We went hiking yesterday. Its about 4 miles down to the lake. We made it about 1.5, but we did take the board walk which takes you into the woods quite a ways before getting back onto the main path to the lake. So it took us a long time to get to the one mile marker. We did probably about 2 miles out and 1.5 back (because of the board walk) so I think my 5 yr old did pretty good considering.

We saw a lot of critters including deer, turkey, turtles, butterflies, dragonflies, 4 different snakes and I believe we heard a bear. I did not see it, but we heard a huge crashing noise in the woods running away from us. Only something large could have made that noise.

My 5 yr old was so tired on the way back that she kept stumbling, and she fell and skinned her hand at one point (this was when I got bit on my ankle, cause we were stopped.)

Pictures (have done no pp..):
Butterflies.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09310.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09359.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09380.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09402.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09438.jpg

Snakes.. I really only got a picture of one of the four snakes we saw.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09391.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09392.jpg

Dragonflies. These were quite abundant lol. So many different varieties. There is one photo I'm not going to post yet because I'm going to crop and haven't had a chance.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09421.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09400.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09374.jpg

And here a flower, the deer.. which was really far away, the turkey (we believe it was a turkey and she had three babies with her) typical "Virginia" (swamp).

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09428.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09393.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09436.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC09416.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Thanks for sharing your hike with us.That looks like an interesting swamp with quite an abundance of wildlife. However, it looks like you could use about a 2000 mm lens for some of these shots. It's too bad wildlife isn't a little more trusting of people. Of course, I can't say I blame them.

Nice pics, i can't wait to go visit my sister and visit the swamp and first landing again. We have both gotten DSLRs since my last visit :-)

i like the snake head with the foreground blurred

Love the first and last one of your first post, Amber!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us :)

Great series Amber, it's neat to see what wildlife is seen in other areas.

Thanks for the replies you guys :)

I love the first one,. The lighting is cool.

Amber great photos. I am a bit jealous because up here in the prairies of the Great White North we do not have nearly the diversity that you seem to have in the south. Then again, maybe I am not looking in all the right places(?)...

Cheers,

WesternGuy