• Tagged animals, birds, Common Starlings, enivronment, Europe, European Starlings, flocking, flocking behavior, marsh, murmuration, nature, Otmoor, phenomena, phenomenon, science, starling murmuration, starlings, swarming, swarming behavior, swarms, wetlands

In the winter, over Europe, massive starling flocks, from thousands to millions of birds, swarm, swoop, shift, swirl and twirl, moving as one while performing amazing aerial acrobatics. Although a previous Love These Pics post was full of bird flocks and flying swarms that seemed to be attacking like Hitchcock’s The Birds, some were, in reality, a starling murmuration. This extraordinarily beautiful ballet at dusk is a pre-roosting phenomenon known as starling murmuration. Although this is science, the phenomenon is more math and physics than biology. The ‘Black Sun’ is hypnotic to watch as the starlings fill the evening sky, twisting and turning in a incredible and unpredictable waltz. [37 Photos, 13 Videos]

• Tagged autumn, climbing, fall foliage, forests, Garden of the Gods, Garden of the Gods Wilderness, nature, Pounds Hollow, Rim Rock, rock climbing, Shawnee National Forest, Southern Illinois

Most folks have heard of the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, but did you know that there is also a Garden of the Gods in Illinois? Nestled within the Shawnee National Forest, this spectacular wilderness area is over 320 million years old and covers over 3,300 acres of amazing old growth forest and humongous rocks that call out to scramble over and climb here. The landscape is drastically different than most of southern Illinois because it is unglaciated. The fractured bedrock at Garden of the Gods, along with erosive forces like windblown sand, rain, freezing and thawing actions, have created beautiful hoodoos and fascinating rock formations. Cave In Rock is not too far away, so you can both climb and cave if you are so inclined, but today we’re exploring three “must see” areas with hills and hollows, magnificent bluffs and massive mossy boulders: Garden of the Gods, Rim Rock, Pounds Hollow. Other areas near Garden of the Gods and Pounds Hollow Recreation Area, include Rim Rock National Recreation Trail, River, River Trail, High Knob Picnic Area and the Illinois Iron Furnace, But all of Shawnee, the only National Forest in southern Illinois, is gorgeous. Take a backpack, wear shoes you can climb in that are comfortable, some water, your thirst for adventure, maybe a picnic, and, oh yes, your camera. [58 Photos]

• Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, animals, Edgar Allen Poe, environment, Halloween, holiday, nature, people, The Birds, The Raven

When the woods is Brothers Grimm scary was sort of far out, fun and freaky, so here’s another peculiar collection where spectacular flocks inspired some photographers to think of Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Birds or Edgar Allen Poe‘s The Raven. Flocks can be beautiful, peaceful but then . . . when the birds are scary? [60 Photos, 2 Videos]

• Tagged art, bizarre, Brothers Grimm, creepy, enchanted, environment, forest, forests, Halloween, haunted, haunted house, holiday, nature, nature horror settings, scary woods, spooky, woods

Ah, the approach of Halloween seems to call upon a special spooky theme, but we’ve covered tombs for Tales from the Crypts, fields of Halloween horror via the corn maze craze, even a Lego Monster Mash before. So then we considered man-made haunted trails that people purposefully visit to be spooked for Halloween . . . but there are other times when a person is totally alone in some eerie forest that seems a bit enchanted. When the woods seem scary, it could be because you let your imagination run wild. It might be local folklore about a foggy forest, or a moody mist attached to legends and claims that the woods are haunted. How we interpret a setting may be our state of mind at the time, but artists of all kinds have taken to the forest for inspiration. J.R.R. Tolkien used Puzzlewood as his mystical, magical muse that inspired him to create the fabled forests of Middle-earth within The Lord of the Rings. In our Fall Fantasy post, we quoted Vincent Van Gogh as saying, ‘Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.’ Perhaps to truly enjoy these pictures, you may need to think of it like an art game….for each picture, imagine if you were all alone in these woods. We were curious what made the streak of fear strike the hearts of photographers who are out alone in the forest. All of these photos were tagged with words like spooky, dark, scary, foggy, or haunted; on any other day, and different state of mind, these might be interpreted as sweet alone time in nature. But tap into your inner artist and let your imagination run wild to “see” what the photographers saw when these “enchanted” woods seemed “haunted” or “spooky” or just flat-out Brothers Grimm scary. [66 'Scary' Pics] {At least it’s not 666?}

• Tagged adventure, arched bridge, Ash Cave, bridge, bridges, Broken Rock Falls, cave, caves, Cedar Falls, Conkle's Hollow, Devil's Bathtub, forest, gorge, hiking, Hocking Hills, Hocking Hills State Park, nature, Ohio, Old Man's Cave, rock climbing, rocking climbing, rocks, State Park, trails, waterfalls, woods

In Ohio, there is a gorgeous State Park that has undisturbed forests, cascading waterfalls, rugged cliffs, deep recess caves and mysterious gorges. The 2,356-acre Hocking Hills State Park is a place of adventure for nature lovers. It is embedded in Hocking State Forest and its three nature preserves includes Conkle’s Hollow. The park is divided into these five separate sections: Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls, Ash Cave, Cantwell Cliffs and Rock House. Hocking Hills State Park is about 3 hours away from Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the 10th most visited U.S. National Park in 2011. Both must be gorgeous in the fall season with the changing colors of autumn foliage, but we were struck by the beauty of the “greeness” at Hocking Hills. [47 Photos]

• Tagged animals, autumn, autumn squirrel, cute squirrels, fall season, funny squirrels, hungry squirrels, nature, photography, seasons, squirrel, squirrels, squirrels gathering nuts, squirrels in fall, squirrels preparing for winter

Fall seems to officially be here, based the feverish pace of squirrels preparing for winter. When we went out and about to enjoy autumn, there was one constant other than the beautiful foliage changing colors, and that was the squirrels gathering acorns and other nuts. Everywhere we went, the squirrels were acting squirrelly, running around with nuts in their mouths, performing ninja-like gymnastics in tree branches, or digging to hide their winter stash. There are about 285 species of squirrels and the antics of these furry cute critters are fun to watch and to photograph. [60 Photos]

• Tagged autumn, environment, fall colors, fall foliage, fall season, nature, quotes, waterfalls

Fall’s season colors the world with every imaginable autumn color from God’s masterstroke of palette and brush. During fall, the beauty of nature is like a dreamworld, a fantasy. We encourage you to get out there and enjoy it while it lasts. You only live once and there is something about being out in nature that can balance a person and put their problems into perspective. We hope you enjoy these fantastic photos of autumn, sprinkled with inspirational quotes and words of wisdom. We love these pics! [40 Photos]

• Tagged ancient trees, bayou, enivronment, Florida, islands, Jekyll Island, Lake Verret, Louisiana, moss, nature, plantations, rivers, Savannah, South Carolina, Spanish moss, swamp, trees

One of the first things to strike you with a sense of wonder when you visit the deep South is the grandeur of beautiful, draping Spanish moss decorating the huge trees. While the hanging moss has a mysterious appeal for people not used to seeing such natural beauty, Spanish moss-draped live oak trees thrive in the southeastern United States. If you don’t live there, then the charming and somewhat spooky appearance of the silver-gray strands, hanging like natural Halloween decorations, summon images of old plantations, bayous and the swamps like seen in movies. The fall season and bright foliage of northern colder climates steal the show during autumn, but for portions of the south, Spanish moss is a show stopper year-round. When it sways in the wind at night, this tangled ‘tree hair,’ as the Native Americans called it, is both eerie and intriguing. French explorers dubbed it ‘Spanish Beard’ as an insult, so the Spanish then named this moss ‘French Hair.’ It’s been used as bedding, stuffing, upholstery, insulation, mulch, medicine and in arts and crafts; it’s even been used as an ingredient in making voodoo dolls. Yet this flowering plant, is is not even a true moss. It’s a distant member of the pineapple family and grows until it looks like it’s dripping from large trees. It can grow over 25 feet long and does not kill the giant, ancient trees. Here’s a look at some stunning, spooky Spanish Moss. [48 Photos]

• Tagged animals, environment, nature, tribute, wildlife, World Animal Day

Happy World Animal Day! Way back in 1931, a convention of ecologists in Florence, Italy, decided that there should be an annual World Animal Day to pay tribute to all animal life and the people who love them. It is also a way to highlight the precarious situation of endangered species worldwide. It was decided that October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment, should be chosen as World Animal Day. Some churches will bless animals on the Sunday closest to October 4. We love animals and the environment, and decided to salute animals via an ABC’s of wildlife.
[27 Photos]

• Tagged animals, autumn, enivronment, fall colors, fall foliage, forest, forests, nature, quotes, quotes about autumn, season, seasons

Fall and its brightly colored foliage has arrived. So here is a mixture of animals, autumn and quotes about this season.

• Tagged active stratovolcano, Aokigahara, Aokigahara Forest, climbers, climbing, enivronment, erupt, forest, Fuji Five Lakes, haunted, Honshu Island, Japan, Mount Fuji, mountains, Mt. Fuji eruption, nature, nature disaster, Sea of Trees, Shizuoka prefecture, Special Place of Scenic Beauty, Suicide Forest, summit, volcano, volcanoes, World Heritage List, Yamanashi prefecture

We haven’t done much looking around at Japan, other than Nara Dreamland, the abandoned Disney knock-off amusement park, but now the experts are red-alert claiming that Mount Fuji volcano is about to erupt. Mathematical models created in September 2012 by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention suggested that the pressure in Mount Fuji’s magma chamber could be at 1.6 megapascals higher than it was in 1707. The media jumped on this to claim as meaning an eruption of Mt. Fuji was imminent. We’ll leave that for the scientists to decide because nothing can be done to stop a natural disaster. Meanwhile, Mount Fuji has applied to be a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. It’s been around in Japanese art since ancient times when samurai warriors trained at the base and women were forbidden from climbing to the sacred summit. Nowadays people travel from all over the world specifically to see this view; about 300,000 adventuresome souls climb to the summit annually. It’s thought Mount Fuji means “everlasting life.” Ironically at the northwest base of Fuji there are 14 sq miles (35-sq-km) that represent the opposite of life — the taking of life. Aokigahara Forest, also called the Sea of Trees, is infamous as a dense forest where troubled souls go to commit suicide. So we interrupt the scheduled panic and doomsday disaster news, to take in the beauty before it is allegedly destroyed in an eruption. Here’s the magnificent 12,389 ft (3,776.24 m ) Mount Fuji, one of Japan’s ‘Three Holy Mountains’ and the Suicide Forest. [46 Photos, 1 Video]

• Tagged animals, environment, National Geographic Travel Photo Contest, nature, outdoor scenes, people, photographers, photography, places, sense of place, spontaneous moments, travel, travel portrait, travelers

National Geographic Traveler magazine reported receiving more than 12,000 entries from 6,615 talented photographers in 152 countries around the globe for its 24th annual traveler photo contest. Photos, like music, are subjective and stir up different emotions for different people. What makes each of us unique also guides us to individually interpret art as it influences us. The winners have been chosen, but it must have been extremely difficult to select the best from four travel photography categories: Sense of Place, Outdoor Scenes, Travel Portraits, and Spontaneous Moments. Over the 14 weeks of the contest, the editors picked their favorites among the many awesome shots and turned them into wallpaper. Here’s a look at few of those winning photos and many more that seemed like winners to us. While National Geographic often runs various photo contests in different categories, did you know that it also has photography guides and free tips like the “Ultimate Field Guide to Photography” to help photographers take better photos? Even if you don’t travel, if you keep your camera handy then you might be ready to snap a spontaneous moment that happens around you. Maybe next year you can enter the traveler’s photo contest? We can’t encourage you strongly enough to browse through the 12,000 traveler photo entries. You can be awed while virtual globe hopping and have a ‘staycation’ if you can’t afford a vacation to travel right now . . . all thanks to National Geographic which is kind enough to share these images with all of us. Congratulations and thank you to all the talented photographers! Keep up the great work and fantastic captures! [49 Phenomenal Photos]