Chickadee's Winter Reverie ...

“Our love is a dream, but in my reverie

I can see that this love was meant for me …

My dreams are as worthless as tin to me

Without you, life will never begin to be

So love me as I love you in my reverie

Make my dreams a reality, let’s dispense with formality

Come to me in my reverie …”

               ~ “My Reverie”

      ~ 1938 popular song, lyrics by Larry Clinton, melody based on 1890 piano piece “Reverie” by French classical composer Claude Debussy

        ~ recorded by artists including Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Eddie Duchin, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn & Ella Fitzgerald

Sweet Black-capped Chickadee seems to be in its own winter reverie on a rare warm February day at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

This North American songbird is the symbol of Massachusetts, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.

Winter At The Ford ...

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”

                 ~ Jack Kerouac

                       ~ 1922-1969 

Winter’s quiet beauty paints a simple elegance in this high contrast monochrome shot I captured during a January sunset at the Ford of the Jordan Creek, one of my very favorite places to be and to photograph at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

Elk On The Winter Range ...

“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm.”

                ~ Theodore Roosevelt

                      ~ 1858-1919

                    ~ Naturalist & Conservationist

~ 26^th President of The United States of America

                                  ~ 1901-1909

Elk on the winter range enjoy a rare warm February evening 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.