Late Summer Nature Thoughts.....

- Now this is more like it! What a beautiful week in southeast Tennessee. On the Cumberland Plateau, morning lows have been in the upper 50s/low 60s with highs in the low 80s. Lower humidity have made it a great week to enjoy morning coffee on the back porch.

Photos....Bottom to Top.....

- Old Glory on display in the beautifully landscaped yard of one of our residents on Fredonia Mountain......

- A Red-Bellied Woodpecker surveys his domain from a dead branch of an oak. These colorful birds are regular visitors to my back yard suet cakes.

- This Gray Catbird is a bit out of habitat....Typically a denizen of the undergrowth and thick tangles of vegetation, this one has decided to take a look around. This species is not as well known as its more famous cousin, The Northern Mockingbird. Both are in a group often called the "mimic thrushes". It is more often heard than seen.....a distinct repeating 'meow' emanating from thick growth, thus the name. And yes, this is the same perch occupied by the woodpecker in the previous photo.

- One of nature's most unusual creatures. This Walkingstick (an insect) is almost impossible to see among the branches it calls home.

- Species that thrive in warm, humid weather, like this Crape Myrtle, have flourished this year across the Southeast.

- The "Daddy Long Legs"....also called The Harvestman....not an insect but member of Class Arachnida....along with the spiders, ticks, chiggers, etc. This one has a back left leg missing. This species, despite local stories to the contrary, is not poisonous. They feed on decaying plant matter and an occasional smaller insect.

The Wonder of It All.......

- "Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth, are never alone or weary of life"... Rachel Carson

Photos (taken recently within our nature developments) from top to bottom......

- Whitetail Deer....a doe and her two fawns, most likely about 4 months old. The white spots will stay a few more weeks and then gradually disappear as autumn arrives. The young will stay around mom until the new crop of young are born late next spring...and then they part ways, usually for life.

- An incredible wildlife photo....A large adult Bobcat walking slowly away from the camera....but wait, enlarge the photo (click) and see the young one to the right of the tree in the foreground, standing on hind legs, sharpening its claws on the trunk of a tree.

- Two more whitetail fawns, in a late afternoon pose for the camera. Priceless.

These photos courtesy of Frank and Joann Kahoun of Bluff View Estates.