Saturday, September 24th: NC

Saturday is National Public Lands Day and we celebrated by visiting the Cradle of Forestry in America, the site of the first Forestry School in America.  We hiked several of the trails on the extensive property,  all in the Pizgah National Forest.

Southern Toad

This toad is native to the southeastern US, from eastern LA and SE VA south to Florida (except TN).  Usually found in areas with sandy soils and is typically nocturnal spending the day in a burrow.

They're EVERYWHERE!!

Fall Foliage is starting

As the chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.

At the same time other chemical changes may occur which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments.

Pollinators hard at work

A train track less traveled

Cloudless Sulphur

 Monarch butterflies

Female

Common Buckeye Butterfly

Sign along the Davidson River

Mama Spider has built an intricate web

American Crow

 These birds congregate in large numbers in winter to sleep in communal roosts.  These roosts can be of a few hundred up to two MILLION crows.  Some of these roosts have been forming in the same general area for a hundred years or more.

Young American Crows don't breed until they're at least 2 years old, and most don't breed until they're 4 or more.  In most populations, the young help their parents raise the young for a few years.