Just before sunrise ...

For a very few brief seconds  before sunrise at 7:32 a.m. this morning, the rising sun illuminated a startling cornrow of fluffy clouds visible outside our windows.  Really a very pretty way to wake up.

Winter is coming ... to the mountains

In case anyone had forgotten, this was the scene on January 30 this year, when ice covered the snow (and mountain folks around here were without power for about 52 hours).  Predictions for this coming winter, based on woolly worm observations, old almanacs and the musings or old neighbors is that we're in for "seven snows" this winter.  Of course, the National Weather Service notes that we're in for an upcoming prolonged drought, with very little precipitation in coming months.  We shall see.

Footnotes:  What's with the woolly worms?  Here's how the predictions work.  If the worm is black at both ends, and brown in the middle, as they have been in recent weeks, we are in for a severe winter both at the beginning and end.  How does one know we're in for "seven snows?"  Well, because there were seven foggy/misty days in August, of course!

Something seems awry ...

... with the weather, or mother earth or something. We have noticed some strange and wonderful and not common doings in recent weeks, even as we move into fall, with leaves turning, colder nights and mild days. To wit:  Some plants are flowering, even though this is supposed to be the dormant season:
--  One of our viburnums is putting out flowers.
--  Yellow day lilies are blooming in the highway medians leading into Asheville.
--  Nodding ladies tresses, never before seen in these parts, are flowering in large clumps on the side of the local road.
--  A friend in Lakemont reports 15 days ago that her azaleas are blooming, too.

Can someone tell us just what is going on?

My bird friend

Got a nice sighting on the edge of the driveway very early this morning -- our friendly neighborhood broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus).  He flew up to a nearby poplar tree branch and cleaned his beak on the branch.  Then, we looked at each other for a while.  He flew away when I got out of the truck to get closer.  I take his presence as a good omen.

Photo courtesy of Cornell Lab or Ornithology

More big birds

It was a stare-down contest Monday between me and the big barred owl (Strix varia) who lives somewhere near the country lane that serves as public road in these parts.  It swooped over the truck to perch on an overhanging white oak branch, its head swiveling like a top.  I cut the motor and stared.  It stared back.  I hooted my best version of the barred owl hoot.  It stayed silent.  There we sat for about 5 minutes, hooting, staring, head-swiveling, and then staring in silence.

When it flew off, it looked like a big fat football with wings.  (Images courtesy of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.)

© Peter R. Stettenheim/CLO

Later that day, I had the pleasure of crossing paths with a pair of wild turkey, the regal birds of the forests.

© Bob Schmitz/CLO

To find out more about birds, check:    http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search

Big birds

The broadwing on Warwoman swooped from telephone line to telephone line and then ever-so-rapidly into the forest last week.  A very sweet sight!  This week, a neighbor and I were graced with a rare sighting -- a big bird, we weren't sure if it was an osprey or an eagle -- diving into the West Fork of the Chattooga for a meal.  A very powerful sight!

Broadwing on Prado

Surprise!  I was in Atlanta yesterday and one of my favorite birds, the broadwing hawk, is seen dancing over and ahead of my truck on The Prado in Ansley Park, in the middle of one of the most urbanized areas of Midtown.

The bird them followed me back toward the mountains, displaying himself again in a swooping dive over U.S. Route 441 on the way to Rabun.  Or, was that one of his country cousins?