Grey Rat Snake? It was dead along side of the road
White-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
it was one meaty spider, but can't figure out what it is
Tuesday Sep 25th we went to Yates Mill which is a fully restored, circa 1756 gristmill
(means to grind grain into flour) located five miles from downtown Raleigh. It is the centerpiece of Historic Yates Mill County Park & Wildlife Refuge.
It was a very enjoyable park. It had several different trails through various terrains. Some were on boardwalks and others just through the forest. We walked all of the trails and a few of them we did a couple of times. We saw a ton of birds and even a Copperhead Snake. Yikes!
The park is geared to nature and does not allow pets which I think helps when trying to view wildlife.
Visitor's Center
White-eyed Vireo
boardwalk over the pond
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Wood Pewee
Carolina Wren & Common Yellow-throat
trail
boardwalk
sorghum being grown in a field next to the park
tree grows to the beat of its' own drummer.... (Greg just passed it)
another area of the trail
it almost looked like an art sculpture
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
While-bellied Nuthatch
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
After finishing the Creekside Trail it was time for lunch. We looked to see what was in the area and found a Mexican Taqueria called Taqueria El Toro. It was huge and packed. I think we were the only "gringos" there. We got each got 1 carne asada taco and 2 carnitas tacos. Wow, did they hit the spot!
We went back to the park to do the rest of the trails and visit the Mill. There was a small museum in the Visitor's Center about the Mill.
Still
mill stones
From there we went to see the pond from a viewpoint behind the center. Greg nearly stepped on the Copperhead. I yelled "eek" and he turns to see what I saw and his foot was in mid-step just above the curled up snake. He escaped harm and we both stepped back. The snake then stretched out and started to slither away. He turned towards us smelling us with his tongue out. Luckily, he stopped coming towards us and left the boardwalk. I went to ask the lady from the Center who was having her lunch at a nearby picnic table if it wasn't too much trouble could she identify a snake for us. She came and came to the same conclusion we did that it was a Copperhead. She was a volunteer so she called the 2 ladies from the Visitor's Center to bring a snake stick and relocate it. She asked how we saw it since it blended in so well and I told her it was curled up on the boardwalk and Greg almost stepped on it.
it was a large fully grown Copperhead
close-up of the head
he's all stretched out
being relocated (not sure why moving him such a short distance was their choice...)
the Mill
start of the Millpond Trail
good thing we didn't see any of those
Jumping Spider
boardwalk across the pond
Brown Thrasher
Great Blue Heron
Cardinal
dragonfly
immature Indigo Bunting
immature Indigo Bunting
immature Indigo Bunting
immature Indigo Bunting
I think a whole family of gnomes were living under it....
We saw a lot of birds today (not a lot of photos) but sightings and only 1 was new; The Common Yellow-throat. It was a very nice day out and we enjoyed the trails. We also did the High Ridge Trail which is where we saw so many mushrooms. I was hoping to see Beavers, but none were out and about. It was a surprisingly nice park with interesting trails.
On the way home we stopped for Frozen Custard.
Carolina Concrete is what their concoctions are called. I had the chocolate with raspberries and hot fudge mixed in. Greg had chocolate with cookie dough and hot fudge mixed in. YUM!
Tomorrow, we are off to bird at Howell Woods and visit Bentonville Battlefield State
Historic Site.
Goodberries Frozen Custard
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