Sunday, August 30, 2015

8-29-2015 Post Great Flood of 2015






The Marker tree.

  I visit this tree each trip I make to the refuge and was relieved to see that it had survived the the flood of 2015


 'Lucky Rabbit' evident by the tattered ears indicating near misses and escapes from predators through out it's lifetime. I wonder what the rabbit's foot looked like.






A closeup for those of you that could never get close enough to see those little floatie things in the water. Note the water resistance.





I don't know....It was moving about in the pond. This is same pond that the snake was taste testing the water. There was also a snapping turtle feeding on some object, it wouldn't sign an artist's release.






Saturday, August 1, 2015

Taking a break from Life in the fast lane...In this post I hope to introduce some Artists and their work that they have so graciously created at the refuge to be shared by all.





As stated in the title, there will be other work displayed on this posting other than mine. These people are real artists. I will post their credits on each picture if possible, otherwise there will be that wandering photographer. Some of the first sights you see when approaching the main refuge offices are works by Tracy Beasley depicting the many sights you might see.  




Note the realistic tree in this picture. Some of the local wasps built a nest on one of the limbs

Close-up of the tree painted on the wall




 The pictures below this point are what I saw this weekend at the refuge. The refuge has been under water for several weeks , so recovery will be slow.





This is standing on Sandy Creek road past the closed to vehicle barricade looking West. Notice the dark marks across the road. These were caused when the water recedes to a certain point, and wave action is evident long enough to deposit dirt and debris to the surface of the road. Many times there are tree limbs, tree trunks, refrigerators, and other stuff left by the receding water. Similar visually at reviewing the life history in  the cross section of a tree.     


 







Sandy Creek Road

West road from the main entrance road














Yeah, That is a swallow's nest, and yes that is a snake skin hanging from it. No, I have no idea how or why the snake chose that nest, 8-feet up a wall to assist in shedding it's skin.  Keep in mind this area below the nest had standing water several weeks.
There we are at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge