Month: September 2018

 

I’m not sure what happened to September, but it’s almost gone! I rambled to the river almost every day and finally learned how to put the photos into a video. Here it is, and here is the river today.

There was a lot of uncertainty about how Hurricane Florence would affect us. The storm and its aftermath flooded the Carolina coasts for weeks, but in the end, we had only a day of steady rain and no wind.

Of course, the deer expect to eat, regardless of the weather. You can watch the deer and turkeys at mealtime here. The fawns have lost most of their spots, but they are still small. It seems there have been fewer fawns this year, and even those rarely stick around when I come close. “My” buck, V-Boy, has his antlers, and I have seen him sparring (too far away for a good photo) with another small buck that occasionally shows up. He still shows up near the house almost daily (whenever he thinks it’s time to eat). Yesterday I saw him eating seed that had fallen from the bird feeder over the driveway, and I have chased him from the flower garden. I like it best when he (and the others) eat in the field—or on the way down as he is doing here.

Leaves have begun to fall, as have the black walnuts. They are about the size of golf balls, and I like to pick them up and throw them (still a softball player at heart). I’ve been throwing sticks at the persimmon trees, too.

The persimmon trees have been cut back, and I can no longer reach the branches with a stick, so I have to throw a stick and hope to knock down some (ripe) persimmons. (You may have realized that my rambles are more than just walking!)

The persimmons aren’t the only trees that have been cut back. The banks on the sides on the roads in the Hollow were clearcut earlier this year. The roads are private, and we residents are responsible for maintaining them. In the time that I’ve lived here, fallen trees have blocked a road several times, and others—especially dead ones—posed potential problems. I understand the need for preventive maintenance but was still shocked to see the land scraped bare and small bushes and plants cut back. Here’s what it looked like after about six weeks. I’ll try to show you the persimmon trees later.

Temperatures have been in the high 70s and low 80s lately, with nighttime lows in the mid- to low 60s. (about 10 degrees above normal). Fall is on the way, however, and you may be able to see the changes in this video of the neighbors’ field. Here is what it looked like this morning and is a good way to sign off for now.

The blooming flowers signal that autumn is coming, but the weather still feels like summer, with highs in the mid- to high 80s and lows in the mid-60s. (I know that these temps seem cool to many of you, but the averages here are 80 and 60 or cooler for this time of year.)

The turkeys wait for me to feed, and some of the deer do, too. Here’s what it looks like as I walk down. Other deer come out of the woods and up the road when they hear me call. The twins pass by near my house almost daily but still run off when I approach. One of the other fawns is getting a little bolder, and I am concerned that one of the does may still be pregnant.

The walk down into the meadow is especially colorful this time of year. The wingstems (Verbesina alternifolia) and ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) are some of my favorites. I also like seeing the Carolina elephant’s foot (Elephantopus carolinianus)—Roll Tide!—and goldenrod in the meadow. Up in the orchard the apples have all been picked (by me, not the deer!), some hardy ageratum and rudbeckia are blooming on the dry slope, and the milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) pods are getting ready to let their seeds float away. Around the house the wild poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora) I brought from Alabama is developing seeds and the cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) continue to put on a show that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

It’s been dry, but we’ve had some foggy mornings, as you can see below. Maybe we’ll get rain before I post again.