Our East Tennessee summertime was cool and wet, so we had hoped for a very bright autumn season. However, September was hot and dry, and many deciduous leaves are just turning brown and dropping.

So it won't be a very bright foliage display, but East Tennessee autumn is still rich in discovery. For example, autumn is the best season for orb-web spiders. This late in the year, both the spiders and their webs are large and abundant, and great at trapping the early morning fog-drops...






We see plenty of good-sized Black Rat Snakes in the autumn - out enjoying some welcome sunshine. Cooler days make them slower and easier to catch. This one was nice enough to let me crawl in "up close and personal," and then catch him to show to some excited school children.




Our local Cormorant population is doing quite well this fall. One of their favorite roosts is a large dead oak along a popular walking trail in the home park's campground. It's a short, easy trail, and so a great place to bring park visitors to observe these and other wild creatures.

Here are a few of the "cuter" cormorant poses from recent days...










Here's a sad but common sight this time of year. Not sure which predator it is, but we often find dead Moles along the trails in early autumn. Apparently the moles don't taste very good, but some predator kills first, and then realizes he's gotten a bad-tasting meal...




Let's move from death to new life. One of our smallest native odonates - the Fragile Forktail damselfly - is busy with the business of egg laying these cool autumn days. Here are several views of some busy momma forktails.







To give you an idea of the size of these little "bugs," here's a quick shot of one with a common housefly perched nearby.




Will be "out on the trail" a lot the next few weeks, and hope to be able to bring back a few more autumnal images.






Hope you enjoyed this little stroll, and thanks in advance for any comments & critique!

[Bob Harris]

another wonderful series Ranger, I bet those school children really appreciate it when they come to the park for their daytrip. What is the name of the campground at the park? Thanks for all the enjoyable images, always a pleasure to view and read.

[CreationBear]

Great herp shots on this and the other thread, though I'm waiting for a big Crotalus, provided you have a long enough lens.

[Pentigor]

Beautiful series.

[Bruce Clark]

Chock full of surprises., a very good series.

[mole]

Bob - Thanks! Yes, the children (and teachers) and I always enjoy our park "expeditions." Had a group out this morning for a rather chilly stream ecology walk. Children really "soaking up" the learning! To answer your question - here's the park's official website:
TN State Parks: Warriors' Path State Park
and here's our facebook page (I don't do facebook, but do provide most of the photos):
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Warriors-Path-State-Park/168588166115

CreationBear - Glad you liked the herps. Here's a link to a nice little Timber Rattlesnake photo (and some other herptiles) that I took back in August:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/234328-nature-just-few-snakes-friends.html
PS - With the Smokies still closed, when are you going to come up here to NE Tennessee for some good hiking in the really wild places?

Pentigor - Thanks so much!

Bruce - So glad you enjoyed these!

[Colbyt]

Very good series though I don't care for snakes.

[jac]

Beautiful series with great commentary.

[CreationBear]

PS - With the Smokies still closed, when are you going to come up here to NE Tennessee for some good hiking in the really wild places?

Mole-- That's pretty cold, Ranger... At any rate, thanks for the link to your previous thread--I'd missed it somehow in earlier searches. BTW, this isn't a great capture, but I used to see this black-phase rattler on a regular basis way up on one of the Little River tribs:



It was much darker to the naked eye, and I'm curious whether you think it was a male...the tail seems a little longer/thicker.

[Dice]

Very nice web images. And the snake image is perfect. Very well done.

[old4570]

Thank you , some wonderful photo's

[charliezap]

Very nice shots there especially the spider webs.---charliezap

[tessfully]

I enjoyed your series immensely. Great perspectives and beautiful shots. Those are the best Cormorant images I have ever seen. They look like beautifully carved statues. The spider webs are always a favourite too. I have spent hours trying to nail shots like these. Wonderfully artistic and so well done. I also recently spent time trying to photograph a damsel fly with mixed results. Love your renditions. Thank you for sharing