I'm home. This was the first year I didn't have to rush back to get Baxter out
of kitty jail ... I mean the pet hotel.
Didn't win any prizes, so my record for not taking the contest too seriously
remains unblemished.
Didn't do a whole lot of nature PHOTOGRAPHY, but it was an interesting weekend
for seeing nature. While I was driving up a Pileated woodpecker flew across the
road right in front of me. It was there and then it was gone, but it was plainly
visible; best look at one I've ever had. Every time I've encountered them
before, they were always up in a tree and hiding around the other side of the
trunk. BIG woodpecker. No hiding this time.
Sunrise Saturday was a bust. Heavy gusts & thick overcast caused them to close
off the top of the mountain, including the trail-head for the Black Rock Nature
Trail (EASY, 1 mile trail with good view of the Parkway from Grandfather
Mountain). I'd used The Photographers Ephemeris to figure out where I was going
to shoot sunrise from & was going to try out the 15-30 f/2.8 to see if I could
image stack the foreground with the "Waning crescent 4.9%" almost new moon that
rose one hour before the sunrise.
So, once I found out there wasn't gonna be no sunrise with an almost new "Waning
crescent 4.9%" moon, I figured I'd head down to McDonald's at Banner Elk & get a
cup of coffee to jump-start my mental processes ... except it was closed when I
got there. Doug later told me it caught fire & they're having to rebuild it. I
ended up with a cup of gas station coffee from the mini-mart across the road.
Coming back to the mountain, I spotted a flock of wild turkeys out on the edge
of McCrae Meadow with the dominant Tom making a display. I managed to get a
couple of photos before someone else stopped & decided to walk up on them to get
closer ... with predictable results.
On the way back from Banner Elk, I saw a sign for a Draft Horse pulling contest,
so I bagged the contest & went over to take some photos there. I'd never seen
one before.
Headed back to the mountain around 4:00pm to turn in my one photo. They extended
the submission deadline until 5:00pm this year.
Went through Banner Elk again, and just before I got to the country club
entrance on NC 105, a bear cub came down the hill from my right and ran across
the road in front of me. Again, I got a real good look, but no time to reach for
my camera.
Even if I hadn't been fully occupied with driving, I deliberately put the camera
out of reach when I am driving so I won't be too tempted to do something too stupid.
After this morning's presentations & issuing certificates to the winners, I took
a walk through the habitats before heading home. They've got a new Elk habitat.
And it looks like they've got plans to expand the museum complex. The drawings
they have in the brochure make it look like it's going to be on the other side
of the auditorium where the picnic shelter is now.
Took a different route home, partly to see if I could remember one of the old
short-cuts I used to use when I was running service for the alarm company &
needed to get between two clients who weren't connected by an interstate (or
even a primary road).
Nailed it & had a nice sunset along the way. "Fields of Gold" and all that, so I
got to see a nice bit of nature this weekend, even if I didn't get to photograph
all that much of it.
--
Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
Religion - Answers we must never question.
--
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