French Broad Hollow Ramble

It’s been raining since last night, and water is pouring down the roads, creek branches,  and ravines in the Hollow. Above are the view from my deck, the “water feature” that is usually dry, and the branch that flows near my driveway. I’ve seen the field and branch flood like this two or three times before, but the water feature becoming a waterfall is something I’d only imagined! Here’s a video of the rain and another of the “water feature” that is usually dry. I have never seen it flow like this! As I noted on my previous post, we’ve had a lot of rain recently; you may notice the effects on the river.

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I’ll miss my walk today (haven’t even been down to get the newspaper and the mail), but I’ll head down in a while to put out food for the deer—or at least for the turkeys. I saw the turkeys earlier, but the deer are likely bedded down, trying to shelter in a thicket somewhere. Below are some photos from previous days; you can see that some of the pregnant does are beginning to show, and the little bucks’ antlers are beginning to grow. This video shows them heading home one evening. Note the difference in the meadow between then and today.

The rain abated, and when I looked out, I saw a few deer in the meadow. I went down to feed them, and by the time I finished, there were more deer than I’ve seen since the bleakest part of winter. Here’s a short video, and it doesn’t even show the ones in the woods above the field or across the road!

As I walked this week, I was struck by the many hues of green and had planned to write about how the white-blossomed trees and shrubs stand out instead of writing about the the rain and flooding. BTW, here are more flood photos and a video. (If you’re quick, you can see a deer in the woods at the beginning of the video.)

The rain has stopped, and the sun is out, but the internet is slow and spotty. More trees and wildflowers next time!

It’s turkey season, and the toms are gobbling and strutting, trying to impress the hens (watch). For the most part, it seems the ones I see and hear are not very successful, as not many hens are to be seen, except for occasional visits by the big tom and his flock. They stay in the meadow, too far away for a good photo. These two toms hang out together and gobble loudly from my driveway. This morning there was a single hen, but she left without them.

The April rains have continued, and I walked early today to avoid the forecasted downpours (happening now—I hope it lets up before feeding time!).

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The rain has brought mushrooms. When I tried to identify these, I found that the spongy-looking ones are (I think ) Morels (Morchella esculenta), and the other is a Dryad’s Saddle (Polyporus squamosus). The web says both types are edible, but not by this blogger! 🙂

Morel (Morchella esculenta)

Morel (Morchella esculenta)

More trees and wildflowers are in bloom. I am happy to see blossoms on the blueberries and apple trees in the orchard and the pawpaw trees in the meadow. The Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus), or Sweetshrub, near the house always reminds me of Tuscaloosa and my friend Louise who gave me a little sprout from the one by her house to plant here when I moved.

Blueberry

Pawpaw bud and blossom

Carolina Allspice

I like seeing Carolina vetch (Vicia caroliniana), star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), and purple deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) on my rambles, but I know they are invasive, like so many other plants and trees in the Hollow.

I have a shady bank near my driveway that is not as dry as most of my property. I noticed the wild geraniums (Geranium maculatum) and ferns the first spring I lived here, and I have added more ferns and other native wildflowers, like this Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia).

Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

The rain has stopped, and the wind is blowing in colder temperatures. The deer (and turkeys) have been fed, and the cats are telling me it’s their turn, so I guess it’s time to end this post.

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I was able to get out before the rain yesterday; today I am waiting for it to end before I ramble. I guess spring weather is fickle. At least it appears that we may escape another freeze, but we had thunder at the end of February, and my neighbors in Tuscaloosa swore that meant frost in April.

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More and more of the trees and flowers are waking from their winter dormancy, and it seems there are blossoms and emerging leaves all over the Hollow.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Redbud tree (Cercis canadensis)

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Golden ragwort (Packera aurea)

Not everywhere is green, as work continues clearing for the new house.

and other work goes on across the ridge. (Remember this tree?)

The sun is out, and I just walked up into my “orchard”, where all three apple trees have blossoms, and the blueberries are beginning to bloom. Songbirds were singing, and turkeys were gobbling. I walked back in to hear Finlandia playing on the radio. (Listen here.) Spring in this little hollow in the mountains is full of wonderful sights and sounds!

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Remember! For the best display of the blog, follow the link to open it in your browser.

American field pansy (Viola bicolor))

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Golden ragwort (Packera aurea)

Spring has arrived since my last post. We’ve had some warm, sunny days and some cold and rainy ones. I missed a week of rambling in the Hollow when I visited my family in Roswell, NM, and I didn’t do much rambling while I was there. That made the first few trips down to the river and back up to the ridgetop harder than usual, but I’m back to my routine now.

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The trees are budding out—some have leaves already—and spring ephemerals are in bloom.

Cut-leaved toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Common blue violet (Viola sororia)

Bitter Wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris)

Speedwell

The deer look ragged as they shed their winter coats. They continue to come to eat but sometimes run when they see me walking. Watch!

It was raining when I started writing and uploading photos this morning, but the sun is shining as I finish this afternoon. In between I’ve walked, fed the deer, checked the apple trees (they are budding), and watched turkeys strutting (photos soon). I hope to write more next time. (Oh! And work has started on the new house; I’ll make a post about that, too.)

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The weather swings back and forth—one day cold and rainy, the next warm and sunny, some days calm and others windy. It must be Spring! Nature is feeling the changes, too. The turkey gang seems to have dispersed, and now only one tom comes to eat. I’ve heard gobbling several mornings, and I assume that’s him declaring his territory (and trying to attract hens, but I’ve seen no sign of them).

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The plants are getting ready for Spring, too. A few trees are beginning to leaf out, and some of the spring flowers and shrubs are blooming. The witch hazel bloomed earlier and now has bears its spiny capsules.

Today has been one of the rainy days, but I got out this morning before it started. Lately I’ve been walking after lunch, and I think the deer watch for me. Sometimes I surprise them when I walk around a bend, and they run off.

They don’t go far, however, and are often waiting as I finish my walk. One day they went running to the meadow to wait for me to get up the hill so I could feed them! Watch!

I went through the gate and walked a bit on the other side of the ridge today. I hadn’t been over there for a while and was surprised to see that some big trees had come down. The bark on the largest one fascinated me!

Who knows what the weather will be before the next post? I guess we’ll have to just wait and see!

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March is here, and the rain continues, although we did have a few beautiful, sunny, and unseasonably warm days. It’s raining hard now, but I was able to ramble in the Hollow before it really started coming down.

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I keep standing up to see if the deer are waiting. I saw a few on my walk down to the river today; I’m pretty sure they were hoping for an earlier meal. (Maybe they knew the harder rain was coming.) They ran away when I approached, flashing their white tails as they went up the hill, but I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo. The deer use their tails to communicate with others, and the white flag means they sense danger. The only time I see them flash the white when I’m in the meadow is when one gets spooked. It is not often that the “regulars’ get spooked; they often just watch the ones that run and move to the next pan of corn. This young one was a little worried and flared its tail, but another day Fuzzy just kept on eating.

I couldn’t “capture” the deer today, but turkeys in the neighbor’s field just kept eating. And the deer don’t always run; sometimes they stand and watch.

The rain quit a little while ago, and I saw a couple of deer in the meadow. (You can see how muddy it is, too.) I called as I went down, and another one came. Another few appeared from the woods, and then the rest of the herd came running! Watch here!

Below is a view of the whole herd from near the house and another view from the deck that shows fog on the river.

The forecast calls for a break in the rain, followed by another spell of extreme cold. We’ll just have to wait to see what really happens.

2019 has already been a wet year, and the forecast for the next few days calls for several more inches of rain. As you can see below, the river has not flooded much here, but I expect the next post will show a roaring French Broad.

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The weather has been mild for February, and the young buck deer seem to feel that spring is coming. Four or five of them are spending more time together and less time with their mothers. Here are some recent videos; the first one shows how playful they are:
Deer at play
Here they come!
Chow time
Turkey chow time
And a fun one without live animals: whirlagig

The Hollow has been rather quiet lately, and I haven’t taken many photos or encountered anything very interesting. (I don’t need anything to entertain me on my walks; I am usually content to simply look around and listen to the birds.) I see hints of spring, and I’m sure the spring ephemerals will be coming out soon. I’ll let you know when I see them.

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What with bad weather, great weather (keeping me outside), and travelling, it’s been a while since I last posted. I have rambled in the Hollow wearing my warmest coat one day and a t-shirt a few days later. Today it was back to a coat to keep me dry and warm.

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Since my last post I took a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where I lived for 30 years. I’ve lived in the Hollow almost eight years, but I still think of Tuscaloosa as my hometown. It had been almost five years since my last visit, and it was heartwarming to spend time with so many of my old friends. However, I hardly recognized the UA campus and much of Tuscaloosa itself, and seeing the changes made me appreciate my life here. One place that was still free of monstrous apartment/condominium buildings was the University of Alabama Arboretum, a place dear to my heart. I served on the (sadly now defunct) Board of the Friends of the Arboretum for many years and was named President Emeritus when I left. A Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) was planted in honor of my service, and I was pleased to see how tall it had grown. (Last year I planted one outside my house here.)

Walking on the familiar trails brought back fond memories (and was much easier than walking on the trails in the Hollow!). One trail had washed out and was blocked by logs that were covered in lichens. It reminded me of my walks at home.

I’m back and happily rambling in the Hollow; I expect to post again soon.

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It was 32° when I got up this morning, and the temperature has been falling ever since. The wind is gusty, and my weather station had a wind chill reading of 10° earlier. As you can see in the photos, we had a little snow last night, and it has blown off and on all day. I fed the deer as soon as they showed up and will go down again if they return. That’s about all the rambling I did today, although I did walk down to get my newspaper.

The deer went back into the woods, but “the boys” (six tom turkeys) have been around most of the day. They show up as soon as I throw out seed for the songbirds and came running from the woods when I fed the deer. You can see them eating last week here. And yes, that is real time, not speeded up.

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We’ve had several cloudy and misty days, and the lichens and mosses have really grabbed my attention. Perhaps it’s because so little else is green this time of year, or perhaps I am just noticing them more.

The clouds are clearing, and the sun is out, but it’s still well below freezing. I’ve filled the bird feeders and plan to stay in for the rest of the day. After a forecast low of 12° tonight, tomorrow is supposed to be a balmy 31° and sunny. I look forward to a ramble in the sun and will share with you next time.

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As you can see below, we’ve had some sunny days lately. Some of the days have been cold and windy, but somehow it seems warmer when the sun is shining.

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A flock of geese have taken up residence near the river, and I can often hear them from my house. Usually there are only a few, but it looked like they were having a party yesterday.

Today has been cloudy and cold, but the “wintry mix” in the forecast hasn’t started yet. I went out earlier this afternoon for my walk and saw deer along the way. These were eating lichens off the branches of a downed tree.

A lot of the trees in the Hollow have lichens growing on them (a sign of poor health), and I’ve been seeing branches in the road on my rambles. I find the lichens beautiful and fascinating, as I similarly do the mosses and fungi.

Admittedly, I am fascinated by many things I see on my rambles, like this stick I found with strange natural markings and shapes I find in fallen trees.

The deer are more fascinated by the corn and apples. 🙂

The wintry mix has arrived, and it’s time to sign off until next time.

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