An Afternoon Picnic at Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama

An Afternoon Picnic at Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama, US

Now that the searing heat seems to have left Alabama and we can break out of our air conditioning and go and breath and enjoy the weather that we have been given from now on till the cold comes.
Danny and I have enjoyed the weekend and on Saturday took a picnic out to beautiful Oak Mountain State Park. Pelham, Alabama.
Welcome to some of the photo's we took on this beautiful day.
Here are just some of the things you can do; 
Cabins
Camping
Equestrian Camping
Backcountry Camping
Demonstration Farm
"The Oaks" Golf Course
Fishing
FlipSide Watersports
Boat Rentals
Horseback Riding & Trails
Oak Mountain BMX
Beaches
Mountain Bike Trails
Hiking Trails
Peavine Falls
Oak Mountain Playgrounds
Oak Mountain Boarding Stables
Oak Mountain Community Archery Park

One of my favorite things to do is to go on the board walk in the woods, it meanders around and takes you to cages that house rescued birds that were injured and although totally recovered will never be able to be released in to the wild again ...
I think this is the next best thing for them as their cages are built within the forest ..so they are out in the wild but are kept safe within the cages ...this photo Danny took shows a baby Barn Owl sleeping whilst holding tight on to it's dinner, a white rat.
There are two birds in each cage ...an adult Barn Owl was with this baby one.  

The view from the top of Oak Mountain showing how the leaves are just on the turn for Autumn/Fall.

The winding boardwalk has about 10 cages in it each one housing two birds of the same species.

Two gorgeous Tawny Owls in this cage ...very curious, turning their heads around and around.

A pair of Black Vulture's ripping their carrion apart.

As you can see the cages are deep in to the woods.

In the Turkey Vulture cage there was a wonderful surprise ..an Albino one and a typical dark brown one.
I often see Turkey Vultures in the road that we live on but I have never seen an Albino one.
I guess that is why this one is in captivity as it would not survive in the wild because of it's color.

An incredible pair of regal Red Tailed Hawks ...we see these soaring over our home all the time.

We decided to have our little picnic by one of the lakes.
We didn't have a fancy picnic.
Just a ham on the bone sandwich with cheese and spinach.
And some lovely Cantaloupe Melon.
All washed down with chilled homemade iced tea.
Whilst we sat there at the picnic table we watched this lovely Western Kingbird catching bugs.
A few canoeists came along in the very shallow water of the lake.

In Alabama we are in a drought and haven't had any reasonable rain for a long while ..this is showing on the banks of this manmade lake at the park. 
The mud in the foreground was hard and bone dry.

After our late lunch we travelled up the Mountain and we were greeted with great views ..you can just about see the city of Birmingham in the far distance.

This poor long suffering tree has fought against horrendous winds, searing heat and below freezing cold temperatures ..but it still clings on to life ...just about ...I think the weather is winning this war don't you ??

In a few weeks the road up to the mountain should look like this as it has on previous years when we have gone there ...but with the drought I am wondering if it will actually get to be this beautiful and the dead leaves seem to just be dropping in brown colors only.

Dry, sunburned soil, groans with dying heaps of parched leaves;
Discarded like weary dusty garments. 
Dreaming of better days;
Daring to hope for rain.

At the top of the mountain you will find the trail to Peavine Falls ....there was no point going this year as with the drought there would be no falls.

On previous years when rain has been plenty,
We have found THIS in all of it's beauty. 

Thanks so much for joining us on our lovely afternoon out. 
I hope that you are managing to enjoy the beauty of the cooler days. 
Where ever you are. 
Happy Autumn/Fall time everyone.
Happy Days. 
Janet