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Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to OCTOBER. My header photo this month shows a gorgeous picture showing beautiful Autumn Colors God's Blessings to YOU for an awesome month.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Skyline Drive (Virginia)--Part II


If you missed Part I of my post showing Skyline Drive, Click HERE. Today I will share with you some more pictures from the overlooks along the Skyline Drive. We pulled out the tripod at Milepost 20 to get some pictures of the two of us. Pignut Mountain is in the distance behind us.




Have you ever heard of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine"? This was a book written by John Fox Jr. --who was from my hometown of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The novel was made into several screen and stage plays through the years. Anyhow--this little lone pine reminded me of that!!!!! This picture was taken near the Pinnacles area (3350 feet) at milepost 36.7.






I took this picture to show you one of the other overlooks along the Skyline Drive. This picture was taken at milepost 17.1 which is the Range View Overlook (2810 feet).






For some reason, both George and I took pictures of some of the dead trees along the way. They just stood out as if they were the KING of the Skyline!!! I'm not sure this one is dead --but there wasn't a leaf on it!!!!! Neat picture, huh, with that blue sky and puffy clouds behind it???? This picture was taken at milepost 13 and the overlook is the Hogwallow Flats Overlook (2665 feet).






There are two things I like about this picture... One is the big rocks just below the overlook, and the other is all of the shadows from the clouds in the sky. This picture was also taken from the Range View Overlook (2810 feet) at milepost 17.1





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This is a view of the Shenandoah River and Shenandoah Valley. There is one overlook where all 11 bends of this beautiful river are visible --but it has to be on a very clear day (and it was too hazy when we were there). To see all 11 bends, go to the Hogback Overlook located at milepost 21. This particular picture was taken at the Gooney Run Overlook (2085 feet) at milepost 6.8. Dickey Ridge is to the right.



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I'll close by bringing you back to our yard in beautiful Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. This is our Confederate Jasmine bush in our front yard. The butterflies love it. I took this picture on August 20. This particular butterfly was a little tattered --but pretty nevertheless.

One more thing: In yesterday's blog, I asked you to guess which woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is patterned after... It is the Red-headed Woodpecker.

Have a great day!!!!
Hugs,

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Woody and Company


As I mentioned last week in my Cardinal blog post, I have gotten many good pictures of my Backyard Birds recently... I got pictures of two new birds to my feeder (a Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker and a Juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker) this month ---and I saw another new one yesterday while working in the yard (but didn't get a picture yet).

This new one is a Hairy Woodpecker.. There are lots of Downy's which come to the suet feeder --but yesterday, a GREAT BIG Hairy Woodpecker made his way there.. I watched him and got so excited, but since I was in the yard working, my camera wasn't anywhere near. Sigh!! I hope he comes back so that I can get his picture sometime. The Hairys look like the Downys except for the fact that they are larger and have a longer beak. I hope he comes back sometime when I have my camera!!!!

Today, I am featuring an "All-Woodpecker-Post".... Above is one of the largest woodpecker we have in our area, the PILEATED WOODPECKER... Below are more!!!!




DOWNY WOODPECKER: This is a male since the females do not have any red on them.





JUVENILE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER: When I first saw this bird, I had no idea what it was.. His colors are SO different from an adult.




JUVENILE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER: I just had to include one more picture of this little bird.. I hope to get more pictures as he begins to get his colors!!!!




ADULT RED-HEADED WOODPECKER: This is what the little Juvenile will look like someday..






JUVENILE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: He is also quite dull with very little color so far.





ADULT RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: The little juvenile will look like this (depending upon whether it is a male or female) soon. Female Red-bellieds do have red on their heads--but it's not solid along the top and back of the head like the males. And --for any of you non-birders, the adult Red-bellied Woodpeckers DO have a red belly.. It's just hard to see!!!!





NORTHERN FLICKER: This is always one of my favorite birds. This is a male since he has a black mustache, and more red on his head (which is hard to see in this picture).

Hope you enjoyed seeing my pretty little woodpeckers.. I have more birds to show you--but that will be next week. By the way, do you know which of these woodpeckers is the one which Woody Woodpecker represented????? Take a guess!!!!

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Wow---I now have 300 Followers... That is amazing --especially since I don't do memes and giveaways to try to get more followers... Thanks to all of you who follow me!!!! I hope ALL of you will leave comments because that is what I truly love to get.

Hugs,