Fall Colors 2022 Leaves and Scenes from Hikes

 Fall Colors 2022 

Leaves and Scenes from Hikes

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Selected October 2022 Fall photographs of Biodiversity in East Tennessee

September 29, 2022 and an evening walk around the Greenbelt Lake that is just down the hill from my condo. 

I upgraded my Photography equipment this week with a Canon EOS Rebel T7 with a 75-300mm zoom lens. I like the optical viewer and the manual zoom of this camera. This is not a super zoom for even further away but I think it will work well for me. The first photo shows the Sycamore Trees above the water leaves beginning to turn into their fall colors of yellows and oranges. I was able to catch this bird in flight heading up to perch on the upper limbs.

I got a closer look into the tree top as I zoomed in after the first bird had found a suitable perch for some other photos of this large bird with the beginning fall leaves being showcased by the evening blue sky in the background. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a second bird heading to this sycamore treetop and I was shooting frames rapidly when I got this cool shot. They both appear to be "squawking" to one another as the  second bird is applying its "braking flaps" of its wings. I do like how this new camera can capture this aerial action and the cooler less humid fall air enhances the picture with the blue sky along with the turning leaf colors, and the black feathers of these two Double-crested Cormorants. 

As fall turns into winter in East Tennessee I wonder if these Cormorants will migrate further south? 

We usually think the arrival of fall is the deciduous trees putting on their fiery leaf displays, but bird migrations are another phenology sign of changing seasons. I have been watching the flock of five of this species of birds for a couple months here right outside my door and I will be looking to see if they stay here over the winter.

 This online dictionary: (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phenology)

states Phenology is "a branch of science dealing with the relations between climate and periodic biological phenomena (such as bird migration or plant flowering)"

Do you like how I added in some science content to fall leaf colors, blue sky, and unusual birds?

Below: Fall colors of this Virginia Creeper vine's leaves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in mid September 2022.

During September 2022, I conducted two solo iNaturalist Bio-Blitzes in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I have started volunteering with the Discover Life in America (dlia.org) which is the non profit science partner for the Park and felt I needed to have some more experience with iNaturalist in the Smokies. Part of my role with DLiA will be educational assistance so this was a good reason to get out and be Closer to Nature...

Fall was starting to appear slowly but on the September 19 exploration I was seeing more than just leaves turning into the orange, red, and yellow blazes on the deciduous trees. I few late summer and fall flowers as well as the pollinators filling up with nectar and pollen before the cold weather accelerates to limit insect food. 

I hope you enjoy viewing and reading my brief information pieces of Nature Science to go along with these Fall images I collected this day. These are what I call Nature Post Card Digital Nature Journals. Each can stand alone or also be viewed as a thematic topic.

 

 

Below are older and even recent Nature Journals with some free verse poems to enhance my feelings and the beauty of Fall. One is a trip to the MT. Rogers area in SW Virginia but of course most are from the Smokies.

Fall view at Grayson Highlands

A favorite hiking place for me

Sweeping panorama sights

Fall colors beginning below

Leaves of reds and oranges

Setting the hillsides ablaze

A good day for me to see

The mountain trees aglow

Middle Prong trail in Smokies

Morning fog and clouds 

Lifting away up the river

Blue sky peaking through

The golden leaves beyond

Cooler temperature today

Summer is ending

Fall is started to appear

Leaves of yellow covering

This trail I travel today

Smoky Mountain good time

A one-page Fall colors image inspired NJ

Fall Beginnings One-Page Nature Journal October 2020

Maples often rule the Fall Color Palette in the Southeast   
NJ Format style Nature Post Cards

A healing walk in the Fall and time to move forward in my life.

Thanks for viewing! Randy

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