12-13-08 Observations

- A bit below normal temperatures on the southern Cumberland Plateau....with a beautiful sunrise on a crisp December morning. The high today is forecast to be around 50.

- We have had appoximately 5"-6" of rain this week. The creeks and waterfalls within the mountain properties are quite noisy.

- What a full moon (99% of the moon is illuminated) last night! The moon is near perigee, its closest point to Earth during its elliptical orbit. The moon not only appears closer (and larger) to us, it is closer to us!

- The top photo was taken yesterday just before darkness fell on the mountain. These two deer, a doe and what appeared to be her yearling, chose to have acorns as the evening meal. I found the pose interesting. Note the White Oak (Quercus alba) trunk on the left side of the photo. Acorns, especially those of the White Oak (the favorite of the deer) and Chestnut Oak, were abundant this year.

- The next photo is the same two deer, obviously a bit alarmed, taken about thirty minutes earlier.

- The third photo was taken early this morning. It is of a Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), feathers ruffled in the cold wind, as it surveys the terrain for potential breakfast.

- The hornet (Vespa) nest in the bottom photo is one of many in the trees across the mountain properties. It is the queen who starts the building process during the warm months, as her cell is in the center of the nest, and only she survives the winter!