2 Adventures with 2 Debbies

It is a blessing to have friends who are just excited about having adventures as I am.  On April 3, the first Debbie and I have a long Sunday afternoon, stretching into evening.  The second Debbie and I wander in the woods on Wednesday, April 13.
 

DEBBIE ONE

I never heard of Hamburg State Park.  It may be that Debbie is my only friend who has heard of it, having visited it for years.  We drive South below Route 20, near Sparta.  I reflect on how often I head North toward the mountains.  I need to balance my adventures; become omni-directional.

Fisher men and women, boaters, hikers and picnickers enjoy it.  We decide to hike around the lake.  Since Debbie is also a photographer, we both stop frequently.

Very nice bathrooms

Fungus on Pine Tree

Nice Bracket Fungus

Getting a shot of the old grist mill across the lake

We’re not too far along the nature trail before the soggy ground reminds us how much rain we had earlier.  When we see the beautiful flowers — a profusion of them — getting our shoes muddy seems worth it. 

False Garlic

Dogwood Still Blooming Against a Deep Blue Sky

 Below are many pictures from a community of scores of Atamasco lilies.  I had never seen so many!

The lilies are right next to this wavy water

Nice and Damp

Over a hundred of these beauties!

Isn't it gorgeous?

And we spot some nifty animals, too.  I do not know what type of frog or spider we see here.

 

First Dragon of the Year

Beavers?

 

Oh, and the weirdest plant you may never have seen.  The first time I saw this I was hiking alone in Gorges State Park.  When I saw these ?things? I had to call out to strangers.  “What are these?”  Nobody knew.  So as soon as I got home I sent my photo of it to Hugh and Carol Nourse.  I wasn’t even sure it was in the plant category.  They told me.

This is a plant which has no chlorophyll.  It is parasitic on the roots of oak trees.  It used to be called Squaw Corn but since that is politically incorrect, it is now called Cancer Root.  Come on, could they not have selected a better name?  As you can see from the array of photos, it fascinates me.  The fattest wildflower book I have says it grows from Nova Scotia south to Florida, is common! and is popular with bears.  Since I have seen them twice in 75 years, one can presume there are a great many bears around here.

We are here at the best time to see sunlight sparkle on the water. 

 Folks who fish have the benefit of sitting or standing along the beautiful water for hours, and sometimes catching fish to eat.

Catfish and some other sort of fish

We see a bird swooping down to gather something in or on the water, then swooping back up to the trees.  I take the best picture I can with the camera I have.  Two clever Oconee Audobon folks say it is an Eastern Kingbird.  The first I think I've seen.

On the way further South (I think) we take pictures of the old grist mill and dam.  

Then on to a tiny town with an even tinier old jail. 

Aaron Burr was held in this small space in 1807, on his way to being tried for treason.

Tiny jail is on someone's front yard.

 Here's where I play with black and white texture photos:

 As the sun is setting Debbie pulls into a restaurant in the Buckhead area where I meet Sandra Glass, the choir leader of the Bishop Methodist Church.  I played the piano there for six years as a donation to the community.  We enjoyed working together so it was marvelous seeing her again.

Coming home from Debbie’s house I use my iPhone which chooses to direct me through the darkest, loneliest country-est roads I’ve never seen before.  I’m singing “God is keeping me.”

DEBBIE TWO

Debbie spent many happy hours as a child and mother in Victoria Bryant State Park, near Danielsville.   This is our second trip there together, but the first in Spring.   

 We both love the sound of the stream splashing over the shoals so we choose the walks closest to it.  Rhododendron and mountain laurel are blooming on the shore line.   It has taken me nearly 75 years to be able to tell the difference.

This is the mountain laurel, which has not yet opened.

We see wild flowers scattered here and there.

Flowers on Dog Hobble, a.k.a. Leucothoe

Aren't yellow violets special?

Wild ginger with the little brown jug I uncovered under it.

The wild ginger

 These two (above and below) are Catesby's trillium.  Isn't it beautiful?

Violet Wood Sorrel (in the Oxalis family; see leaves?)

Happy Green and Gold

Beautiful Bluets

A charming yellow composite

Lyreleaf Sage (a Salvia)

Might be a Cream Violet.  Leaves are different than the common one.

Pussy Toes.  Don't you love the name? See below close-up also.

Pussy Toes in the front with Cinquefoil behind.

Several kinds of ferns and mosses are on our path, plus a small stand of running pine.

 Above and below are photos of Cinnamon Fern.

Running Pine

What an attractive moss!

It is verdant without the oppressive heat of summer.

I see a new (for me) wildflower.  I admire its two colors and radial design but when I find it in a reference book, I am appalled to learn its name:  common lousewort.  First, I hate it when beautiful flowers are called “common” but “lousewort” on top of that?  On Nature Rambles I’ve learned that “wort” is an old English term for “plant.”  But what about the “louse” part?  Apparently it was believed when the common name came about  that cows which ate this plant developed lice.  Its Latin name is Pedicularis.

And I have never seen a grass (?) like this either.  Where is Linda Chafin when you need her?

[From a medicinal plant website:  “I find it most useful for back pain, upper to lower.   Pedicularis is also useful for neck and shoulder tension. For massage therapists, giving this plant to particularly tight patients before working on them can be helpful. An advantage of skeletal muscle relaxants is that they do not dumb down one’s thinking and so can be taken throughout the day.”]

We enjoy a relaxing lunch near the shoals, watching a small family play in the water.  Next time I’ll stick my feet in the water.

Several insects, including two pollinators, and a spider show up. 

Dwarf Iris with Grasshopper

Orchard Orb Weaver

I think I see a bee gathering pollen through the back door of this flower (above) but check it at home with my friend-expert, Dale Hoyt who says: 

“You’ve almost remembered it right -- the bees don't gather pollen through the "back door"; they gather nectar. In many flowers the nectar is produced at the base of the petals. Biting a hole in the base allows an insect to get the nectar without going through the front door.  The insect might not have a tongue long enough to reach the nectar or it might not be strong enough to force its way past the petals to get to where the nectar is produced/stored.

Looks to me like the corolla tubes have slipped down the style, carrying some nectar with it. Since these flowers are long past being pollinated it can't count as nectar robbing. But when the flowers were ready (the corollas back at the base of the style or ovary, then the bee would bite a hole in the base of the corolla to get at the nectar. That is nectar robbing. What this bee is doing is more like someone picking up junk that was put out on the curb for the trash pickup. If they had been a day earlier and broken a window to enter the house to take the same items they would have been called robbers.

I know this is splitting hairs, but I can't help myself!”

If you want wonderful friend-experts like Dale and live in the Athens area, come to the Thursday morning Nature Rambles at the UGA State Botanical Garden of Georgia.  That’s where I get taught all this wonderful stuff.  Notice, I say “get taught” not “learn.”