Sunday, July 3, 2011

A Hike Along the West Bank of the Vermilon River. A Post to my World Tuesday.

Lower Vermilon

I took a couple of days off from the blog, but continued to hike the river. These photos are from a hike along the abandoned track on the west side of the river. The photo on the right is just above the rapids.

The river is high and the rapids are running full tilt. I never shoot these rapids at a slow shutter speed to make them look syrupy as it plays down the danger of the river. A boy was drown this weekend in the river, which is not a rare occurrence, as I have said before the locals are very uncomfortable with a wilderness forest and very few are equipped with the swimming skills to handle the river.

Main Channel Rapids


Main Channel


Little Island.


The Vermilon is filled with small islands and the rapids circle this one. But what's interesting is the tiger lilies on that little island.


Tiger Lillie's


White-throated Sparrow.


Female Brewer's Blackbird?


Female Rusty Blackbird??


Cedar Waxwing.


Chipmunk




I'm soft on identifying all these backbirds especially the females, which you don't see much of so if anybody wants to help jump in.

I found a small flock of Cedar Waxwings who hung around with me for a while. I'll post their photos to WBW on Wednesday.

Surprisingly enough, Chipmunks are hard to find. I think because it is a wilderness and they rank low on the food chain. But this guy co-operated.

There are a lot of different dragonflies, so be prepared to look at them. This guy looked particularly intense.
Unknown Insect


Another Unknown Insect.


Northern Pearly-Eye.

Blue Flags.

Devil's Paintbrush.


Lush Ferns.


Wild Daisies.






There was so much going on that I'll have to do part two on Sky Watch Friday.



A Post to my World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

43 comments:

  1. i will never get tired of seeing the devil's paintbrush. they just pull my heart...

    those 2 unknowns are some sort of damselfly. dragonflies have the double wings whereas damsels only have the one set. :)

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  2. Great post! Love the waxwing and the daisies :)

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  3. texwisgirl beat me to it. Those are, indeed damselflies. Another way you can tell them from dragonflies is that they hold their wings upright at rest, unlike the dragonflies, which spread them out. As for the blackbirds, I don't know, I'm afraid. But, I love the way the one is all fluffed out.

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  4. Such a nice variety of birds and flowers. Love that river. Can you kayak it? Love the chipmunk as well. We don't have them in central Florida but when I visit relatives in Atlanta they are everywhere there.

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  5. Love the images and the whole concept of hiking in an area like that. It's so beautiful and good to be out there.

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  6. Looks like a great day to be out hiking. Loved the photos, especially the damselflies and the chipmunk.

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  7. ჱܓOlá, amigo!
    。°✿
    Imagens maravilhosas....
    Passei para deixar um abraço.

    Boa semana!
    Beijinhos.
    Brasil

    ✿✿♪

    ♫° 。✿✿ჱܓ

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  8. Wonderful shots of the place, very much scenic.

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  9. Great shots, Gary. And I'm glad you don't make the rapids look syrupy. :)

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  10. Great pictures, esp of the insects.

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  11. I have been practicing shooting waterfalls at a slow shutterspeed (and still need lots of practice, and a tripod!) seeing that soft rushing flow still looks dangerous to me, but in a different way.

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  12. Despite the potential danger, looks like a lovely place. Great photos.

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  13. Well i woudn't mind going hiking with you!!!

    Have a great fourth of July!
    Leontien

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  14. I like the various subjects here.

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  15. I am blown away by your captures! Such beautiful things to behold! I am curious about the unknown dragonfly-looking insect -such lovely coloring! Thank you for sharing! :)

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  16. Great documentation od your walk, love all your plants, birds, chipmonk and river views.

    My walk too turned out to be a bit too long.

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  17. I think a lot of people curse the devil's paintbrush when it escapes the forest, Texwisgirl.

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  18. It just seems that I saw a lot of Blackbirds on one hike, Louise.

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  19. You sure can Dina with great care.

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  20. I was surprised the chipmunk hung around long enough for a photo, Eileen.

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  21. Don't think I agree with you VS. I think it's been done too many times and looks too much like a travel poster.

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  22. Anytime you're in the area, Leontien.

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  23. What a lovely hike along the river. The 'other unknown' damselfly looks like a male ebony jewelwing. Perhaps the other one is the female? I'll have to brush up on the blackbirds, pay closer attention to what we have around here. ~karen

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  24. I enjoyed this tour full of wildlife listening to the whispering of the stream. I'm interested in two unknown insects for their beautiful metallic colors. Have a happy week ahead.

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  25. Thanks a lot for taking me to such a wonderful tour. Nature with many tinny lives is amazingly beautiful. I love photos of the roughly flowing river in your photos. And I am especially interested in the green and black dragonfly.
    Thank you for sharing. Have a great day!

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  26. What a beautiful and green place. Looks like one of my favorite places here, except for the birds.
    Happy week to you:-)

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  27. It is a great spot,Spiderdama.

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  28. the little unknown insect is a "Beautiful Demoiselle".

    See my Dragonfly blog:
    http://nfdragon.blogspot.com/2010/08/bla-jungfruslanda-beautiful-demoiselle.html

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