked down to the water's edge of Lake Nevin where I happened upon these guys sun bathing. They didn't budge from this spot either. Normally they would have jumped into the lake, but with no real sunshine over the past week, my guess is they had to make hay while the sun shone.

As I made my way home, another series of rain storms was making its way into Louisville and rain drops greeted me as I got out of my car. We haven't had sun in a week until today briefly. We won't have sun again for probably a good week. Springtime in the Ohio River Valley. You gotta love it. ENJOY!

Fall, Cherokee Park

While out today running various appointments, I found myself accidentally cutting through Cherokee Park to get from one destination to the next. Such was the scene today over by the lake which sits adjacent to the golf course.

The sun was almost directly overhead, as it was midday, and while it was really bright, I decided it was still worth taking a few quick pics anyway.

The turtles were soaking up the warm sunshine, and while several of them headed for the water as I got a little too close, these two turtles weren't the least bit camera shy. Lucky me. I love the reds and oranges of the leaves reflected in the water.

Farther down looking across the lake the trees were so gorgeous blanketed in orange. I couldn't get the cattails out of the image so after taking a look see in my software I decided I liked them in the foreground. It kind of added a nice touch to the shot. Hope your week is going well. We've rounded the bend. The weekend is a hop, skip and a jump away. ENJOY!