Percy Priest Lake

A mere hop, skip and a jump from my apartment in Nashville sits Percy Priest Dam. The dam is situated between mile six and seven of the Stones River. The reservoir and lake is so large it is situated within three counties in eastern Nashville. There are parks and wildlife management areas all up and down the reservoir and lake in all three counties. It's a pretty impressive area.

Today I drove over to the opposite side of the dam to Percy Priest Lake. Before you cross in front of the dam, you can park and look out over the lake to the south. This small island is Hermitage Island and couldn't be any bigger than a quarter acre all told. A few days prior I had taken a short road to the back side of the dam to watch the birds feeding. I want to go back there when its sunny and warmer.

Off to the left of Hermitage Island, the shoreline was busy with Gulls. I noticed a Northern Shoveler fishing for a meal in the water off shore.



Once you drive the road crossing in front of the dam there's a parking lot to the left. I pulled in and stopped to take a few images of the Sea Gulls there. I knew this was the last I would probably see of the sun today as a Winter storm is making its way into Nashville. We are expecting several inches of snow and possibly freezing rain.

I really can't complain about this Winter in Kentucky or Tennessee because we have had virtually no snow, but for two quickie storms that dropped a few inches, and just like that the snow was melted and gone. I am, however, ready for Spring to show itself. I promise to post more images of a state park I visited today later in the week. ENJOY!

Linking to Sunlit Sundays and The Scoop

Great Blue Heron, Reservoir, Lexington

As is customary, I made my annual winter pilgrimage to the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky today. After I left the horse farms I drove over to the Reservoir in Lexington. I read on ebird.org that there were waterfowl on the lake. As luck would have it there were several Great Blue Herons fishing for a meal on the lake. And I got to add Ruddy Duck and Bufflehead Duck to my Bird Life List. I just didn't get great images of these Ducks which shouldn't be a big surprise as they are usually out in the water too far away to get a good shot. The Ruddy Duck, which I didn't realize was a diving duck, would dive into the water, disappear for 30-45 seconds and then resurface. I had no idea they stayed under water that long, but yes, they do.

It's not often I can get a really close up image of a Heron as they are very finicky birds, but this Heron stayed put and was close enough to the road that cuts through the lake for me to get a good shot. I made a mental note to visit the Reservoir in Spring to check out what birds stop by on their northern migration. On a different note, Kentucky has a winter storm watch tomorrow. Snow and wintry mix is predicted. Then the temps take a deep nose dive and Monday and Tuesday it is forecasted to be -7. OMG! That will set a thirty year record if it happens. ENJOY!