2022 Feb 1, Day trip to Lake Guntersville Birding Guntersville, AL

 Today we rode to Lake Guntersville stopping at Lake Guntersville Park on Sunset Drive. 

We stopped at McDonald's in Decatur for a couple of apple pies and drinks before heading to Guntersville. 

We sat down on a bench near the water's edge then I heard this pecking sound, I looked up and to my surprise, I saw a red-headed woodpecker pecking on a rotten tree. He flew from the rotten tree to a Sweetgum tree. I followed it from tree to tree. Then I spotted a sparrow scratching in the dirt for food when it saw me it flew up into the trees.

Red-headed Woodpecker 

Another of my favorite birds the downy woodpecker was aimlessly pecking away on a rotted stump. It was hard getting a picture because the downy was in a shadowed area. I did get a couple of good pictures.

Downy Woodpecker 

We also saw several Canada Geese, white and spotted ducks, and lots of white terns.

We could hear several fish crows above in the trees.  Also saw and heard several bluebirds. 

We rode to Marshall County Park where we saw several ducks and a great gray heron. We also saw a  marker of Major Paramoris Federal Bombardment of Guntersville. 

Major Paramores Federal Bombardment of Guntersville. 

The hill to the immediate left was the site of the 1862 shelling of Guntersville during the War Between the States.
On July 28, 1862, a Federal force under the command of Major J.W. Paramore placed two Parrots guns on the hill and shelled Guntersville from 7 a.mm to 6 p.m. Captain Cyrus Loomis' First Michigan Battery carried out the shelling, which sent more than one hundred of Guntersville's women and children to the ravine south of town for protection.
The rifled Parrots guns fired six-pound projectiles greater distances than older smooth-bore cannons and enabled the Yankees to reach across the Tennessee River. Trenches had to be dug to steady the Parrot's guns and they can still be seen on top of the hill.
Most of the shelling concentrated on cotton warehouses and boat construction facilities south of Henry Island now inundated. The Federals attempted to send an attractive force across the river but failed. 
As a result of the bombardment, several homes near the riverbank were burned and many other homes suffered damage from the shells, including the Nickels and Gilbreath residences. 

Fortunately, both these houses still stand today.
The Chattanooga Daily Rebel reported that the shelling resulted in only two deaths. One was the wife of military General Samuel King Rayburn.

We left Guntersville and rode to Hartselle, stopping at Krogers Grocery for some bottled Mountain Dews and other items. 

We ate a late lunch at O'Bryan's where I ordered a sirloin Steak with sweet potato and diet coke.

We came home by way of the old paper mill road where we saw a red-tail hawk.

We also stopped at Wheeler Dam where we saw several American White Pelicans floating down the Tennessee River. We also saw a couple of Gray herons flying overhead. 

American White Pelicans 

It was a great day for birding. 

2022 Jan 28-30, Focus on Nature Photo Weekend JWSP

 Jan 28, Friday

Today I am going on an adventure. 

My adventure began at River Heritage Park a park that overlooks Wilson Dam which is usually flooded with birds but not today. 

I was not to be discouraged, I adventured across Wilson Dam to the overlook and Rockpile.

It was a bitterly cold day below freezing and I could see literally 1,000s of pelicans, seagulls, and cormorants (snake birds) sitting on the rocks below the dam.  

There were a few that challenged the north wind foraging for food, and a few white pelicans floating down the river. 

Nothing keeps the pelicans from floating down the river even the turbulent water at Wheeler Dam.

Buttercups 

Rogersville Park is usually flooded with birds today I saw buttercups reaching up with closed eyes. 

What adventure was waiting for me at Joe Wheeler Lodge? I am joining a group of fellow lovers of photography and nature. 

Tonight there will be a Horsd’oeuvers of Cheese, crackers, and fruit, as we mingle with others. 

There will be a signup sheet for the activities on Saturday.

Alabamas weather this time of year is so unpredictable from 19 in the mornings and 50s to 60s sometimes 70s during the day. I am going to wait until tomorrow to decide what my next adventure will be. 

Jan 29, Saturday, 

With a good night's sleep and a light breakfast, I was ready for the day. 

We spent the morning listening to Rocky talk about the many facets of the camera and how to use them. 

Many like myself were still in a maze of confusion about the camera. We love the auto modes. 

Lunch consisted of a BLT with onion rings

White Pelicans at Wheeler Dam

& with making new friends. 

At 1pm everyone met upstairs to disperse into different groups.

One group was going to the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge in Decatur. 

Another group was going to Wheeler, & Wilson Dams, and other local sites nearby. 

The last group was going to watch a falconer release three Harris Hawks into the woods to hunt for food (small animals). 

It was cold but not bitter cold like yesterday but we were bundled up. 

The groups dispersed in different directions. Ours was inside the Joe Wheeler State Park. 

Before the falconer released the Harris Hawks he had anyone wearing fur or a colorful hat remove them. The birds may think they are small animals and attack nor do they like bright colors. 

The birds were released for the hunt and away we go following them into the wooded area. 

They didn’t go too far into the woods but they did stop to watch or even pose for us.

The hawks treed a squirrel but the squirrel outfoxed them. No catch today for the Hawks. 

Our group walked down to the edge of the Lake near the cabins. We saw shells, fossils, wild mushrooms, and driftwood. 

We saw Spoonbill Ducks swimming in a nearby sewage area, they love the minnows that grow there. 

There was a Bald Eagle in the Day Use and that was our next stop.

With the camera in hand, we slowly advanced up the hill stopping for that next great shot.

Bald Eagle with his eyes on us. 

The eagle got wind of us and flew away.

At the lake, we saw a kingfisher, Canadian Geese, and a gray heron.

We sat down at the edge of the lake and watched the sunset. 

What a way to end our hike. 

Lake Wheeler as the sun goes down
the ripples and different colors upon the lake. 

We enjoyed a seafood buffet as we sat around socializing. 

The falconer returned with one of his Harris Hawks with Q & A time.

Rocky finished the day with a slide show and several stories.

Harris Hawks 

What a wonderful way to make new friends with a keen interest in photos and nature.  

A shadow of friends 

2019 May 8, 💐 🌷Visiting the Memphis Botanical Gardens Memphis, Tennessee

Hubby and I had a great time at the Memphis Botanical Gardens.
We did not see a lot of blooming plants, but we saw a lot of interesting plants and animals.
In the Japanese Garden, we walked across the half-moon bridge where we saw turtles and goldfish swimming in Lake Biwa and  Canadian Geese strolling along the banks

Half Moon Bridge in Japanese Gardens 

One of my favorite places was the Prehistoric Plant trail, where we saw a couple of stone dinosaurs in a sandpit where children could climb atop them.
Dotted along the path were signs about Primitive plants, Prehistoric Memphis, Stories in Stone, Flying giants, and Some things change and some things stay the same.

Dinosaur in Sandpit 

In the Urban Garden, we saw the chicken coop, that housed the Blue Buff Columbian Brahmas hens and a rooster.
Also in the Urban Garden were vegetables, blackberries on a trellis, grapevines, and Espalier Fruit Trees (the technique of controlling the growth of trees and shrubs.

Urban Garden

There were booths set up for school children to make things from the countries of  India, China, and Africa.
We saw a mother bird feeding her babies.

Mother birds and babies 

There were many fragrant plants to attract butterflies in the Butterfly Garden with not a butterfly in sight.

Butterfly Garden 

There were orange and red azaleas, blooming Camelias, and purple hydrangeas.
The daffodils were sleeping waiting for next spring.

Dogwood trees in full bloom, huge giant trees reaching for the sky, and small trees where birds could nest.

Bird hiding among leaves

There were water fountains and air-conditioned restrooms throughout the Garden.
We stopped several times just to cool off but hubby was still dripping wet when we arrived at the car.

2019 Feb 25-26, 🚌 Adventures at Reelfoot Lake, & Paris, Tennessee

After being cooped indoors for weeks, because of the rainy weather, Hubby and I decided to take a trip.
The Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers overflowed into nearby fields, roadways, and people's homes causing people as well as animals to look for higher ground.
You could see the flooding for miles in Alabama and Tennessee.

It was the last week to take the bus tour to see Eagles nesting at the nearby Levee along the Mississippi River so I booked two tickets for the trip.
It takes over three hours to drive to Tiptonville from our home so I booked a cabin along the Reelfoot Lake at Sportsman Resort for one night.
The south area cabins of Reelfoot were flooded so we stayed in the north area cabins.

We arrived in Paris around 11:30AM stopped at Dinkins Mobile Homes and walked through several homes.
One of the mobile homes was a woman busy cleaning so we began talking. I think she was a widow, with three grown sons and several grandchildren. She told us a story about taking three of her grandchildren on a trip to Fort Myers to visit family.
She said,  the grandkids kept saying are we there yet, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.
She showed us where all the electrical lights were along the walkway.
We asked her about things to do in Paris she said Paris Landing, Tennessee Wildlife Refuge, and the Eiffel Tower.

First, we stopped at Effiel Tower Park to take a few pictures and use the restroom at about 12:45PM
At 1:15PM we ate lunch at a local restaurant Southside Cafe where hubby and I both ordered a catfish plate which consisted of a baked potato, white beans, fillet catfish, cornbread, and a salad.

Catfish plate 

We traveled US Highway 79 to Paris Landing Park and saw the Big Sandy River, a man fishing, and flooded roads. 2:20PM
We backtracked to Paris Landing Visitor Center where we saw four barn owls, & two bald eagles in cages outside.

While we were at Paris Landing Visitor Center two park rangers from Reelfoot Lake put a recused Bald Eagle into one of the cages outside because the eagle's cage at Reelfoot Lake was flooded.

Bald Eagle at Paris Landing Visitor Center

Inside the Visitor Center, we saw turtle shells, coyotes, big cats, raccoons, and information pamphlets.
2:30PM-3:08PM.

We arrived at Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at 3:35PM and they closed at 4:00PM so we did not have long to visit.
We walked through the museum and walked outside but did not see any animals or birds.

The sunset we saw while traveling from Paris to Tiptonville

We arrived at Sportsman Lodge after 6 p.m.
We stayed in a one-room Fishman cabin that was just enough room for a small table, futon, countertop stove, microwave, bed(with bed springs), satellite TV, and bathroom. If you want to ruff it this is the way to go.

The neighborhood dog slept on the front porch in a chair. Not sure what kind of guard dog he was for I never heard him bark. He sure was friendly.

We did not get much sleep because we could feel every movement the other person made and the bedsprings made this screeching sound.

You could walk outside our cabin just a few feet and there was Reelfoot Lake.
The sunrise was beautiful overlooking the lake.

Sunrise over Reelfoot Lake 

We ate breakfast at Sonic in Tiptonville. I ordered Texas toast with sausage and cheese, and hubby ordered a hamburger and corndog.

We rode to historic downtown Tiptonville where we saw the schools, cemetery, churches, and several historic markers,

Carl Perking boyhood cabin 

We stopped to take pictures of Carl Perkins's boyhood home.
We rode to Reelfoot Lake State Park Visitor Center where we saw a live barn owl, rattlesnakes, copper head, and birds.  There were several displays and activities for children and outside was a flooded walkway and owl cages.

Cypress Boardwalk and Scenic Crusie all flooded 

Barn Owl at Reelfoot Lake State Park

At 10AM about 20 people loaded onto a school bus.
Our guide was a Park Ranger named Jerry Lewis not sure of his last name.
He said we are traveling along the Mississippi River levee to see bald eagles.
The levee road was above the water with floodwaters on both sides.

The bus stopped one time and we saw a couple of bald eagles nesting.
Almost everyone got off the bus to stretch their legs and view the eagles.

When the tour ended we started for home.
We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Dyersburg for lunch.
Hubby ordered a roast beef plate. I ordered a kid's pinto beans, carrots, cornbread, and an onion plate.
We split a bowl of hot peach cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Scarlet Macaw 

We stopped at the five-mile drive-thru Safari Park Zoo in Alamo. We bought a bucket of food to feed the animals. You have to be careful feeding the animals so I only feed the small deer.

When we finished the drive-thru we parked and walked thru the petting zoo.
We stopped at Mcdonald's in Savannah Tennessee hubby ordered a hamburger and fries. I ate peanut butter crackers and a banana.

Flooding on the Tennessee River at Savannah TN 

We arrived home around 8PM both worn out from all the traveling and the sleepless night before.

2019 Jan 7, Day Trip to Guntersville, Alabama State Park

Hubby and I rode to Guntersville but before we started our trip we stopped to purchase our lottery tickets for the week and to get our weekly B12 Shots. We stopped at Foodland and purchased two canned drinks and again at McDonald's in Rogersville for two apple pies. 

What a way to start the day!

We traveled US 72 E to I65 S to I565 E to US 431 SE to Guntersville. 

We arrived in Guntersville around 11:30 AM stopping at Lake Guntersville to take pictures of 100s of Cormorants and Sea Gulls that were perched on the piers. 

Gulls

Cormorants

At 12:40PM we stopped at KFC and ate from the buffet. 

I chose a chicken leg and wing, fried okra, and collard greens

After a hardy lunch, we began our adventure to Guntersville State Park.

We stopped at Guntersville State Park Birding Site #34 to take a few pictures.

Signs there said that we might see Signature Species, waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, and Birds of Prey sadly, we did not see a single bird at site #34.

We rode up the hill past the State Park Cabins and Lodge, and down the hill to the Campgrounds, beach, and pavilion.

On our way down we saw a doe hiding in the brush.

At the State Park Lagoon, we saw two goats, 3 Emus

Five Donkeys 

The beach was desolate but there were hundreds of American Coots and gulls. 

As we were leaving the beach we saw these two does.
They came right up to the car and stopped for a picture
They were still there as we drove away.

We left Guntersville State Park around 2:30PM and headed to Bucks Pocket.
We missed our turn and rode 8 miles too far. 
Turned on our GPS and it took us down several winding roads.

Waterfall @ Bucks Pocket State Park

We walked down to the overlook at Bucks Pocket State Park where we saw a waterfall in the distance. 
We walked back to the car and hubby plugged our home address into the GPS which led us down this winding road that crossed the bridgeless South Sauty Creek. The creek water came from the waterfall we had seen earlier. Like so many backcountry roads in Tennessee, there was no bridge. There was only a poured concrete foundation where the creek flowed over the concrete. The road to the Ranger station was closed because of all the rain. Hubby said he saw tire tracks so he felt the bridge was safe to cross. 

We stopped at Weathington Park Overlook Sections, Alabama
It overlooks the Tennessee River

The sun was setting as we entered Scottsboro and a few clouds had drifted in giving us a spot of rain.

It was getting dark when we stopped on the East side of Huntsville at McDonald's for dinner. 

We stopped at Dicks and Cabela's in Huntsville to look at Scopes.

We talked to a couple of employees at Dicks about scopes and camera lenses.

We watched an employee feed the fish at Cabela's.

We arrived home around 8:30PM. 

I was exhausted from all the traveling, took a shower put on my PJs, climbed into bed, and was asleep in no time. 

On Feb 22, three young people drove across this South Sauty Creek and their jeep was swept into the floodwaters two of the young people were rescued as of March 1, the third Koy Spears has not been found. 

Tennessee and Alabama have been flooded with rain the ranger's station at this location was closed when we crossed South Sauty Creek in my opinion the creek should have been closed. Thank God the creek was not roaring that day but the creek was up and you could not see the concrete. 

Catastrophic Events

The sermon today was about taking the path less traveled.  

Our minister quoted the last line in the Robert Frost poem 

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel to both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted to wear it;
As for the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

It got me to thinking about the places we had visited the last few weeks and the strange events that have happened and are about to happen.
We ran across such things as the Black Patch Tobacco War, of West Kentucky & Tennessee, Edgar Casey's "The Sleeping Prophet", The Sinkhole @ Corvette Museum Bowling Green, Earthquakes that created Reelfoot Lake Union City, Ky., Total Eclipse Hopkinsville, Ky & Sighting of Little Green Men Kelly, Ky IMPACT CRATER Cape Charles, Va

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/Moments13RS/web/legislative%20moment%2016.pdf
Black Patch Tobacco War 1904-1909
Before the Civil War Kentucky was one of the richest states in the union after the war it was one of the poorest. Big business came to Kentucky, eliminating competition, manipulating prices, and undermining control. The price for dark tobacco was instigated by extremely depressed prices for tobacco crops.

Night Riders, destroyed tobacco plant beds, barns, and equipment as well as whipped and sometimes murdered the opposition farmers. 
Night Riders also attacked agents and destroyed the property of the ATC, setting fire to tobacco warehouses in Trenton, Princeton, and Hopkinsville. 
Not even a dispatch of troops by Gov. A.E. Willson was able to subdue the acts of violent intimidation.

https://www.edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce/his-life/
Edgar Casey "The Sleeping Prophet" 1877-1945 
Born 1877 in Christian County Hopkinsville, Ky
Died 1945 Virginia Beach, Va
The majority of Casey's readings deal with holistic health and the treatment of illness. 
Casey dealt with these five categories: Health-related information, Philosophy, and reincarnation, dreams and dream interpretation, ESP and psychic Phenomena and Spiritual Growth, Meditation, and prayer.
Casey was a very spiritual man and Casey vowed to read the Bible every year of his life when he died in 1945 he had accomplished this task.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sinkhole-swallow-eight-cars-in-national-corvette-museum-in-kentucky/
The Sinkhole at Corvette Museum Bowling Green, Ky
February 10, 2016
Eight vintage Corvettes dropped into the abyss, Six owned by the Museum.
Two on loan(1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil)
The other cars damaged were a 1962 black Corvette, a 1984 PPG Pace Car, a 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette, a 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette, and a 2009 white 1.5 Millionth Corvette.

Bowling Green sits amid the state's largest karst region - the Western Pennyroyal area, where many of Kentucky's longest and deepest caves run underground. Karst displays distinctive surface features, including sinkholes.

https://rootsrated.com/stories/the-fascinating-story-behind-reelfoot-lake
Earthquakes that created Reelfoot Lake Union City, Ky. 1811-1812
When earthquakes shot across the American Southeast in late 1811 and the spring of 1812, the landscape along the New Madrid Fault (which runs parallel to the Mississippi River Valley) changed dramatically. These tremors could be felt as far away as Washington, D.C., and even, according to some reports, Quebec City—nearly 1,400 miles away. This area of western Tennessee was still the frontier, so few settlers lived there to serve as eyewitnesses to the change of scenery.
What we do know, though, is that huge swaths of land slid, and rivers literally changed course as a result of the seismic activity. Fallen trees formed massive logjams, sandbars shifted, and islands were created and subsequently demolished. Among the more significant changes, the quakes opened a great hole in the ground that would be the basin of Reelfoot Lake. After the earthquakes, the Mississippi River backed up on itself, filling in Reelfoot Lake and flooding the once-dense stands of bald cypress trees.

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/kentucky/

Total solar eclipse over Kentucky 

August 21, 2017

Kentucky experiences about the longest eclipse duration, just over 2 minutes and 41 seconds. The civic boosters in the Hopkinsville area are advertising this spot as the very best place in America to see the eclipse. On this very day of August 21st, the town of Hopkinsville whimsically celebrates a purported alien encounter with a Little Green Men festival, so the world of solar eclipses and alien encounters will conflate in Hopkinsville on this day.

THE POINT WHERE THE SUN, MOON, AND EARTH LINE UP MOST PERFECTLY DURING THE ECLIPSE IS NEAR HOPKINSVILLE. THIS IS CALLED "THE POINT OF GREATEST ECLIPSE" AND THE ECLIPSE DURATION HERE IS WITHIN 0.2 SECONDS OF THE MAXIMUM IN ILLINOIS.

Siege of ‘Little Green Men: The 1955 Kelly, Kentucky, Incident

August 21, 1955

The Sutton farmhouse family encountered humanoid-like creatures. 

At about seven PM Bill Ray Taylor(visiting the Sutton family) was drawing water from the well when he saw a bright streak in the sky that disappeared beyond the tree line. About an hour later Taylor reported seeing a flying saucer. 

The family spotted a creature and ran inside got the shotgun and started firing the shotgun at the creature. They shot one creature that was on the roof and one in a tree both floated to the ground. 

Either the creatures were impervious to gun blasts or the men's aim was poor since no creature was killed. The family piled into the car and drove to town but no sign of the creatures or spaceship was found. 

The next day the US Air Force was involved and the case was listed as unidentified (Clark 1998)

This being said We are safe in no place on this earth. The path less taken will be the path I take.

The path of least resistance is generally the one taken.

Chesapeake Bay impact crater

The Chesapeake Bay impact crater was formed by a bolide that impacted the eastern shore of North America about 35.5 ± 0.3 million years ago, in the late Eocene epoch. It is one of the best-preserved "wet-target" or marine impact craters, and the largest known impact crater in the U.S.

Continued slumping of sediments over the rubble of the crater has helped shape the Chesapeake Bay.

Until 1983, no one suspected the existence of a large impact crater buried beneath the lower part of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding peninsulas. The first hint was a 20 cm (8 in)-thick layer of ejecta that turned up in a drilling core taken off Atlantic City, New Jersey, far to the north. The layer contained fused glass beads called tektites and shocked quartz grains that are unmistakable signs of a bolide impact.

In 1993, data from oil exploration revealed the extent of the crater.

2004 ~August 24-27, Trip to Guntersville and Grant, Alabama

My granddaughter and I traveled with hubby to Guntersville, Alabama. 

Hubby worked at the TVA Guntersville Dam from Wednesday, August 24 to Friday, August 27.

We stayed at Holiday-Inn Guntersville 2140 Gunter Ave Guntersville, al 35976 256-582-2220. 

The hotel is on one of the largest fabricated lakes with over 949 miles of shoreline. 

It has an outside pool, playgrounds, restaurant, and a lounge with a deck. 

It has boat launches, charging stations, a pier, and boardwalk. 

Day 2: Thursday, August 26, 2004

My granddaughter and I traveled to Cathedral Caverns, Grant, Alabama. 

Cathedral Caverns is the world's greatest cavern with frozen waterfalls and is the golden gate to the stalagmite forest. 
It is the seven greatest cavern discoveries in the world. 
Located just off US 72 US 431 and Hwy 79.

We took highway 431 from Guntersville to Grant Al.
Cathedral Caverns State Park

Day 3: Friday, August 27, 2004

One night, we ate at Outlaw steakhouse 4641 Wyeth Dr. Guntersville, Al 35976. 256-582-4653. 

Each of us ordered a steak, baked potato, salad, and ice tea. 

Outlaw Steak House has a rustic, clean, neat setting inside and out; it has the old west look.  

The service and food were wonderful.
http://www.outlawsteakhouseguntersville.com

We shopped at Walmart and rode all around Lake Guntersville. 

Lake Guntersville is in the Tennessee Valley, overlooking the majestic 69,000-acre Guntersville Reservoir, this park ranges over 6,000 acres of natural woodlands. 

My granddaughter and I enjoyed walking along the boardwalk and the swimming pool at the hotel where we were staying.
We enjoyed several meals at Sunset Bar and Grille located inside the hotel.

At the restaurant, we were served fresh, tasty, seafood, prepared perfectly with friendly services.

Hubby did not take the full-time job offered by TVA and I was glad.

Guntersville would be fun if you enjoyed the water and hubby is not crazy about the water like me, 

 Guntersville is all about the water.