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The One Thing - By: Cindy West

 

Nature in abundance a short hop away

One of my favorite spots is Marshall County Park No. 1 just north of the river bridge. With the campers gone, it has drawn blue herons, mallards, coots and other birds. Just after Christmas I saw trees filled with cedar waxwings. This spring I photographed a heron fishing.

I’ve indicated to the county commissioners that I’d love for it to remain just as it is, but as one of them put it, “We can’t make any money that way.“ There are ther spots of nature in the area:

¥ Although the Bucky Howe Memorial Boat Ramp is right on Highway 69, a busy highway, if I pull to the far end of the parking lot I can almost forget about the road. The lake is on one side and an algae-covered pond on the other.

¥ I head down Warrenton Road several miles toward the Red Hill area. Just past the Beech Creek bridge is Alldredge Gap Road. On the right side are several public accesses to the waterfront where I’ve hidden to spy on waterfowl.

¥ An almost hidden pond lies at the intersection of Taylor Street and Lurleen Wallace Drive. When the weeds get high in the summer, you can find hummingbirds. One early morning a while back I saw 2 foxes playing across the road. Herons stalk around the weedy edges.

¥ And there’s the State Park, of course. The feeders at the nature center draw lots of finches Ñ golden and purple Ñ chickadees, squirrels, sparrows and other critters. If you move slowly, you can get within a few yards of the deer that roam freely through the woods and campground.

Most frequently I find myself drawn to different areas by the walking trail along Sunset Drive. Besides the infamous Canada geese Ñ a curse to some and a blessing to others Ñ lots of wildlife gathers in these strips of green between Sunset Drive and the lakefront. I’ve seen gulls, geese, and even the big, ugly Muscovy ducks.

Squirrels are always scratching around on the ground. The intersection near the Kiwanis Pier seems to draw bluebirds. Nothing lightens my heart like that flash of brilliant blue. Once a friend and I watched a hawk take off after a smaller bird. (We were rooting for the little bird, and it got away.) Once I found a beaver chewing on vegetation, and he obliged me by posing for pictures for about 10 minutes before slithering back into the water. I haunt these spots. I realize how blessed I am to have an abundance of nature a one-minute drive from the office.

Living in the backwoods of Alder Springs, though, I have to admit that my nature mostly comes from rambles with my dog and setting up my tripod on the front porch. In the morning when I leave for work, I often cause a bunny to freeze in the act of nibbling the grass near my doorstep. I’ve fed raccoons from that porch and spied a fox in the back yard. I’ve set a few bird feeders in the oak tree about 10 feet away, and the porch is angled perfectly to get good photos as the sun sets behind the trees. As a prescription for stress, I highly recommend it.

 

 

 

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The Advertiser Gleam

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