Afternoon Timber Walk

Today turned out to be another beautiful day! Extremely windy, but temperature wise we had another absolutely gorgeous day!!!

This morning I removed the memory card from my trail camera to check the activity and  took some pictures on my other camera before reaching the trail camera.So I ended up bringing both cards home before lunch to transfer pictures to the computer.

This afternoon before the day got totally gone I headed back to get the memory card situated in the trail camera for the night.

Thinking back to a couple of my trips last week I saw turkeys in fields to the south and got some distance shots - might decide to share them later. It probably would be a good idea for me to put more time in between visits to pick-up the memory card. Too much traffic might be causing the turkeys to seek more privacy elsewhere, because I haven't seen them for a few days. All is quiet where they are concerned.

Trout Lily

Last week I saw the mottled leaves for the White Trout Lily erupting out of the ground and remembered a post by Casey Harn at Wandering Owl Outside. He has moved over to The Countryside Round now...still enjoy his posts when he has time to publish.

Turkey Vulture

The Turkey Vultures came back a couple of weeks ago. I told you I would keep you informed of their return, they seem to be one of indicators that the weather should remain good.

I didn't have my camera in hand this morning, or I would have had a picture of one riding low on a thermal over the house.

Last year I had some good photo ops with one that I will post some time in the future.

On my walk this afternoon I caught an extremely sweet scent wafting on the stiff winds - I would prefer the poetic lilt of gentle breezes, but that wouldn't describe the West winds at 18 gusting to 26.

The trees have been rocking all day - The Ides of March?

Timber Violet

Antler Shed

Kneeling on a deer trail to get pictures of the two White Trout Lillies, I wasn't concentrating on anything else. Sadie came up beside me, that is when I looked to my right. Another shed! Wouldn't you just know it, after I had quit looking for them. This one is really a victim of chewing.

I brought it back to the house to see if it matched anything I already had in my inventory. No, it doesn't seem to correspond to those already in my possession...

The trail camera should prove a valuable tool this summer. Maybe, I will get to see the owners of the sheds left behind.

Virginia Bluebell

All the flowers in bloom now are leading up to another yearly event, that of morel mushroom hunting. The only flower yet to open up is the Mayapple. I am told that is another flower that helps indicate the right conditions for the search to begin.

We need more rain to get the mushrooms to pop. The heat is already here...

Sites of Nature

Today is a day of just plain catching candid shots of nature on the go. This Monarch Caterpillar seemed to be hard at work. Needing to stoke up for the next stage in his life. Found a perfect place in my flowerbed on the "butterfly weed",Asclepias tuberosa, a member of the milkweed family. The Monarch is just one butterfly that seems to enjoy the wild milkweed.This little caterpillar probably won't have time to make it to Mexico with the others. We seem to be having our share of these black, bald scavengers called a Turkey Vulture.We often see groups of two or three. This time of year they are another group of birds that band together and migrate to warmer climes. I am very sure that everyone is seeing abundant populations in your neighborhood riding the thermals as well. Have you ever used the phrase "Busy as a bee" ? Well, truly the bees were busy today gathering some pollen from this "Autumn Joy" Sedum. They won't be caught unprepared for the upcoming winter! The weather has been very pleasant between rains as of late. It has been very enticing to be outside checking things out, just to amble on down the path. ;) Hope all of you are having a bit of time to get out and enjoy your surroundings...