A Six-Stop Early May Immersion in the Nature of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge!

May 4, 2023, I spent a lovely late spring afternoon on the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. I offer reflections, observations, photographs, and five brief videos from my six-stop wanderings within a five-mile driving radius: gravel road wildlife; riparian forest; Tennessee River; Blackwell Swamp; January 2, 2021 tornado recovery forest; Beaverdam Swamp Boardwalk.   Jolly […]

Joe Wheeler

March Revelations of Miscellaneous Delights at Joe Wheeler State Park

March 16, 2023 I co-led (with Mike Ezell, AL State Parks Naturalist Emeritus) a Nature walk at Joe Wheeler State Park for members of the Huntsville LearningQuest class that had just completed a seven-week course on the State Parks of North Alabama. I sauntered the woods for an additional two hours after the formal field […]

Joe WSP

Brief Form Post #14 — Early May Sunset and Sunrise at Joe Wheeler State Park

I am pleased to post the 14th of my new GBH Brief Form Posts to my website (Less than three-minutes to read! Not including the brief video). I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will publish the […]

April Mid-day Reflections at Hays Nature Preserve along the Flint River!

Big Cove Creek and the Hays Preserve   April 13, 2023 I visited Huntsville, Alabama’s Hays Nature Preserve, focusing my limited wanderings near where Big Cove Creek enters the Flint River. Big Cove Creek flows south (left) in a channel evidencing historic linearization, appearing more like a canal than a natural, winding stream. The creek […]

Brief-Form Post #13: Exquisite May 4, 2023 Sky and Clouds at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge!

I am pleased to offer the 13th of my new GBH Brief Form Posts (Less than three-minutes to read!) to my website. I tend to get a bit long-winded 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. Brief-Form Post […]

Lake Lurleen

April Visit to Lake Lurleen State Park: Focus on the Lake!

April 19, 2023 I arrived about noon at Alabama’s Lake Lurleen State Park, then departed April 20 after a morning meeting of the Alabama State Parks Foundation Board. I focus this Post on the splendor of the lake the first afternoon and snippets I captured at sunrise the next morning during a quick encounter lakeside […]

Blackwell Swamp and Other Treats on a Mid-March Wheeler National Wildlife Hike

March 11, 2023, I returned to the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. It’s my place of observation, reflection, and discovery. I have no preconceived notion of what specifically awaits me, yet I do know generally what to expect seasonally. Almost 30 years ago to the day (March 13, 1993), the Blizzard of ’93 brought 65 […]

Joe Wheeler SP

March Bluff Trails at Joe Wheeler State Park

March 16, 2023 I co-led (with Mike Ezell, AL State Parks Naturalist Emeritus) a Nature walk at Joe Wheeler State Park for members of the Huntsville LearningQuest class that had just completed a seven-week course on the State Parks of North Alabama. I sauntered the woods for an additional two hours after the formal field […]

An Unanticipated Setback to My Nature Wanderings: Triple Bypass!

This Post takes a different approach: not just Nature’s contribution to the quality of my life, but a medical intervention intended to keep me in the game of life! Scheduled for left knee replacement surgery, doctors suggested a ticker evaluation. Here’s the resultant life-awakening sequence:    Warning: June 5 — stress test    Danger: June […]

Special Brief-Form Post #12: The Marvels of Human Engineering Meet Nature’s Splendid Inspiration!!

I am pleased to post the 12th of my new GBH Brief Form Posts to my website (Less than three-minutes to read! Not including the brief videos). I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will publish the […]

Winter 2022-23 Wind-Demise of Multiple Big Oaks on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge!

March 11, 2023, I bushwhacked with a friend, Bernie Kerecki, MD, through a Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge riparian hardwood forest south of HGH Road mid-afternoon. We enjoyed a splendid spring day…discovering evidence of powerful winter winds.   A Shattered Red Oak Giant   This three-foot diameter red oak succumbed to one such blast, this one […]

Wetlands Restoration at the Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary

Because I had been teaching a seven-week Huntsville LearningQuest course at the Residences at WellPoint in Hampton Cove, Alabama, I visited the nearby Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary four times from late-January through March (1/31; 2/14; 2/21; 3/24), focusing the latter three visits on the ongoing wetlands restoration project underway by the City of Huntsville, the proprietor […]