Early spring delights

A quiet and peaceful walk around the trails of the North Carolina Botanical Garden revealed some early blooms and foragers.

The pretty goblet-like cups of Carolina Silverbells.

A bumble bee seeking nectar from the Silverbells.

A delicate and nearly ephemeral early Iris.

A trillium in lovely ruby and green variegated colors.

And an amusing surprise awaited along one of the trails.

A whimsical woodland creature, out and about, enjoying nature as much as me.

2016 A Photographic log, Part II

Frittalaria, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Wild Maine blueberries, Acadia National Park, Maine

Rain forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

White-marked tussock moth caterpillar (Orgyia leucosstigma)
Holly Springs, North Carolina

Shasta daisy, Holly Springs, North Carolina

Trillium grandiflorum, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

Mark Island lighthouse, Winter Harbor, Maine

Fall migrating Monarch butterfly, Holly Springs, NC

Mountain stream, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Prickly pear cactus bloom, Holly Springs, North Carolina

Shelf fungus on a log, Acadia National Park, Maine

Yellow-bellied slider, American Tobacco Trail, Durham, North Carolina

Tiny cabin, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Black rat snake, American Tobacco Trail, Durham, North Carolina

A tree root hugging an oval rock, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

2016 A Photographic Log, Part I

Great blue heron and turtles, American Tobacco Trail, Durham, North Carolina

Cosmos, Holly Springs, North Carolina

Storm over the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

A leaf slowing giving up its chlorophyll to autumn, Holly Springs, North Carolina

Dendrobium Orchid, Holly Springs, North Carolina

 Elk, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

 Fog rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean at Schoodic Point, Acadia National Park, Maine

 Fall migrant, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Holly Springs, North Carolina

Frye pond, Massachusetts

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Spider orb web in the morning light showing the supporting threads for the radials and iridescence, Holly Springs, North Carolina

 Willets and chicks, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina

Tide Pool, Acadia National Park, Maine

Mountain stream, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Circumhorizontal arc, Holly Springs, North Carolina