I had the good fortune to get invited to the Tennessee Land Celebration hosted by Tennessee Parks and Greenways. Formerly Sunset on the South Harpeth, the day-long event was full of activities and presentations, and I had a great time taking advantage of the perfect day. The open bar and taco bar weren't too shabby, either.
There were plenty of animal presentations throughout the day, beginning with these beautiful snakes.
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| The scarlet king snake is one of the many harmless snakes found in Tennessee and throughout the southeast. |
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| This pretty guy is about fifteen years old. Snakes in captivity can live up to thirty-five years. |
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| The markings on the scarlet king snake are meant to mimic the markings of the coral snake, which is a venomous snake. Coral snakes have yellow stripes where the king snake has white. |
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| This snake was totally chill and had no problem being passed around and handled by different people. |
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| The ball python was a crowd favorite. |
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| A closeup of the ball python. |
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| I'm not into snakeskin, but it's easy to see why these animals are coveted for their skins. This corn snake has stunning markings. |
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| The kids loved the snakes! |
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| This little girl posed patiently with her brother for photos, but she was so ready to hold the snake on her own. |
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Success! She loved holding the king snake.
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I loved the presentation of the birds of prey. The first round featured a baby barn owl, a red-tailed hawk and an American Kestrel.
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| The barn owl was pretty shy. She's only ten weeks old here. |
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| This red-tailed hawk is also young. She's lost most of her fluff, and her tail feathers are in the middle of molting. Her adult tail feathers are just starting to come in. |
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| Ian Turner is a professional falconer, and he'll be releasing this girl into the wild when she's full-grown and ready to hunt on her own. |
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| The American Kestrel is a fierce hunter. |
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| Although she's much smaller than the hawk and her talons aren't as dangerous, her beak is a force to be reckoned with. |
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| She's at the end of her rehabilitation and is ready to GO. |
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| It was awesome to see her in motion. |
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| I was thrilled to get this beautiful fanning of her tail. |
I went on a guided nature walk on a path through a meadow edged in well-kept woods. It was supposed to be a bird walk, but I had more of a butterfly and insect walk. I was with folks who are really knowledgeable about local flora and fauna, and I learned quite a bit.
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| A HUGE praying mantis. |
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| This mantis could easily have taken down a small bird. |
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| A black swallowtail butterfly. |
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| An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly. |
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| I loved the archery! I am definitely not a good shot! |
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| It was so fun to see one of the attendees holding a falcon before the second Birds of Prey presentation. This little girl was in awe. |
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| A wonderful day with so many learning opportunities and activities! |
I also took a guided horseback ride, but it was only my second time ever on a horse, so I figured I'd pay attention to her and what I was doing. She was beautiful, and so big. Tennessee Walking Horses tend to be tall, and she measured 16 1/2 hands, or 5'6" at her shoulder.
While I walked and photographed and ate tacos and hit the bar, there were other presentations and activities going on, including a farm & garden presentation by
Lauren Peterson of Lupine and Poppies, hay rides, a temporary tattoo station, family yoga and several drawings for prizes.
To round out the day,
Catie Offerman and her talented band played their classic country and fun originals. I loved that her original lyrics made you keep up and think as she sang them, and her arrangements were spot-on.
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| It's not a Tennessee event if there isn't some live music! |
We're so lucky to have organizations like the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation protecting our beautiful natural areas. It was really fun to have a casual day of photographing, being outdoors, and meeting proprietors of local businesses. Feel free to follow Tennessee Parks and Greenways on
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