(no shadows at first)
On Groundhog Day last year we took our groundhogs, Basil & Oregano, to the botanical garden to check on their shadows, so this year we decided to take them out into the woods. Our friend Susan joined us for a nice long walk down by our neighborhood’s Bolin Creek.
The weather was chilly, cloudy, damp and gray. It had been raining recently so there was plenty of mud along the path, making for some dicey footing. Susan spotted a red-shouldered hawk who visited a couple of trees before settling on one where I could get a picture.
Only the beech trees and their marcescent leaves, looking like sand or wheat, bring light to such dark, wet woods, standing out vividly among the dark-gray oak and hickory trunks and the cyanine green of the cedars. A few of our beech trees are large and well spread out, but many more are saplings, six to twelve feet high, present and proud and serving as fine, multifaceted reflectors.
~ Bland Simpson
(Clover Garden: A Carolinian’s Piedmont Memoir)
A funny thing happened after a couple of joggers passed by us. Apparently it took them some time to realize what their eyes had just seen. (A grown man carrying two stuffed groundhogs.) They stopped running, looked back around and one called out to us, “Wait a minute! Is it Groundhog Day?” We all had a good laugh.
Bolin Creek was gurgling away, pleasantly full of water and sounding so very soothing.
The sky was so gray, but then, as we started heading back home, the sun made an effort to break through, lighting up the beech leaves…
… and making the creek’s water sparkle in a few spots. So we had Oregano & Basil pose for a second Groundhog Day photo.
Looking at pictures of our groundhogs’ shadows back in Connecticut I happened to notice that they were a lot longer than the ones down here.
Groton, Connecticut
AI Overview tells me that “shadows are generally longer in the winter, especially in locations further north, because during winter the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, causing the sun to appear lower in the sky and cast longer shadows; the further north you go, the more pronounced this effect will be.”
I find this so fascinating!
A nice outing, Barbara. Bet you made those joggers smile. 🙂
I’m expecting at least 6 more weeks of winter… the cold has been relentless up here!
I can just imagine when the joggers got home they were saying, “you’ll never guess what I saw in the woods today…” 🙂 Keep warm, my friend, I imagine the cold will be a good thing for your garden.
I don’t know why it is but so many people lately have been seeing and photographing hawks. They’re majestic birds, and seem to be everywhere in my online world. Now as for your cute ground hog, he’s a one-off, clearly the best one.
Apparently there are more hawks around lately because of conservation efforts and also “human activities like forest thinning and highway construction have inadvertently created suitable hunting grounds” for them. We hear them more often than we see them.
I love the photos of that babbling brook, Barbara. Something mighty soothing about running water outdoors! And that hawk — just wow! I think your stuffed groundhogs are just darling — thanks for the info on the shadows. I recall learning that at some point, but I’m glad for the refresher.
I was very tuned in to that wonderful babbling water sound that day. So often the creek is almost dry and what little water there is isn’t flowing much. One thing I’m having trouble getting used to down south here is that what I would call a brook or a stream is always called a creek!
My parents were Southerners, and yes, I grew up with the term ‘creek’ as well.
Somehow, ‘bubbling creek’ doesn’t have the same ring to it as ‘bubbling brook.’ 🙂
I thought it was a “babbling” brook?!?!
I don’t know what I was thinking — you’re absolutely right!!!
I love your two groundhogs. However I’m allergic to Basil. Yet Oregano is on of my favorite species. I laughed out loud when I read their names! The photo of Tim with the two on Groundhog Day is a precious memory that you might want printed and framed for your new home in the NC woods.
What I thought was funny was that the two joggers didn’t know that it was ground hog day! Seeing a grown man holding two stuffies must have beamed them back to planet earth.
Yesterday morning, Groundhog Day, I also spent my time from the view of my window snapping video of a hawk in the bird bath and sunning itself on a high open limb of the oak tree. The two squirrels chasing each other around the oak tree never caused the hawks to lose its comfort. Your hawk photos are exquisite!
When I read the italic insert I thought you had written this description of what you were seeing. I after I thought about it for a while, I remembered that you found a book written by a local author which probably is Bland Simpson. Nicely done!
So, which is it? Basil and Oregano sitting upon arrival with no shadow; springs arriving? Or Basil and Oregano sitting at departure with shadows; six more weeks of winter?
Teri, you might be interested to learn how Basil got his name.
https://www.ingebrita.net/2011/02/winters-end/
When the smaller groundhog joined our family he became Basil, Jr., but at some point Tim started calling him Oregano — lol.
That’s too bad you’re allergic to basil, what an unusual allergy. I love it to season my swordfish, along with olive oil and lemon.
Groundhog Day doesn’t seem to be a big thing down here. We met several people that day who had no idea it was Groundhog Day and it was barely mentioned on the news and weather on TV.
I’m glad you enjoyed the hawk photos. I’ve never seen one using a bird bath before. When we’re walking in the woods we can usually tell when one is in the vicinity because all kinds of alarm calls start coming from the songbirds. Sometimes we see crows ganging up and working together to chase a hawk away.
Yes, Bland Simpson has a whole chapter in his book titled Beech. Beech trees are everywhere here in the Piedmont and those leaves really do illuminate the forests. I’ve grown quite attached to appreciating their winter beauty.
I’ve come to the conclusion that spring will come when it comes and that Basil & Oregano will be content either way. 🙂
Well I would have never guessed that, Barbara! Thanks for sharing the link! Yes Basil & Oregano will be content for certain.
You’re welcome, Teri! What will be, will be. ♡
Those are great pictures of the Red-shouldered Hawk Barbara – you can start collecting photos for next year’s nature photo exhibit with these. You found a perfect place for Basil and Oregano to perch without worrying about them getting muddy. That is interesting about the shadow length in Connecticut versus North Carolina. I also laughed at the joggers not realizing it was Groundhog Day right away. It would be a fun surprise to see Tim with two groundhogs in his arms. It’s nice to see touches of green from your pine trees (I think that’s them with all the needles laying on the ground beneath them).
Thanks, Linda. I’m chuckling because Tim made the same suggestion, submitting the hawk pictures for next year’s exhibit. It did take some doing, finding good spots to perch the pair of groundhogs without having them tip over. They’re not very stable on the bottom.
I’m not 100% sure, but I think the green trees are young long leaf pines. For the first five years they stay very short and let their trunks thicken. Then they can grow to 120 feet tall. I cannot get over how tall the pine forests are around here! And their needles do make a good ground cover. But there are also lots of loblolly, shortleaf, Virginia, and white pines so I can’t be sure. I need some kind of portable chart to carry around with me when I’m out walking.
Definitely – that hawk posed for you knowing he/she had a chance to be in a photo exhibition. 🙂 I wondered if they were young trees as they were such a bright color of green. You should ask at the Botanical Gardens – they could recommend a guidebook. I just hopped on Amazon and (of course) they have two guidebooks of “Carolinas” … I know they have them for Michigan as I saw them when I got my “Birds of Michigan” book which I have not looked at as I use Google Image Search. Hmm.
Maybe it’s time to get a tree guide specific to North Carolina, as you suggest. I find my Audubon “Trees of North America” guide a bit overwhelming to use, so I don’t wind up referencing it much.
I had so much trouble choosing which pictures to submit last year, but I guess that’s a nice problem to have. We’ll see if the hawk makes the cut next year! 🙂
Yes, it narrows it down. That’s why I bought the Wildflowers in Michigan and Birds in Michigan (a “deal” if you bought both) but I admit to being lazy and resorting to Google Images. I have some footprints pics I will be using in a few weeks and I’m going to try and see if Google Images can help me out to determine what they are. I’m sure the hawk will make the cut next year – he/she looks perfect in the tree with matching leaves to its front plumage.
Lately I go to Google Images first but oftentimes the results are so ambiguous I have to go somewhere else to zero in on what I’ve got. Sometimes I’m too lazy to get up and walk over to the bookshelf, although lately I’ve started getting up from the laptop every half hour to take a short walk, five times around the living room, hallway, kitchen, dining room, living room loop.
I agree with you and I thought it was because I was/am using this Windows 11 browser. I prefer Google and am not keen on Edge, are you? I tried changing it but it does not work and then I read an article that Microsoft is thwarting attempts to change their browser to one you prefer. I definitely need to keep getting up if I am sitting all day. Today I was working in the house until 4:30 so good for not sitting, but bad for behind on my social media and news sites I read and here on WordPress.
I’ve never tried Edge, in fact I never heard of it until you mentioned it. Why do you prefer Google? I just use whatever Tim sets up for me and never bother to explore other options.
When I set up the Windows 11 this Summer, Edge was there and I understand it is what Microsoft recommends. I am trying to change my primary browser to Google, but am having a difficult time. I don’t like the Edge browser as every time I open it, there are news stories and I get engrossed in them and if I click on one, then all kinds of stories about that topic “greet me” every time I go online. I had watched a few of those slideshows of “Life in the 60s” or “Life in the 70s” and now I get an onslaught of those videos and slideshows. I tried unchecking them in my preferences, but they are still there.
Fabulous photos of your hawk, Barbara! 🤗🤗 I also chuckled as soon as I saw your first photo of the groundhogs. Very nice photos of the creek and walk, glad to see Tim out and about!!
Thank you, Donna!! It was a wonderful day! When I was getting the hawk pictures another group of three walkers came down the path and very courteously stopped talking and stood still until I was finished. I was so grateful! 🙏
Your groundhogs are adorable, and how cute to see Tim carrying them! That looks like a scene from a children’s book, a la Winnie the Pooh perhaps. Great captures with the hawk!
Tim is pretty fond of stuffies in general and has enjoyed this particular tradition for years now. It all started when we took them to a Groundhog Day parade back in Connecticut… Thank you, I’m so glad my friend spotted that hawk!