Wildlife Walk, Radnor Lake State Park

Come hike with me as I walk the lake trail at Radnor Lake State Park today. Did I mention we will get to visit with some of the local wildlife as we take a walk on this bright sunny day with temps hovering in the high 60's. Radnor Lake is in the middle of metropolitan Nashville surrounded by large neighborhoods, so it gets a lot of visitors.

After about a mile into the lake trail, I turned toward the aviary trail and hiked another quarter mile into the woods. To my surprise as I neared a clearing in the woods, a huge bird flew up from the clearing and perched in a nearby tree. I have never seen an Owl in the wild, until today! A gorgeous Barred Owl sat perched in a tree perfectly positioned for picture taking. Every now and then he would turn his head all the way around and stare down at me. I was about 200 yards away on the path. You suppose he knew he was the star of my show! Did I mention this is a Life List Bird!

The trail to the opposite side of the lake cuts through the lake and a swamp. As I walked I peered into the water and saw something swimming parallel with the trail. A Muskrat swam past me and disappeared into the deep water carrying a large stash of vegetation. Lunch!

As I peered into the depths of the swamp, a huge Turtle swam by. He didn't seem to mind the company at all.

The Turtles were out in force sunning themselves on downed branches in the lake close to the shoreline.

There were various species of Turtles sunning themselves. I hope they put on sunscreen.

As I turned to make my way to the aviary, I snapped this image looking back at Radnor Lake. It's a beautiful lake and quite large. The perimeter lake trail, if you choose to hike it all the way around, is three miles. I did the entire hike on my first trip here to Radnor Lake in 2016.

I wished I could contain my excitement at seeing my first Owl in the wild. Needless to say, when I checked out my images in Lightroom, I had some fantastic photos of the Barred Owl. He had a sleepy look on his face as he sat motionless lazily sunning himself. His perch was the perfect spot for me to capture quite a few pics of him. I doubt he knew he was the star of my show!

Hopefully, you've enjoyed this hike around Radnor Lake. It's a beautiful park and very flat surfaces to walk on with half of the lake trail paved. I want to go back soon to see if I can capture the Barred Owlettes. Word is they fledged, but perhaps they will come back to the nest. The nest was on the opposite side of the lake from where I hiked, so I didn't make it there on this visit. Have a wonderful weekend all. ENJOY!

The Mountains Are Calling

Soon I will make my annual sojourn to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this Fall. A place of such natural beauty with forests and valleys and rivers. I captured these images many, many years ago with a very different camera. These were taken with a Pentax 1000 manual camera using Fuji Nokia slide film. Somehow, against all odds, I had set out to learn to take photographs using this manual camera given to me by a dear friend years before. Here are some of the best photos of the park I captured using this mode of photography. I guess you could say I mastered it as best I could.

On this particular visit I had driven over the mountain and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway quite a ways before turning back to the park. On my way back over the mountain I stopped at Morton's Overlook late in the day and waited about a half hour to capture this sunset. The only sunset I have ever captured I can even say I'm remotely proud of.

I had also paid a visit to Cade's Cove during that same trip and was lucky to capture these two White Tailed Deer bucks going head to head in a field right off the entrance to the park. They weren't actually fighting. They were only sparring. Still it was a sight that stopped traffic. I'm certain I've posted these images before, but probably back in 2009 or 2010. Remember I said they were taken from many years back. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I might try to get to Cheekwood tomorrow. The only thing holding me back will be 50 degree temperatures. Perhaps. ENJOY!

White Tailed Deer, Sander's Ferry Park

A few weeks ago I encountered two White Tailed Deer fawns grazing on the lawn at Sander's Ferry Park in Hendersonville while two bucks devoured the low hanging branches of a shrub nearby. Today I happened upon the same family hanging out in almost the same location at the park.

The park is a mere five minutes from my home and sits on the southeast side of one of two peninsulas separated by Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville. I enjoy driving to the park as the main road runs along residential neighborhoods on the west side and several marinas on the east.

I believe this buck is the matriarch of the family. When he gives the cue everyone takes off in unison. No doubt I will encounter this family again. Hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend. ENJOY!

Black Bears, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We are deep within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park today. What images come to mind when I say those words? Mountains, forests, rivers or perhaps fog, rain, smoke. Well, you would be right about all of those things. And then there is the wildlife. Elk, Deer, Fox and Black Bears just to name a few. On this particular trek the day my journey began, I was driving toward the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail when I spotted Black Bears alongside the road.

A female Black Bear, a mother no less, was feeding heartily next to the roadway while her two cubs were off in the brush a short distance away. This is almost the same place I had encountered a Black Bear off in the distance on another visit to the park a year or two before.

My camera was zipped safely away in my equipment bag. Darn! I reached back and unzipped the bag and pulled so as not to break anything on the camera. I got out of the car knowing the Bear was getting ready to head into the forest, but still kept the car between me and the Bears. You just never know. Keep in mind I have a 300mm lens on my camera so while it may seem I am right on top of the Bears, I am a safe enough distance away. If there is a safe enough distance away from such a powerful animal as the Black Bear. Keep in mind while photographing mother Bears that they will charge and fight should you get too close to their cubs. After a few minutes, the Bears had moved further into the forest and disappeared but I was glad to have seen them.

The following day having changed my plan of direction going into the park due to impending thunderstorms, I drove across the main road that eventually takes you to Cherokee, North Carolina. You pass Newfound Gap and the road to Clingman's Dome as you make your way up the side of the mountain and around the mountain and back down on the eastern side. As I reached the bottom of the mountain on the other side of the park, now in North Carolina, I encountered a group of cars. I knew full well it had to be a Bear sighting. This Bear was a large male Bear munching way off in the brush by himself. He spent some time in one area before moving away farther into the forest. You will notice as I cropped this image closely, this Bear is tagged. I hope it was not due to being a nuisance. If so, and he causes a nuisance by getting too close to humans, he could be put down. Let's hope the tag is for a study.

I enjoyed seeing the Black Bears and knew there were plentiful sightings from the alert posted on the park's website before I left home. Hope you are off to a good start to your weekend. Back soon. ENJOY!

Linking to Saturday's Critters

2014 Year of Wildlife

As I perused my archives this morning, I was reminded of all of the photo opportunities I encountered throughout 2014 beginning with the prolific Winter earlier in the year to the beautiful foliage of this past Fall season. Come along as I journey back on this New Year's Day.

Row One:

Female Elk, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Redhead Ducks, Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana

Sandhill Cranes, Ewing Bottoms, Indiana

River Otter, Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, Indiana

Row Two:

Whooping Cranes, Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana

Female Scarlet Tanager, Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Kentucky

Canadian Geese, Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Kentucky

Deer, Prospect, Kentucky

Row Three:

Pied Bill Grebe, Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana

Great Blue Heron, Lexington Reservoir, Kentucky

Cardinal, Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Kentucky

Deer, Bluegrass Scenic Byway, Kentucky

Row Four:

White Pelicans, Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana

Northern Shoveler, Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana

Barn Swallow, Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Kentucky

Mare and Colt, Bluegrass Scenic Byway, Kentucky

What a fantastic year! Journeys throughout my home state of Kentucky and into Indiana and Tennessee. This year found me photographing those beautiful White Pelicans at Goose Pond, not to mention those cute River Otters at Mustatatuck. And I can't fail to mention my journey to the beautiful state of Michigan, where I visited many of its charming beach towns along Lake Michigan and explored in and around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I sincerely hope you had a great New Year's Eve and that you are not sporting a hangover today. Let us raise our cameras into the air and begin to photograph a new year filled with promise and possibilities. I can't wait. Happy New Year. ENJOY!

Linking to City Daily Photo
Linking to Rattlebridge Farm
Linking to Eileen's Saturday Critters
Linking to Mosaic Monday

Elk, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

On my visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park earlier this year, I drove to the far eastern side of the park where the Oconaluftee Visitor's Center is located, right outside of the small town of Cherokee. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Elk herd that had been seen in the fields the previous evening. I waited next to the field where the Elk had been the night before, but no Elk appeared.

So I moved on down to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in hopes of seeing them. One lone female Elk made an appearance that evening while I was there. And luckily, this she came out of the woods and moved almost all the way up to the edge of the Visitor Center. So I was able to get a few images, with my 300mm. As you can see, this Elk was not only tagged, but also bears a radio collar to track her movements. All of the Elk in the Smokies, both near Oconaluftee and in Cataloochee Valley were reintroduced into the park about ten years ago.

When I first arrived at the center, one of the park rangers standing at the edge of the parking lot mentioned to us that there was a possibility that the Elk may not come out to graze, as it was the height of the birthing season, and many of the female Elk were giving birth to new calves.

In the past, when I have photographed the Elk, it has been in Cataloochee Valley, which is also part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but is quite a distance from the main park boundaries, and is actually located in North Carolina. Aside from the added drive to reach this area of the park, the drive up and around the mountain to gain access to Cataloochee Valley itself is long and winding and, at times, arduous as you are hugging the side of the mountain. To make matters worse, the road is not paved, but gravel. So having an opportunity to see even one Elk on my trip, without having to make that drive to Cataloochee, was worth the waiting. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. The weather here has cooled off and will be in the 60's and 70's for the next week. Did I mention how happy that makes me. ENJOY!

Etsy Shop Opening!

Ever heard of Etsy. Its an online website dedicated to handmade, homemade, craftmade, artist created products and services. You can buy websites, photography, wreaths, pottery, jewelry. You can buy signage, logos, note cards. It's all for sale on Etsy and you can pay via Pay Pal when you go to my new Etsy shop, Carol Mattingly Photo. I hope you will stop by and visit. Browse for a while and come back often. Currently I have a wide array of flower photography available for purchase, soon new topics will be uploaded for your shopping pleasure.



This beautiful Sunflower image is just one of the many images you can purchase on Etsy from my shop. I hope you will stop by and browse and if you see something you like, just click 'BUY' and I will get the order and ship it right out for you. ENJOY!

White Tailed Deer in Snow

A beautiful White Tailed Deer stood across the stream as I sat safe and warm bundled up in my car.

Every now and then when the snow flies I will make my way from one area of our city to the next via a back road in hopes of seeing a scene such as this. It gives me a little pick me up in the course of a busy day. It also left me wanting to photograph more wildlife in this snow covered world. Tonight brings more snow. Perhaps tomorrow I will see what foal and fowl there is to capture. Have a good weekend all! ENJOY!

Buck, Along the Bluegrass Scenic Byway

It had been late Spring since I had paid a visit to the Bluegrass area near Midway to check out the horse farms. So when I took the day off Friday, I decided a drive along the Byway was in order. While the Fall color wasn't perfect, as peak color is late this year, the drive itself was still as beautiful.

Off Highway 1681, the main byway route, I took a turn onto a side road that leads back to several horse farms. Normally I take this detour and drive back about a quarter mile before turning around and heading back to the main highway. This turn off always presents deer grazing in the thickets just off the road. Today was no exception as there was a doe grazing in the thicket not far from the road. As I turned my car around to head back to the main highway, I looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of this buck. He was grazing in an open area between two thickets. And to my surprise, he was sporting a full rack. I'd forgotten that it was late October and I should expect to find the bucks with full antlers in display. It was a pleasant surprise. Knowing the buck was too far away for a decent photo, I still snapped a few images with my 300mm. Before I purchased my 300mm I always kept my 200mm lens on my camera. Now my 300mm stays on my camera at all times. There's only a few instances where I have to downgrade to the 200mm. When you photograph wildlife and landscapes for the most part, as I do, the longer the lens the better. ENJOY!

Black Bear, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

It's not easy to capture a Black Bear in the Park especially with Rangers about. They don't want you to invade their habitat which is fine with me. In this particular instance, this Bear was peering out at a group of hikers as they made their way up the half mile trek to Clingman's Dome. It's the highest point in the Park and normally you won't see a Black Bear on the trail.

Except this day there was one and the Ranger was not happy it was too close to the trail. He monitored its presence and finally another Ranger showed up to hike onto the Appalachian Trail which runs across the trail to the Dome to see if he could move the Bear farther from the trail and away from visitors. I stopped long enough to take this image and moved on up the trail to the top of the Dome. ENJOY!

Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, Seymour, Indiana

Sometime back I posted a barn image from Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. This past Sunday on my way home from Nashville, Brown County, Indiana, I took some images of the wildlife and wetlands at the refuge. This particular visit netted a wide variety of wildlife. The wetlands water level, as is always in the summer months, is very low. It's odd but almost every time I visit here, I come away with one dominate thought. Life goes on, one season after another, wilst we are here or are away. You see this in the wildlife that flourish throughout this refuge.

These are digital images. It has to be said that my Pentax would have done a much better job of it, but nonetheless, here are the digital images I took. I give you commarants, blue heron, egrets and turtles. It's worth a visit. Enjoy!