Fish nesting sites

At Bass Pond recently, at Biltmore Estate, we saw these distinctive fish nests, complete with presumably females swishing around each circle. Remarkable.

I'd seen these sort of nests in the Hosta Garden pond years ago, at the South Carolina Botanical Garden (where I taught and worked for many years).  They were brim, there.

What sort of fish do colonial nests, and seemingly reuse them, I've not much clue.

I guess I need to consult my friend Google!  (See update below)

Fish "nesting" sites (Bass Pond, Biltmore Estate)

An follow-up note:  this post from the Lincoln Park Zoo describes the interesting nest-making and territorial behavior of male pumpkinseed, bass, and bluegills there (not to mention their parental role!)

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A wonderful morning walk

I've been trying to be more mindful and observant on my walks in the morning.  Not that I'm not inclined already to notice bird calls, plants in flower, neighborhood gardens, or whatever.

But it's nice to turn off the podcasts that I like to listen to, as well, and simply be present.

Sunflowers at Biltmore Estate

Meadow and clouds

Evergreens and clouds

This morning's walk, along the French Broad River, in the Biltmore Estate brought many moments of observation, from the clouds to the sunflowers and meadows.  It's an excellent out and back from Antler Hill Village around the lagoon to return ~ about an hour plus 10 minutes.

Thanks to the wealth of George Vanderbilt, and the stewardship (and business acumen) of his descendents, these viewsheds and riverfront access has been preserved and made accessible via trails for those of us who are passholders, a privileged group, too, to be sure, as well as the daily visitors.

It was a joy, under whatever circumstances, to walk in this wonderful landscape this morning.

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French Broad views

There's a lovely trail up along the Deer Park Trail at the Biltmore Estate.  It starts at the lagoon and goes up to the Walled Garden and the "house."

We had a lovely hike there this morning, so I remembered these views from earlier in fall, on a similar hike.

There were a couple of red-headed woodpeckers working snags nearby.  Their solid red heads and white patches clearly distinguished them; they're not birds that I've seen recently, although distinctive; red-bellied woodpeckers are much more common.

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Nettles

I've been following a group that's interested in Celtic traditions and stories, and was surprised to see nettles pop up, as a touchstone plant in the first story.

It's nutritious as a pot-herb, but also valuable (historically) as a fiber plant, and as a plant with story-meaning, too.
Nettles are interesting and widespread. They're native to a good chunk of the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica) in North America and Europe, but they're certainly prolific in other places, too (in overgrazed areas around Masai dwellings in Tanzania, for example).

I saw a patch recently in a pasture (at Biltmore Estate). It was prolific and spreading.  It echoed an overgrazed spot, I'm thinking.

nettle patch

fall view at Biltmore

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More fall views

A morning hike in the mountains of Western North Carolina:

view beyond the field

distant view

reflections on Bass Pond

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Biltmore walled garden

view from terrace

Last Sunday's visit to Biltmore included a visit to the walled garden, as well as a walk up to see the far vista from the terrace.

the creativity with grasses, mums, and Mexican bush sage were nice, and way beyond the usual

the mums were the stars, but the interesting twists with grasses were clever

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Sunflowers and morning light

I've just started walking along the path near the French Broad River in Biltmore Estate on a regular basis.  It's a magical place, and we've certainly enjoyed visiting the gardens and lagoon paths over the years, with Woody and our previous dogs, too.

But the path that extends from Antler Hill Village to the lagoons is a long, relatively new one, and I'd always thought a bit too far to drive simply for a walk, when there are so many wonderful walkable places nearer to our house.

It's well worth the extra effort.  And I have time now, too. Time to spend on touching base with myself, discovering more fully who I am creatively, and simply being with where I want to go.

This is a perfect walk, too, about an hour, and the historically agricultural fields are ringed by large trees and mountain views, edged by the river.

The current row of sunflowers was perfect in the morning light.

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Biltmore walled garden (2)

I've loved seeing how the Biltmore Estate has expanded and experimented with their horticulture over the last few years.  Hooray!

It's always been a great place to enjoy the expansive grounds, the wonderful landscape, and preserved viewscapes of the surrounding mountains, thanks to the stewardship of George Vanderbilt, and his descendants.

Here were two views of the same interesting border in the Walled Garden, taken on an overcast day  -- lovely!

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Biltmore walled garden

I never would have thought I'd be blown away by mums, but Biltmore's horticultural staff created an over-the-top design for their walled garden fall display.

This photo doesn't really do justice to the extraordinary colors and textures that they've created, and the color patterns, too. (Click to get a larger view).

Close-up, the contrasting combinations of color in the mums were brilliant, in addition to using violas as a low accent.

I'd never visited in the fall before, I guess, but I'm glad we were able to drop by last weekend.

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Trees with shadows

view of trees from Biltmore

Yesterday, the sun's angle in the late afternoon created crisp shadows -- in dark contrast to the green of newly-mown pasture. This view from the terrace at Biltmore is spectacular at any time of year, now with the soft greens of emerging leaves on the Blue Ridge mountains beyond.

We'd gone to the Biltmore gardens to see how the tulips were coming along in the Walled Garden. This week's warmth turned out to have been excellent encouragement!

I always love seeing the tulips, one of my first horticultural loves (even if they don't exactly "work for a living" -- my primary screen for plant selection -- meaning wildlife-supporting or edible, but they certainly have a good story (special dispensation for that!)

These trees and the view were even more spectacular.

 

Posted with Blogsy

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