Nest

No action yet in the Osprey nest.

 

Lakeside

A lone fisherman at Falls Lake.

 

Christmas fern

It's called a Christmas Fern because they stay green until Christmas. Do they wilt the day after Christmas?

Happy Christmas Eve!

 

Storm clouds

We started with a sunny day.  But it didn't last long. 

 

Road to nowhere

Old Highway 98 disappears into Falls Lake.  

 

Butterfly highway

Do butterflies need a highway?  Can they read the sign?

 

Nature library

It looked like one of the little libraries you see around.

But instead it was a nature library with nature books, magazines and things you might use to explore the park.

 

Angry bird?

The yellow eyebrows on this white throated sparrow makes him seem particularly angry.

 

Lichen

When the forest is mostly asleep for winter, I start noticing the smaller things. Lichen are really unusual, a symbiotic partnership of moss and algae.  This one lives on rocks.  It's a greenshield lichen, I think.   (see here)

 

Peace

Wishing you all a peaceful new year.

 

Mossy log

Moss is thriving on every forest surface.

 

Ominous

Looming clouds.

 

Alien?

You can almost believe in alien spacecraft looking up at this sky.

 

Yellow belly

We could hear him long before we spotted him.  A yellow bellied sap sucker.  You can see the slight yellow tinge on his chest.

 

Lacy fungus

The mushroom was broken and turned over.  It looked like a lacy fan.

 

Falls Lake

Clouds over Falls Lake.

 

What do you see?

An old weathered stump looked like an elephant head to me.

 

Breathe

A quiet day on the trail.

 

Just a few

A few trees are turning, but most are still green.

 

Lizard

Taking pictures of a weathered stump, I looked closer.

Two Eastern Fence Lizards enjoying the sun.  (see here)

They didn't scare easily so they made good subjects.