Forests, rivers, and wildlife galore!

On Tuesday morning, Aldo (Dr. Aldo Berruti) picked us up at our B&B for a second day’s tour, this time to see both man-made forests and an old growth forest preserve, as well as to a nature preserve in the canyon of the only entirely free-flowing river in the area.

We saw logging going on in the planted forests (mostly pines and eucalyptus) that we drove through en route to the forest preserve.  The preserve was a stark contrast - very diverse plants and trees, and complete silence.  

Except for the birds.

No, Aldo isn’t checking his Facebook feed - he’s selecting a particular bird call on his phone, and that’s an amplifier hanging from his belt.  It worked - he was able to attract a specific bird, and it even displayed its mating plumage for us.  Kind of a dirty trick, really - the poor bird really thought he had a potential girlfriend.

If you look closely, here’s a rather dodgy looking spider descending its web -

We left the forest and headed for the river canyon (can’t remember the name of the place).  

It was a cool day, but as we descended the canyon, the temperature rose significantly.  Aldo explained that the canyon’s warmer, humid climate supports its own unique environment, including many species of butterflies.  We saw more butterflies - and different kinds of them - than either John or I had seen in our entire lives.  It was like being in a butterfly arboretum - or even better.  All different colors flying around us and through the bushes.

We had a picnic lunch at the river.

This time Aldo’s checking off birds he’s seeing (or hearing) in his log.  He says it’s a habit he just can’t break!

After yesterday’s rains, the river was high.

En route back, Aldo pointed out a sign that always makes him chuckle -

No intentional repairs here!  (I thought my fellow English majors would appreciate it, too.)

As we headed back, rain began to fall.  We could see lightning in the distance, but we didn’t experience any storms like yesterday.  However, when we got back to Underburg (the next town to Himeville) we stopped at Aldo’s home, and his wife said that they’d just had another ripping storm.  We were grateful for the good luck and Aldo’s careful planning that we’d been able to enjoy both day’s tours in good weather.

Later Tuesday night we heard more loud thunder and heavy rain, but by then we were safely home for the night.