French Broad Hollow Ramble

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Spring is a busy time, with lots of chores that need to be addressed—some new and some (many) left over from the winter, or even the fall. 🙂 But spring is also a time when things around us change almost daily.

Birds that visit for the winter are heading north, and others are returning after migrating south in the fall. More and different types of butterflies and other insects are around. I think I saw a monarch butterfly a few days ago, although it was gone before I could tell if it was a monarch or a viceroy.  However, it must have been a monarch since, according to journeynorth.org, adult viceroys don’t emerge until about 15 days after willow or poplar leaves have emerged, and those trees are still pretty barren here in the Hollow.

Different wildflowers are emerging, some trees are now in full bloom while others are dropping blossoms and leafing out. Below are Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium), Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), American Alumroot (Heuchera americana), Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Southern Crabapple (Malus angustifolia), and Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia).

Reptiles have begun to emerge from hibernation, including this rat snake that makes the rounds near my house. (It’s on the wall!)

The turkeys feel spring, too, and the toms seem to gobble most of the day. Evidently they are having some success, as I also see hens in the meadow several times a day.

The deer are changing to their summer coats, and the pregnant does are getting bigger. Bambi’s taste for apples hasn’t changed!

Remember Cisco and Pancho, the new muchachos in my house? They’re changing, too. They seem to be interested in housework and also enjoy birdwatching, but they’re still just kittens (large ones!) and get tuckered out.

https://youtu.be/IHK0nhDHlFI

Many of the changes we’re experiencing in the world these days are sad and scary. It’s comforting to realize that some changes are beautiful, interesting, and/or amusing. My hope is that the changes you experience bring you comfort, combined with laughter and love.

Some of you have seen—and heard—me feed the deer. I thought others might wonder about it, and here are some photos captured by my trail camera in late February. As you can see, I’m quite the fashion trendsetter! If you want a closer view, (although I can’t imagine why you would), I think you can click an individual image. BTW, I love my white shrimp boots! They are a bit too large but are perfect for slipping on when I head down to the meadow!

I didn’t walk yesterday (Tuesday). I felt fine, but it was rainy and cool, and I decided to take a day off. Instead, I spent an hour or more working on what was, I’m sure, my very best blog post ever. And then I somehow managed to delete it and save only the very first part! I’ve reconstructed it as best I can remember. Maybe I should have walked after all. Today’s weather is about the same, but I will be walking later!

I wonder what I missed by not walking yesterday. Monday I found this tiny dead Ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus) in the road. At first I wondered how someone could have run over it, since there is very little vehicle traffic on our road these days, and these are nocturnal snakes. Looking more closely, I decided that some other critter must have killed it.Before the latest return to winter (when we were setting record high temperatures), the butterflies were out in force, even some that usually aren’t around until the summer. Mostly they are too quick for me, but this Common Gray moth (Anavitrinella pampinaria) had been attracted to the porch light the previous night, and perhaps the warmer weather had made this Sleepy Duskywing butterfly (Erynnis brizo) drowsy. The tiny Grapevine Epimenis moth (Psychomorpha epimenis) was resting, too. The Eastern Comma butterflies (Polygonia comma) flutter away when I approach, and the numerous Falcate Orangetips (Anthocharis midea) are much too swift for me, as you can see in the video.

As I noted in my last post, the warm weather had brought out the flies, as well as the butterflies. I discovered that several deer were fighting the heat and the flies by resting in the cool damp bottom of the ravine on the side of the meadow. Of course, they come out to eat!

And now the sun is starting to come out, too. I have to take my garbage and recycling to the landfill before I walk, so I’ll leave you with this for now.

And this bonus, if you’ve read this far!

P.S. It’s hard to record while cupping your hands around your mouth!

Rambling along, singing a song…the truth is, I do often sing (or whistle) as I walk. I’m usually the only human around to hear it (it sometimes startles the other animals); but things are different now. Buncombe County has issued a “stay home, stay safe” order; as a result, many neighbors are around when I walk. We sometimes talk from a safe distance—sometimes while passing on the road or when passing by a neighbor’s house. I’ve had more interactions on my walks in the last week than I usually do in a month or more. Maybe that’s one benefit from this pandemic. UPDATE: The governor has just issued a “Stay home” order beginning Monday at 5PM.

As you can tell from the photos above, the rain continues to come and go; we’ve had enough rain recently to raise the river level (again). The temperatures have been mostly mild. Yesterday it was in the 30s when I got up and climbed into the 70s by the afternoon. It’s in the 80s now, well above our “normal” high of 62º and breaking the old record of 80º. Next week’s forecast calls for highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s. This morning I was sweating in a short-sleeve t-shirt when I walked, but my winter coats still hang on the coat rack.

At least the trees and flowers recognize that it’s still spring.

In addition to the flowers, I see many other interesting and beautiful things when I walk.

I just fed the deer; I don’t think they’re happy with the abnormally warm weather. They haven’t finished shedding their winter coats, and they were bothered by flies. These are from other days:

You can see that my meadow has been mowed; the field on the other side of the gate has been mowed, too.

I hope to post again soon.

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Spring continues to make her way in, although sometimes it seems to be two steps forward, one step back. Dressing for the weather has been a bit challenging; I usually start out in layers and then hang a jacket and/or a long-sleeved shirt on a branch somewhere along the way.

I’ve been walking almost daily for many years, but in these times of a global pandemic, it is especially good for my soul, as well as for my health. If social isolation is necessary for the sake of everyone, including ourselves, I can think of worse times and places for it to have happened for me. Nature is so busy in spring that there is always something new to distract me from what’s going on in the rest of the world.

More and more butterflies are beginning to fly around, although they are generally too quick/small/far away for me to get a picture. See what I mean?

The weather has been warmer, and I saw two Eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), one on a tree stump and the other on the wall beside my vegetable garden (which makes me very happy!).

I’m seeing more spring blooms, too!

The deer, who are beginning to shed, continue to come to eat, and so does old tom turkey, who has begun to gobble.

It’s time to feed the critters and decide which leftovers I’ll eat tonight. It’s hard to stay inside when spring pulls me outside (all those garden chores!), but I’ll try to post again soon. Keep well!

 

Spring—the vernal equinox—arrives officially March 19 at 11:49 p.m. EDT! According to space.com, it will be the earliest spring in 124 years. I hope that seeing trees budding, shrubs blooming, and spring flowers bursting with color will make the world a bit brighter for everyone. We could all use some cheering up, given the effects of the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus pandemic. I know I’m fortunate to able to “self-isolate” in such a peaceful place.

I just finished my walk, and today it was more of a ramble, especially after I noticed a bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) blooming. And then another. Several more were too far down the creek bank for me to get close. The most abundant wildflower around here now is golden ragwort (Packera aurea), although the common blue violets (Viola sororia) are beginning to add color in the Hollow. And I enjoy spotting the much smaller American field pansies (Viola bicolor) in a few places alongside the road.

I’ve written several times about seeing deer as I ramble. Today I saw this little doe (2019 fawn) as I rounded a bend. I expected her to run off, but she walked toward me until she got close and finally crossed the road in front of me. I’ll probably be seeing her in a little while when I go down to feed.

I never know where I’ll see a deer. Lil Buck showed up one day and ate birdseed on the patio.

There are other critters in the Hollow, of course, including in my house. These two (Cisco and Pancho) are new additions to the family. It’s a great time to have in-home entertainment!

And now it’s time to feed the deer and check on the muchachos (who are confined to my bedroom until they can be introduced to my two older cats). And right now they are wearing cones when not being supervised since they were neutered only last week.I hope this post finds you and yours in good health. It’s hard to know what the future will bring, but it should bring another post from me before too long. Keep safe and stay well!

Signs of spring are beginning to appear. After being gone for a few days, when I returned I was surprised to see–and hear—how spring was starting to emerge.

One of the tom turkeys has begun gobbling in the morning. I didn’t hear him this morning, but I was greeted by this serenade when I hung out the bird feeder:

Strange deer have begun showing up in the meadow, and the regulars are not hospitable.

We had three inches of snow a couple of weeks ago. The poor turkey showed up early.

The deer didn’t show up until mid-morning and were glad to get brunch. (Look closely and you’ll see two young deer eating, not one fat one.)

The snow melted quickly and was mostly gone by the time I walked after lunch.

I was happy to get home after my travels and give thanks every day that I live where I do and am able to enjoy my rambles. I hope to write more again soon!

This photo of Bambi was taken the morning after my last post; it was a sunny day, but cold. Since then—until today—the highs have been mostly in the mid- to high 50s. This morning it snowed again and will likely not get much above 40°, but the sun is out and most of the snow is gone.

The deer were waiting for me this morning.These are the regulars. Some of them approach me as I walk (carefully) down to the meadow, and I toss apple pieces to each one, near and far. Bambi and his mom will walk right up and beg for a slice. Of course I oblige! Most of them gather around as I pour corn into the first pan, although the ones who are lower in rank or more skittish wait until I move on. After they finish one pan, they run en masse to the next one; one day I will be quick enough to get a video. Eventually they split into smaller groups.

When they aren’t already waiting, the regulars will often come when I call.

Sometimes I also see them on my rambles,

sometimes they are waiting when I drive home from school,and they often walk right past the house on their way to and from the meadow.The sun’s out now, and the only snow I can see is in the shadows on the north-facing slope. The deer are starting to gather, and the bird feeders need filling. The forecast calls for a couple more days in the 40s, then back into the high 50s and 60s. We’ll have to wait to see when spring will come to stay.

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It’s snowing. And the temperature’s dropping. This is actually what they forecast(!), and yesterday I decided to get some photos of some of the colors and textures that are off the road. (Not everything is really gray and brown, as I have posted previously.)

If you have followed this blog for a while, then you’ve read about mosses and lichens (and mushrooms) before. I use iNaturalist.org to try to identify them, but sometimes a long-fallen log or stump is home to so many things that I just can’t do more than to admire nature’s diversity.

And other times, I am simply intrigued by tree bark and the way trees grow…

There are Christmas ferns, evergreen trees, this river cane, spotted wintergreen and my favorite putty root orchid to add green, too. Yesterday I identified the only  American Holly I’ve seen on my rambles!

The most surprising sight yesterday was to see these Chickasaw Plum(?) blossoms!

But as for today, it started snowing harder after I began this post, and I was happy to see the deer show up. (The turkeys have been hanging around all day.)

It’s still snowing and forecast to be below 20° tonight, so it will be a cold and slippery walk down to feed the deer in the morning.

The deer have stayed away a few mornings when it was pouring rain. (I was happy for an excuse to stay indoors with my coffee.) Not today! It was 18º when I went downstairs, and the herd showed up before I finished my second cup. (You can see how frosty it was in the photo above.) The temperatures have continued to fluctuate wildly with more heavy rain, but at least we’ve had sunshine for the last two days. 🙂

I was at my school three days this week (volunteering once and substituting two afternoons). You can be sure that I washed my hands frequently! Being at school cut down on my walks, and I was happy to get out in the sunshine yesterday, despite the cold and the wind.

Except for the weather and the deer, there hasn’t been much to write about lately. The 2019 fawns are getting bigger, and it looks like several does are pregnant with this year’s group. Tom the turkey continues to show up most afternoons. Winter should be a time of rest, and I’m just as happy that there’s not too much excitement right now.

The bridge used by the neighbors in Dark Hollow on the other side of the ridge is back open, but the gate has stayed open, too. More rain is forecast for this week, so it may be that way for a while. Maybe it will be closed in my next post!

 

 

It started raining the day after my last post, and it rained and rained. Thursday it poured rain, and I stayed in the house (except to feed the deer and to walk to the mailbox when it let up for a while).

Below is water running in my “water feature.” It channels water from one of the ravines above the house and is usually dry.

The intermittent stream next to my road that is usually no more than a trickle was full enough to overflow its banks in a few places.

With over six inches of rain in the Hollow so far this month, the meadow is a mess. The ravine that runs on one side became a large stream on Thursday.

When I next rambled, the river was very high…

and roaring!

The rain was ushered in by heavy winds, and the Hollow had at least one downed tree and a small landslide. The road used by the neighbors in Dark Hollow (on the other side of the ridge) was flooded, and they had to come through the field and use our roads. (This is the gate where I take the photos at the end of each post; you’ll see the gate in the ones in this post.)

On the rainiest mornings the deer stayed hunkered down somewhere, which meant I didn’t “wade” down to feed them. When I went down Thursday afternoon (after the rain eased up a bit), I could see that fallen branches and brush had dammed the water in the flooded ravine and made some large puddles. I didn’t see deer until after I got back up to the house. Then I watched as several of them came down from the woods and jumped over the flooded ravine. Later I noticed some commotion near the ravine and laughed as I saw Bambi, Espy, and the other young deer playing in the big puddles. Unfortunately, it was too far away for me to get a good video, but it looked a lot like this one posted by Atlanta’s WSB-TV:

The rain finally ended—-or paused (more expected beginning Monday)—and it was 21° when I got up this morning. The meadow was frozen in some places and still muddy in others. (I think there must be at least one “wet weather” spring in the meadow.) The deer were happy to see me (and my bucket of feed and apples).

I just walked down to feed them this afternoon, and they were ready to eat (especially Bambi!). You can hear Tom the turkey pecking in a pan behind me.

Snow was forecast for this afternoon, so I walked in the morning. It was still cold, and I thought these ice crystals in a muddy bank were interesting. I hope you do, too!

It was snowing when I started writing this post several hours ago (hence the title), but it didn’t stick. And I’m not going to stick around any longer, either. 🙂 I’ll post again soon!