Happy Valentine's Day

There hasn't been time or opportunity of late to go outdoors to play and shoot. This shot was taken weeks ago and is underexposed, but I like it. Heron and gull perching on floating brambling wood in the middle of a still, calm slew somewhere within Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. The day was darkly overcast and still with the occasional misty shower. Quiet and still and slow through thoughtful, respectful solitude brings reward.

I wish for you all heartfelt Valentine's Days. Be with the people you love and enjoy the day.

Just Gulls

Pretty gulls in a row

It's raining, raining, raining here. Our backyard looks like a swamp. Baylee is hiding in a closet, refusing to go outside. It's been raining for a long time. Nature's overnight symphony was filled with oboes and bass drums and tubas and gongs crashing together in succession with a fabulous light show. Baylee was not impressed.

Looking through old photos this morning I found these of gulls taken during a recent drive-about. These guys were in a sheltered slew at Joe Wheeler State Park. It was a cloudy day, the lake was still and quiet and the gulls took advantage of a shallow point well out into the water to preen and rest. Gulls have never truly been my interest. They're "just gulls" when I look out over the water and watch them swirling above the water like snowflakes.

However, looking at this underexposed shot - which I am liking more and more for its contrast - I make out lovely feathers, marks on their bills and serene expressions.

The beautiful feathers

These gulls clearly are not mindful of my opinions. The word "just" has no meaning for them. Fish are abundant, shelter is good and they have lots of company in the way of Canada Geese and Great Blue Herons and even more gulls who fly in after taking their fill of fishes from the lake. This is a great spot for migrating birds. The western side of Alabama is part of the Mississippi Flyway. These "snowbirds" come for winter and leave in the spring, heading back to wherever they came from. Perhaps I need to get to know them better.

New Year's Day

Entrance to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center

Decatur, Alabama

I've needed a road trip for quite some time. Alone, I can drive along any road I damn well please, listen to the music I want to hear, head down random roads and change my path at the sight of a beckoning sign. Road trips bring a certain freedom that cleanses and refreshes my soul and heart. After picking up my new Timberland's (Yay!) I want to see the Sandhill Cranes, but the Visitor Center is closed. It is, after all, New Year's Day.

Mallard Fox Creek Wildlife Management Area
Northwest Loop of the North Alabama Birding Trail

So I head toward Wheeler Dam in search of my beloved American White Pelicans. Hello? What's this? Traveling West on Alt. 72 I see a North Alabama Birding Trail sign and decide to take a quick detour, hoping the Yaris will be up to the task.

The first 1/2 mile wasn't too difficult. Passing fields of fescue and chopped down corn stalks the Yaris was humming happily, as was I.


First water sighting rewarded our efforts with a gazillion gulls of some variety. My bird identifying books are packed up so maybe someone can ID these guys? Obviously, they were in a complete feeding frenzy, devouring some poor hapless fishes.

Resurrection Fern

More gulls

Soaking up the beauty - a sycamore leaf.

After a half mile the road became way too potted and bumpy for my little iCar so I decided to turn back and go to my original destination - Wheeler Dam on the Tennessee River.

We were greeted by blinding cold winds blowing straight into my face off the chilly, turbulent waters created by the dam. Not one pelican in sight. Even Pelican Island was dark and silent in their absence. However, the Great Blue Herons were in abundance, even more so than usual.

Walking down a pathway, trees offering some shelter from the wind, I lean up against a tree and watch the gulls and herons, who outnumbered the cormorants for a change. This guy landed a short distance from me and caught a fish...just like that! What luck! The heron barely had a hold on one fin of this large, flapping fish. He held on for a bit but the fish got away.

As you can imagine, the heron was not happy and left shortly thereafter.

From my sheltered perch I snapped a few more shots before the freezing winds sent me dashing to the warm interior of my car. It was only later, after downloading and perusing my pics, that I noticed the sheer number of herons in this last shot. I counted 16 (and had to get really close to see some of them) including the obvious guy in the foreground.

Waters below the dam are swift and strong. I watched fishing boat after fishing boat speed up to the dam, cut off their motors to fish, only to be washed back into the river just as speedily as their motor took them to the dam. It's incredible. And to think these birds dive and fish in these roiling waters without so much as a life vest.