When a Quiet Hike Turns Golden.....

- Seasonably pleasant today in the Sequatchie Valley.....mid 70s and a breeze....

- More showers yesterday.....it has been a great spring for all flora......

- Late May until late June....prime time for the does to have their young....hopefully photos of the young deer will be posted soon....

- Attached are a few photos taken on a recent woodland hike through some of our new properties.....

- The bottom two photos are of the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia), perhaps the most beautiful of all the woodland shrubs in southeast Tennessee. Due to the recent abundant rainfall, the blooms seem to be particularly brilliant this spring. An interesting note: named for a student of Linnaeus, Peter Kalm (1716-1791), a Swedish botanist.

- During this hike along the wooded ridges on the northern periphery of our developments, the scenery wasn't too bad! Middle photos.

- The top two photos are of a local tree that I had meant to enter on earlier posts. The tree, which is not common in this area, is the Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier), sometimes called 'Sarvis' or 'Shadbush' by locals. This tree will always catch the eye of those who enjoy identifying the flora, for it produces showy clusters of white flowers prior to producing leaves. It achieves heights of up to 40'.

Nature Throws a Curve.....

- Update.....The Holly tree near the office now has no berries.....The Waxwings finally win the turf war...I wonder where these winged nomads could be today?

- At dawn this morning I heard a Whippoorwill just outside my window....Quite unusual...as these mostly nocturnal avia usually only sound off at dusk......

- Warm and rainy today in southeast Tennessee. Cooler, drier air is forecast to be on the way. Next week looks delightful. If the forecast holds true....sounds like a good time for a long hike to enjoy the clear mountain air, the noisy waterfalls, the Mountain Laurel (blooming now) and the Flame Azalea (starting to bloom).

- From time to time, we hear stories of nature that, without tangible proof, we simply pass off as "Oh sure"....Well, here is one with tangible proof...courtesy of our residents Frank and Joanne Kahoun.

- Starting back in the early spring, I began to receive sporadic reports of a mysterious animal. Reports varied slightly by the eyes observing, but all the reports had a few common characteristics.....the animal was definitely 'wild', it was 'dog-like' and it was black.

- The animal was seen infrequently...near some of the more undeveloped areas of our 'nature preserve'. After hearing a few of the reports, on multiple occasions, I hid in the flora with a camera, hoping to get a glimpse of this 'Black Fox'.

- March turned into April and the reports became less...and then nothing for many days.

- Last week, I received an e-mail from the Kahouns with the attached photographs. Finally!

- They had heard some of the neighbors talking and Frank thought that I, a naturalist always interested in a good story, should be aware of his photographs. And they were correct...A big thank you to the Kahouns....for the great photographs of such a shy and furtive creature, and for their love of nature...which seems to be a common bond of many of our residents.

- It seems they had seen this 'fox' on several occasions....the last being near the first of April when they observed the canid walking across the corner of their lot, highlighted even more by a very unusual light April snowfall. They explained to me the behavior of the animal, which included the 'jump and pounce' technique of hunting....the tactic used by foxes and coyotes when trying to stimulate a small mammal to bolt from its hiding place in the grass. In our area, these small mammals are almost always Meadow Voles and White-Footed Mice.

- Exactly what is this animal? Good question. Vulpes? Canis? Hybrid? The mystery continues.....or does it?

A Rainy Night In.....Tennessee

- Rain...an abundance of rain....5+ inches last weekend...and more since...including today.....

- Enjoying the simple things Mother Nature has to offer.....last Thursday night....around 3:50 AM...lightning flashing through the glass caused me to awake....I opened the glass door (w/screen) out onto the back deck, and allowed the night breezes into the bedroom...along with the comforting sounds of rain falling in the deciduous forest behind the cabin.....thunder rolling/rain, rain and more rain........good night again......Priceless!

- The creeks throughout our nature developments are roaring to the point that many residents can hear them though they may live several hundred yards away....like me. I can easily hear Stone Creek rolling through the wooded hollow behind my cabin.

- Attached are photos of a wildlife scene that played out recently in Greenfields...thankfully in front of the camera. Driving along the access road into the developments I spotted three small shapes running down the pavement in front of the vehicle. Soon a larger avia sailed past the driver side window and alighted just in front of the three small shapes.....The large bird was a mother Killdeer (bottom photo) and the three small ones baby Killdeer chicks...perhaps 3 weeks old. Two of the chicks can be seen in the top two photos, partially hidden by the roadside grass...looking for momma. They were about the size of a golf ball....with a head. The mother, as they often do, put on quite a display of faked injury (2nd photo from bottom) while we watched.

- I see this display annually, as the Killdeer seldom flies, and they even nest on the ground. However, the display is hard to photograph, as the mother is in constant motion as she oversees the chicks. The display lasted for 20-25 minutes...until all the little ones disappeared into the taller grass. Why this species ((Charadrius vociferous) likes to hang around roads, I am not sure. Evidently the inherent danger is overcome by a favorite morsel that may inhabit the roadside habitat. Perhaps they just like to live dangerously.