Groundhog Smorgasbord

I pulled into the driveway the other afternoon and there was this little baby Groundhog sampling the delights of my vegetation. He was perhaps 10 inches long at most, very cute he was too.

Baby Groundhog

Sunset

I'm not sure if I prefer Sunrise or Sunset. The light is so different but the one thing that sunset has going for it is that you dont' have to get up early to take a picture of a sunset.

Maine Sunset

Florida Sunset

Botanising

This morning was spent botanising at Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve in Lancaster County.  I had the place to myself, listening to the birds as I walked to the top of the trail. Although the flowers were either gone over or not out yet I still enjoyed the easy hike to the top and back. Along the way I saw Louisiana Waterthrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, Willow Flycatcher, Wood Peewee, Phoebe and several others.  When I left Shenks Ferry I went to the nearby Pinnacle Overlook 500ft above the Susquehanna River. At this point the river is 190ft deep which considering its only a few feet deep for much of its length is amazing. 

Shenks Ferry Stream

 

Amish Farmer

Pinnacle Overlook

Wild Flowers

These wild flowers are all over my back yard lawn if that's what you can call it. Not much grass, lots of violets and assorted other flora. Too many trees for the sunlight to penetrate and quite dry due the trees slurping up any excess water. Combined with rocks the size of Volkswagen's and maybe just a little to do my lack of enthusiasm for mowing,  the lawn is not really suitable for a game of tennis or croquet. Anyway having these beauties gives me a good excuse for not mowing this weekend.

Star of Bethlehem

Flowers

I'm not very good at identifying flowers but I still think they're pretty and can enjoy them even if I don't know their name.

Sunlit Azalea

Dunno Flower

Violet

A Walk in the Woods

Woodland Walk

Saturday Morning

Early Saturday morning was spent at the Bulls Head pub. On Saturday mornings they do a full English Breakfast that's pretty damn good, they will even serve you a pint if you want. I stick to tea. Now you could be forgiven for thinking that the Bulls Head is your typical English pub as nearly every town has a Bulls Head, right? Well in this case the Bulls Head is in downtown Lititz in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. The breakfast consists of Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Baked Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms,  Toast and if you want you can even get fried Black Pudding. 

Bulls Head, Lititz, PA

On the way back we stopped at Hammer Creek to see what it was like after yesterdays heavy rains.

Hammer Creek

Hammer Creek

Old Pictures

With large multi-terabyte  hard disks being so cheap these days I rarely delete any of the pictures downloaded from my cameras. It's my thinking/dream/wish/delusion that in the near future even the most blurry, out of focus, over/under exposed pictures will be able to be recovered in the 2020 release of  Photoshop.
For now I like going back to some of my older pictures and reprocessing them with the current version of Photoshop and things like Nik Plugins. Yeah I know I'm a computer geek at heart.

These are a few from 2009 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Pioneer Cabin

Middle Prong River

Middle Prong River

Sunday Birds

Today was a nice day for photographing the birds. There was a nice hazy sunshine which I like, I hate taking pictures when it's too bright as you get very harsh and glairy (is that a real word) images.

So anyway I'm an idle bastard when it comes to bird photography. Some people walk around with a big lens getting all hot and sweaty, I only do that when there's sand and warm water to cool off afterward. I'll dig out some Florida pictures sometime. So my idea of bird photography is to sit indoors when it's too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer.These pictures are all out of the window looking onto a bird feeder where I attract the birds and let them come to me. They can fly, let them do the work. So the cats and I sit there and wait for them to come to us.

Catbird

Catbird

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Clingmans Dome

Clingmans Dome at 6,643 ft is  the highest point in Tennessee and is located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it's also the highest point along the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail. I've walked the Appalachian Trail many times, OK a couple of miles of it anyway. Very strenuous it is too.

Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains NP

Backyard critters up close and personal

My yard is an officially certified wildlife sanctuary. Here's a couple of the cute critters I share it with.

Opossum

Skunk

Spring Birds

The end of April, May and into June is always a great time for birdwatching in the backyard as the summer visitors arrive. Anything can and often does show up for a few minutes/hours/days before continuing their journey to where ever it is they are heading. Quite a few stay to breed in the yard such as Indigo Buntings and Catbirds. This time of year I often sit in a hunting blind in front of my waterfall in the evening when the birds come down to drink and bathe. Tonight this little beauty paid a visit.

Black-throated  Blue Warbler