The Little Nuthatch — turtles

Welcome, March! There is some slight sadness in knowing that it will be getting warmer, but Spring is my favorite season, and I am surrounded by signs of it's approach.  

The days are long and hot. Summer is here.  

From what I'm heard, Asheville's main spot for birdwatching is Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary. A very neat place for birds and other creatures (including lots of ginormous frogs), and there were many of Asheville's resident birds there, including a little nuthatch! (Sadly no photo of the nuthatch though. Flighty little thing.) This last one is a TERRIBLE photo, but this guy was so cool. A Northern Flicker.

Last weekend I went to Blue Springs State Park with some friends. It is a very popular park known for viewing manatees in the winter. Unfortunately it has already warmed up too much, we only saw one manatee and were probably lucky at that! He was on the other side of the river in some murky water so I cold not even get a photo. Did get a swimming turtle, cormorant, and a little tree frog hiding in a palmetto...

I went to the Black Hammock trail this week, it was my first time there. It starts out lush and beautiful, with some lovely boardwalks. Really really nice. Unfortunately it then turns into a trail that is wide, sunny with no shade, mostly palmettos, and with areas that have been cut down or burned. Most of the trail is like this.  I did see some wildlife- birds, a turtle, a snake (perhaps a pygmy rattlesnake? I'm not sure), and baby ducks!!