Monthly Archives: May 2012
Ephemeral leaves
A diverse assemblage of leaves and other plant-parts is soaked by seepage from a near-by spring.
Wavy decay
Amos sits
After encountering the box turtle, I sat down in the trail to wait for it to emerge for a photograph. Amos preceded to sniff around, sit on an ant colony, and was stung a few times. I believe he blamed me for the pain, because he sadly sat between 5 and 10 m from me, waiting to move on.
Eastern Box Turtle
For the first time in the wild, I came across an Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina carolina at Cascade Springs Nature Preserve. I, of course, have a pet box turtle (Rocky) adopted from the Leff’s at Kent State University (who had adopted it from a former graduate student… who had taken it in from a middle school student of hers, I believe), but I had never encountered a wild one. While it was exciting, and I did get to see it exposed out of the shell, Amos was with me and scared the turtle into hiding, so I couldn’t get a descent shot.
Red Buckeye
Flowering Red Buckeye Aesculus pavia (Sapindaceae) in Cascade Springs Nature Preserve early this spring.
Meet Amos
Yep, Allison and I adopted a new dog: Amos.
In keeping with our naming ‘theme’, we pronounce his name as you might in Spanish; it’s ‘ahh’ then ‘mos’ similar to the ‘o’ in “most”. This way, we can say “Vamos Amos!”
Anyway, he’s another 2 year-old dachshund mix (clearly a mix… possibly of a chuhuahua…like a long chuhuaaaaaaaaaahua) we picked up at the Atlanta Humane Society and has already grown to be a part of our family. Here, he wades at Cascade Spring Nature Preserve, waiting for me to move so he can reach dry land.
Heart-Leaved Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia (Saxifragaceae) blooming along Ridge trail in Cascade Springs Nature Preserve.
Éva helps with field work
Another hike through Bear’s Den
Éva and Eva explore a stream draining into Mill Creek at Bear’s Den. This was the first park we visited with Eva, and it was the first time I saw her substantially wag her tail. She also had no problem barrelling through the water – although it seemed to surprise her, as if she hadn’t expected ‘wetness’. Éva, on the other hand, was a seasoned park goer, and had begun to step onto rocks to avoid getting wet.
