Entries by Steve Jones

November 21, 2023 Nature Potpourri at Monte Sano State Park

21 photos three videos My two Alabama grandsons (Jack, age 16, and Sam, nine) accompanied me to Monte Sano State Park at midday on November 20, 2023. A nearly perfect fall day with a partly cloudy sky, temperatures in the 60s, and a fresh westerly breeze. I present the Nature potpourri that the three of […]

A First Visit to Alabama’s Wind Creek State Park!

Bound for the November 25, 2023, Iron Bowl, fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger and I visited Wind Creek State Park, a 1,444-acre gem on the shores of Lake Martin near Alexander City. The park’s 586 campsites rank it first among the state’s 21 State Parks. Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River retains the 44,000-acre Lake […]

Wetland Mitigation Update from Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary

I visited Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary on November 14, 2023, with Dr. Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary. We sauntered through the western side of the Sanctuary, observing and reflecting upon all manner of seasonal life we encountered from Hidden Spring to Jobala Pond to the wetland mitigation project underway in the mid-property […]

Fall Semester Easy Steps to Better Nature Photography OLLI Course

On October 31, 2023, I participated in a roundtrip photographic walk on the Beaverdam Swamp Boardwalk Trail through the water tupelo forest on Alabama’s Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. The swamp saunter was a field laboratory for the University of Alabama in Huntsville OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) course on Easy Steps to Better Nature Photography […]

Autumn (November 14, 2023) Sky Splendor at the Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary!

I visited Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary on November 14, 2023, with Dr. Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary. We sauntered through the western side of the Sanctuary, observing and reflecting upon all manner of seasonal life we encountered from Hidden Spring to Jobala Pond to the wetland mitigation project underway in the mid-property […]

An Aging Riparian Hardwood Forest on The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

Late afternoon on September 22, 2023, I decided for the first time since my June 19, 2023 triple bypass surgery to bushwhack alone into my favorite riparian hardwood forest at the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. I’m a student of this forest, attempting with each visit to learn more about its history, composition, dynamics, and […]