Tuesday Katie and I went to hike in the woods surround the Georgia Botanical Gardens. This trip was especially rich in encounters with wildlife, so I'm glad I brought my camera!
Our first encounter was with a pair of owls. The first one flew down to the creek we were walking beside and hung around for a minute or so, getting a drink probably. As I tried to get a picture of it, it flew away, leaving me with a shot of a brown blur. Fortunately, it landed in a nearby tree and posed for several minutes. Near it was another owl of the same sort, but I couldn't get any clear shots of it.
This hike took us off the beaten path to an isolated beach beside the river. It's very peaceful there.
In one corner of the beach, we found some turtle eggs. Some were already burst open, probably from hatching. The rest were probably duds, but we covered them back up with sand, just in case.
The sand in the river is rich in mica. Here are some of the larger flakes we found on the beach and in the river bed.
Some animals only made their presence known to us through their footprints, such as these raccoon tracks. We also saw heron tracks (or some similar large wading bird), but they were on a sandbar we had to wade out to, and I didn't want to risk dropping my camera in the water!
Finally, on the hike back, we saw two deer grazing in the woods. One ran, but the other seemed less timid. This lack of fear may have to do with frequent exposure to humans, or it may be related to the deer's health somehow: note the clearly visible ribs. It makes sense to me that a starving deer would be willing to venture nearer to humans for food, but I'm no Ranger Rick!
Our first encounter was with a pair of owls. The first one flew down to the creek we were walking beside and hung around for a minute or so, getting a drink probably. As I tried to get a picture of it, it flew away, leaving me with a shot of a brown blur. Fortunately, it landed in a nearby tree and posed for several minutes. Near it was another owl of the same sort, but I couldn't get any clear shots of it.
This hike took us off the beaten path to an isolated beach beside the river. It's very peaceful there.
In one corner of the beach, we found some turtle eggs. Some were already burst open, probably from hatching. The rest were probably duds, but we covered them back up with sand, just in case.
The sand in the river is rich in mica. Here are some of the larger flakes we found on the beach and in the river bed.
Some animals only made their presence known to us through their footprints, such as these raccoon tracks. We also saw heron tracks (or some similar large wading bird), but they were on a sandbar we had to wade out to, and I didn't want to risk dropping my camera in the water!
Finally, on the hike back, we saw two deer grazing in the woods. One ran, but the other seemed less timid. This lack of fear may have to do with frequent exposure to humans, or it may be related to the deer's health somehow: note the clearly visible ribs. It makes sense to me that a starving deer would be willing to venture nearer to humans for food, but I'm no Ranger Rick!
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