Woodland Critters and Other Attractions

These mischievious little critters provided much entertainment while at a weekend getaway.

                                             These ducks shone in the first rays of the morning sun.

                                                                  The newness of a fawn.

                                                       The stillness of a lake at dawn.

                                                       Soon to be woken up by a water skier!

                                                                   And back terra firma.

                                                                      American pride.

Pretty Tweet Birds!

I spent the weekend at a cabin getaway in the woods of a neighboring state with a group of very special women.  The surroundings--the wildlife, particularly birds--was active around me while I relaxed and took it all in. 

The Other Side of the Mountain

We went for a ride Friday night to a favorite restaurant that's on the other side of the mountain.  It's a remote cabin in the woods in the middle of 'nowhere', yet a very special 'somewhere'.  There was a time we could simply drive over the mountain, a much shorter route, but the road has since been closed for many years; now we must drive a distance further, but following a route that affords a scenic ride--a great trade-off.  A heavy downpour of rain had just stopped and the sun had just come out.  Steam rose.  Fog fell.  Sun streamed.  Clouds puffed.  River raged.  Rainbow arched.  Leaves shone.   With my point-and-shoot camera, I snapped some pictures along the way from the passenger seat of our car.  

C'mon...!  Take a ride.....



       Each curve in the road provided dark canopies of leaves which made way for bright open light ahead.

Wicked storms carrying torrential rain earlier and the previous days let loose a barrage of water flowing through the river.  We drove over high, muddy water.

Having driven miles, we arrived on the other side of the mountain and now drove alongside it.  The thought of our home resting directly over the top and parallel to where we now were made me smile.  We were now in brighter, open space with low clouds dotting the landscape with cottony wisps.

A faint rainbow appeared!  (as well as a water droplet on my lens!)

This wreath of leaves seemed to be suspended in thin air, decorating the valley! 

Getting out of the car, I walked closer to position myself so the bottom of the rainbow appeared directly 'through' the center of the wreath, however in the few seconds it took to get there (and with the last drops of juice from my camera battery) the rainbow quickly faded until it became invisible.

We arrived at our destination already full.  Full of the splendor this part of our world provides.

Camouflage

Nature provides the utmost greatest circumstance for things to be hidden by camouflage.  Between sunlight and shadows, shades and patterns of color, even movement of blowing leaves, things right before your eyes might be difficult to see.  Here are a few I've come across.

Can you see the child hiding in the next picture?

Ha!  Funny, how a child will think just because they cover their own eyes, it makes them invisible; they cannot see, therefore they cannot be seen--like they are camouflaged by their own hands.  That's why the "Peek-A-Boo!" game is so much fun!

Courtship in Silhouette

There are a couple dead trees that poke out of the forest just beyond our back yard.  I often wonder why I never see anything in these trees--they seem like prime roosts for birds of prey, 'coons, or a variety of other animals--yet each time I look, which is frequent, there they stand, bare and barren.  (You can see these trees if you scroll down to my recent 'In a Fog' post to see what I mean.) 

The other day, as usual, I stepped out my back door and glanced over at the once-mighty, now-fragile branches and noticed for the first time a quick movement.  Then two!  Against a white sky, I saw the silhouettes of a pair of Flickers doing some kind of courtship ritual where they'd stretch their necks and chatter back and forth with each other, flitting (or 'flicking') from branch to branch, always landing in the same position as you see below. 

It was nice to see life in these otherwise solitary, quiet trees!

These Two Bears

I spotted these two bears wandering through the woods this afternoon.  I followed them (im)patiently with just a few snaps, knowing I'd get full-body shots when they'd pop out onto the road to cross it ahead of me.  The first one was a smaller bear--a yearling--the second one, it's mother.  They stayed a distance apart from each other so I couldn't get them in the same frame.  It was almost hard to tell them apart in the woods, but once I compared 'road' shots, I can clearly see the difference in the shape, length and weight of their bodies.  After crossing, the younger one tore apart a fallen log searching for grubs while it's mother sat down to keep a close watch on both of us.