Fall on the Blue Ridge Pkwy-Part I

On our Maggie Valley, North Carolina, trip with friends (Oct. 19-21, 2010),  after leaving Cataloochie Valley,  we drove from Maggie Valley to Soco Gap and then up the Blue Ridge Parkway toward the Mt. Pisgah area.  As you probably remember from the Cataloochie pictures,  we had a rainy, foggy morning.  When we first got on the parkway,  it was quite foggy... BUT--since that entire trip was magical,  the fog lifted and we were able to see many beautiful Autumn colors along the parkway that day...

I will divide my posts into about 3 parts since the pictures all turned out so well.  Today,  I will share some pictures we were able to capture that morning in the fog... Hope you enjoy more of my foggy (or misty) pictures.

At first,  we weren't sure whether the fog would lift on the parkway or not...  BUT--when it began to lift,  we were able to find some pretty colors along our way.

You can see here that the sun is TRYING hard to pop through the fog.  Obviously,  you can only imagine how happy we were to see that sunshine!!!!

The most vivid colors were here at the mid-levels along the parkway.  Once we got higher and higher in elevation,  the colors had disappeared.

I love this picture,  since it shows all of the shadows --where the sun is still hiding behind the clouds... Isn't that just awesome?

AHA--The blue sky is peaking through....  We were so happy!!!!

Finally,  here is some more color we experienced that morning in North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway.   When looking at these now,  I get sad to see Fall leave us...  This was such a marvelous trip --with some great friends.  More photos to come from this area!!!

Hugs,

Since George's sister is out-of-town,  we are driving to Hendersonville today to check on George's parents.   Hope you all have a great day! 

November Backyard Birds

Woooo---it's been a long time since I posted a Bird Blog... What has happened to me????  Poor birdies... I've been feeding them and watching them --but just haven't taken time to get their photos...  SO--this week,  I decided to take a few and share them with you.  Above is one of my regulars,  a female Cardinal.   These birds are the first to the feeders in the morning and the last to be there right before dark.

Above is one of our many, many Goldfinches these days.   I think we have more Goldfinches this year than we have ever had...  I just hope those Pine Siskins (which we had about 100-200 two years ago) don't come back this year.  There were so many of them that they would run off all of the other birds.  Last year,  we had none and so far this year, none.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't come!

It was raining when this male House Finch visited us...  Don't you just love that expression on his face?   I think he's telling me to make the rain stop!!!!!  Poor thing!!

I absolutely love Carolina Wrens.. They are just the cutest little birds... I think they'd come in our home and find a nest if we let them... They love to get in our garage!!!!!   These little guys can really sing though...

Here's another picture of a gorgeous male House Finch.  It is amazing how much larger the House Finches are than the Goldfinches.

This little darling is one of our White-breasted Nuthatches.  I love to watch them going back and forth to the feeders finding each and every peanut I put out.... They are so cute.

Finally,  here's one of the sweetest birds around,  our Carolina Chickadee...  These little guys are always around  (along with the Tufted Titmice and the Nuthatches pictured above) ---all year long.   Such Sweethearts!!!!

I tried to get a picture of one of our sweet little Bluebirds,  but by the time I got ready,  he flew away...  The only woodpeckers I have seen at the feeders lately are the Red-bellied,  the Downys,  and on occasion--a Pileated.   I haven't seen many Mourning Doves lately --and our Bluejays are gone somewhere else for the winter.   I did see a big hawk in the distance on Sunday ---so maybe some of the birds are staying away if there are hawks nearby...

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my Backyard Birds this week.

Hugs,