Here are a few of my favorite photographs from today’s hike, complete with descriptions below each image. As usual, some of the images appear at random, so you can hit your browser’s refresh/reload button to see additional images of the same subjects.

Here’s a pic of Mike E. hiking on the Ganier Ridge connector trail amidst an amazing area filled with purple flowers, which must be seen to be believed! I have not yet identified these purple flowers carpeting the area, so if anyone knows what they are, please comment.

Here’s a good closeup of a young/juvenile five-lined skink on a tree along the Ganier Ridge trail at Radnor Lake, with its brilliant blue tail which loses its color as the skink ages. (There is also another post about the skink on this blog…)

A nice view of Radnor Lake in spring, complete with flowering Redbud tree

A pair of Canada Geese taking it easy on the shore of Radnor Lake

Another pair of Canada Geese, with a couple of Red-eared Sliders (turtles) on a log in the background at Radnor Lake

These brilliant purple flowers are everywhere!

More purple flowers

Large tree with huge vines

A pair of unidentified waterfowl at Radnor Lake

A pair of Wood Ducks at Radnor Lake

The nest of a Red-Tailed Hawk, which could be seen much more clearly a couple of weeks ago, now largely obscured by new leaves

One of the more unusual things that occurred on this hike was the extreme interest of a bumble bee in Mike and I. This bee would not leave us alone for about ten minutes or more; it kept hovering in front of us as we rested on a bench along the South Cove Loop at Radnor Lake, getting bolder and closer with each passing moment. I decided to try to photograph it in flight, which was rather difficult. A couple of them turned out well enough to see the colors of the bee.

What’s a skink?

Thanks, Aunt Kay, for your question, and know that I sincerely appreciate your readership. Thanks to your curiosity, the number of visitors to this website in August doubled!

There is hardly a topic I enjoy handling inquiries about more than herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians). Yes, from confirming the inherent and natural sliminess of snakes and the danger they present to us when we dare venture into the woods, to authenticating the toad as the source of most warts adorning the human skin, this is pretty much the place to get answers to all your snake, salamander, and lizard questions.

In considering your question (“What’s a skink”), I began to wonder just how popular the subject is — skinks at Radnor Lake — so I Googled it. Imagine the thrill when this popular Nashville hiking blog — HikingNature.com — came up number one on Google in a search for “skinks at radnor lake”! In an instant, all my concerns and wonderments regarding the worthiness of my time spent blogging about hiking at Radnor Lake were eliminated.

It was entrancing to see that our skinky discourse ranked ahead of the bestselling tome Lizards : A Natural History of Some Uncommon Creatures, Extraordinary Chameleons, Iguanas, Geckos, and More, by David P. Badger and John Netherton. Page 15 of this book tells a story about how a five-lined skink was observed resting “on some leaf litter, peering down at” them as they photographed some Georgia O’Keeffe flowers at Radnor Lake.

Thanks again for your question, Aunt Kay. We very much look forward to the next inquiry from our readership.

My discussion of this question without answering it was an attempt at humor. Pure tomfoolery. Now that your sides are splitting, let me answer the question.

According to the OMD (Online Medical Dictionary), to skink means to draw or serve, as a drink. “Bacchus the wine them skinketh all about.” (Chaucer) “Such wine as Ganymede doth skink to Jove.” (Shirley; reminds one of Jabberwocky)

Important Note: None of the “facts” about reptiles and amphibians in the third paragraph of this post (“There is hardly a topic…”) are true; the sarcasm represents attempted humor. Snakes are not slimy in the least; snakes almost never present any danger to humans here in Tennessee; and finally, handling toads does not cause warts!

Moonstruck Miscellany

SeventhSanctum.com :: Random deity generator! Also generates random monsters, names, plots, scenarios,…

There were two other semi-noteworthy wildlife sightings. First, just before we noticed the heron, I pointed out a juvenile five-lined skink sunning itself on the wooden fence. (I am somewhat of a herpetologist, and I am a big fan of all reptiles and amphibians.) And second, the deer count: a paltry two (yes, 2).

However, the overall hike easily ranked at four out of five stars. I was in the presence of Kelly Stewart, the energy level was good, my mood was good, there was water a-plenty, it was only in the mid-nineties, and the conversation was lively and interesting (thanks to Kelly and BarCamp Nashville).

I tooky my REI hydrating system this time — something I had gotten out of the habit of for a long time due to a leaky bladder (that is, the plastic bladder which holds the water in CamelBaks and other hydration systems). I had forgotten how nice it is to have as much cold water as I care to drink during my hikes. My nature-green backpack is designed around the water storage and delivery, but there is plenty of room for other things; I had an extra bottle of water for Kelly, who ended up bringing his own water, so we stuck that in there, too.

We hiked at a brisk pace. There were only two brief water breaks – one at each of the two most difficult climbs, relatively speaking. When we made it back to the parking lot, Kelly checked his watch and his pedometer: we hiked the 4.5-mile loop in 1:19, which is our record — in just under 9,000 steps.