The Call Of Freedom ...

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

  

 Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

        ~ from the inspiring Inaugural Address of

           President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

                    ~ 1917-1963

               35^th President of the

             United States of America

                      ~ 1960-1963

                & U.S. Navy veteran

  

It was wonderful to photographic a majestic American Bald Eagle for the first time as it’s perched in the late day sunlight along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap, Slatington, Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend 2017 – and a few days before the centennial of the birthday of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Perched in the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the eagle was apparently disturbed by a very loud crow nearby – and emitted a call to let the crow know! I was blessed to spend 15 minutes photographing the eagle, during which time the crow flew away.

The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States. The bald eagle appears on our nation’s seal. In the late 20^th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States. Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. government’s list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the lower 48 states on June 28, 2007.

The Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Background texture by Jai Johnson added for artistic effect.

Savoring In Springtime ...

              “Carpe Diem !”

                  ~ Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually translated “seize the day,” taken from book one of the Roman poet Horace’s work “Odes” (23 BC)

It’s carpe diem for this squirrel as it seizes the day and savors a springtime evening in early June at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Elk On The Spring Range ...

“The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will.”

                   ~ Theodore Roosevelt

                              ~ 1858-1919
         ~Naturalist & Conservationist

                 ~26^th President of 

                  The United States of America

                                  ~ 1901-1909

A herd of elk soak in the beauty of a warm May afternoon on a hillside dotted with wild yellow mustard at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, where elk live as a herd on the hillsides of the 1,100-acre preserve’s Central Range.

When the late General Harry C. Trexler established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival.

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.