Farewell to My Professional Mentor and Hero
Note: This is not one of my routine Great Blue Heron photo essays. View it as my brief tribute to a man who will live within me through the years remaining. Dr. Glenn O. Workman, a lifetime professional mentor, and hero, reunited with his forever sweetheart Shirley along a spring wildflower-lined woodland trail two nights […]
Fungi and Other Discoveries along the Hickory Cove Nature Preserve’s Legacy Loop Trail
July 30, 2024, my two Alabama grandsons accompanied me on my first visit to the Land Trust of North Alabama’s Hickory Cove Nature Preserve northeast of Huntsville. We sauntered along the 1.75-mile Legacy Loop. I set the slow pace making observations and snapping photographs of mushrooms and other interesting features along the trail. They alternately […]
Brief Form Post # 36: Late August Afternoon along Indian Creek
I am pleased to add the 36th of my GBH Brief Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I tend to get a bit wordy with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So, I will publish these brief Posts regularly. On Friday, […]
Bats Emerging at Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge
I co-led an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (University of Alabama in Huntsville) outing on August 2, 2024, to observe 200-400,000 gray bats emerge at Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge. We arrived at 7:00 PM anticipating the 7:45 PM sunset triggering the mass exodus. I first visited the cave in September of 2023, realizing that the […]
Finding Nature’s Inspiration The Afternoon Prior to my Total Right Knee Replacement
[Note] I am publishing this photo essay four weeks to the day following my knee replacement surgery. I’m recovering remarkably well. I hope to return to woodland wanderings by mid-October! The Photo Essay My scheduled August 20, 2024 total right knee replacement surgery loomed months, then weeks, and then days ahead. Having survived, effortfully rehabilitated, […]
Trees of the Hickory Cove Nature Preserve’s Legacy Loop Trail
On July 30, 2024, my two Alabama grandsons accompanied me on my first visit to the Land Trust of North Alabama’s Hickory Cove Nature Preserve northeast of Huntsville. We trekked along the 1.75-mile Legacy Loop. I set a slow pace making observations and snapping photographs. They alternately surged ahead and fell behind, mostly the former. […]
Alabama Master Naturalist Field Days at Monte Sano State Park!
On Monday, June 24, 2024, I assisted Alabama State Parks Northwest District Naturalist Amber Coger in hosting a 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM Field Day at Monte Sano State Park for the Alabama Master Naturalist Program (AMNP). We hosted a second 25-enrollee Field Day on Saturday, June 29. This photo essay captures the essence of […]
Time and Nature Healing Landscape and Spiritual Wounds at Vicksburg, MS
Judy and I visited the Vicksburg, Mississippi National Military Park July 15-17, 2024, with our two Alabama grandsons. I focus this photo essay on Time and Nature healing the landscape and spiritual wounds along the Mighty Mississippi. First and foremost, Nature selected the site for this epic battle. Topographic features along the river proved favorable […]
Brief Form Post #35: Visiting the Old Lilly Pond at Monte Sano State Park
I am pleased to add the 35th of my GBH Brief Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I get a bit wordy with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will publish these Brief Form Posts regularly. I visited the […]
What’s Happening in the Old Riparian Hardwood Forests that I Wander (and Wonder): Part Two
I offer Part Two of my examination of What’s Happening in the Old Riparian Forests, which I frequently explore at the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. These forests date back to the 1930s when the TVA and Corps of Engineers acquired acreage destined for Wheeler Lake inundation and adjoining buffer lands associated with those properties. […]
What’s Happening in the Old Riparian Hardwood Forests that I Wander (and Wonder): Part One
I have mentally labored on this topic for several years as I’ve repeatedly bushwhacked through the riparian hardwood forests of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, publishing a series of more than two dozen photo essays of my observations, reflections, photographs, and short videos beginning in January 2018. Musing on how these forests will develop 25, […]
Near-Solstice Sunset Over Huntsville, from Blevins Gap Nature Preserve
I assist fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger who leads the OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Alabama in Huntsville) Outdoor Member Interest Group (OMIG). Friday evening June 21, 2024, approximately 15 of the 100 OMIG members participated in a two-mile hike along the Blevins Gap Nature Preserve’s Varnedoe Trail, returning us to […]