Fauna Friday

Nesting time!
We were walking along the Clinch River and I noticed a Great Blue Heron nest, the bird appeared to be feeding chicks or maybe arranging sticks in the nest.  Sorry for the shakiness but when you zoom in that far every little wiggle becomes a giant wobble.

Fauna Friday

Along the Clinch River by Norris Dam, you can often see Great Blue Herons.  These big birds really are a sight when soaring through the air and wading in the waters on their long spindly legs.  The other day, one flew right over our heads honking like a loud old goose - wish I could have captured that on video!
Here is one patiently fishing at the weir dam:

Fauna Friday

Epic fauna exploration occurred during another hike around Cades Cove on Tuesday.
Let's get started!

Several hawks circled high above as we trudged through the grassy fields.

Along a creek we found large bleached bones, probably deer.

Leg bone. (1st time it was warm enough to not wear hiking boots this year - felt weird.)

I lost count of the deer we saw that day - a LOT.

Two kestrels passed, one stopped briefly while crows fussed nearby.

Hanging around along Hyatt Lane.  See/Hear/Speak no evil?

Recent heavy rains and snow melt had flooded many of the creeks and streams in the area. As we passed through this debris pile along the banks of Abrams Creek, S. spied a frog - try to find it in this picture!  Click here for the answer.

Can you spot the frog in this debris?

Ribbit!

Bumpy little dude.

Wild hogs have been tearing up the grass along the creek.

As we passed along, we spooked a couple blue herons into flight - not this one!

This big beauty had discovered an all-u-can-eat frog buffet & just ignored us.

A brief video of the heron struggling with its unwilling meal.  About 5 seconds after I stopped filming, the frog took a long, quick slide down the heron's throat.  That's life......