Old Crow

5 Videos of the Waterfall at Raven Run

I recorded these from multiple vantage points on April 10th, 2015.  The water was very high because of all the early April rain.  Two videos were taken with a Nikon D3300 and three with a Nikon P310.   Hope you enjoy them!

Snowbirds of Thor

Thor dropped his hammer and another 15 inches of snow on Lexington last night.  I took some photos along a walking trail this afternoon, including a few bird shots.  These were all taken with a Nikon D3300 and a 55-300mm lens.

Northern Cardinal

Carolina Wren

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal (female)

Blue Jay

Jim Beam Nature Preserve in Jessamine County

On Thursday, February 26th, I decided to hike a new trail within easy driving distance of Lexington.  One of the first options I found on Google Maps was Jim Beam Nature Preserve, in Jessamine County just south of Nicholasville off of US 27.  The preserve was established in 1995 to celebrate Beam's 200th anniversary, and the 115 wooded acres are cared for by the Nature Conservancy.  According to the Conservancy website (nature.org), they own 40 preserves and protect more than 45,000 acres within our commonwealth.  There is only one trail on the property - a 1 mile, fairly easy loop that takes you to some impressive (albeit tree-obscured) views of the Kentucky River's limestone palisades.  I'd highly recommend that you explore this and all the other beautiful nature preserves Kentucky has to offer.  Lastly, I urge you to support vital conservation efforts like this one by making a donation if you have the means.   

Coming south from New Circle Road in Lexington, you'll be on US 27 for approximately 16.5 miles.  When you see the Camp Nelson Heritage Park on your left, you're getting close.  The next thing you'll see will be whiskey aging buildings on top of the hill to your right, and you turn right immediately afterward onto Hall Road.  

Those distillery buildings, though adjacent to the Beam Preserve, are actually owned by Wild Turkey (based in Lawrenceburg, in Anderson County).  Like virtually all barrel aging facilities, they are coated in the black fungus Baudoinia compniacensis.  I snapped a few pictures of them: 

You'll be on Hall Road for approximately 3/4 of a mile and pass two streets (Church and Bowles) on your right.

Your last turn is onto Payne Lane.

As you can see, Payne Lane is very narrow, but you get some spectacular views of the countryside to your left.

After about 300 yards, the road will curve to the right.  Don't follow this curve - you will go straight ahead, between the fences on a gravel drive.  You can see why I missed it the first time - snow was piled up in front of the access road, making it look like anything but a road.  There are no signs at this spot.

There were some tire tracks already, but I did have a little concern about getting stuck in the snow on the way back.

Looking back, after I arrived in the parking area:

Once parked, you'll see that there is a kiosk with a simple map of the preserve, and a sign-in station.  

The beginning of the trail is the same regardless of which direction you choose to take for the loop.  Once you get back in the woods and reach the branching point, the quicker way to the overlook is to your left.  But the entire trail is worth seeing, and sufficiently short, that I can't imagine wanting to take shortcuts.  I started to the right, and tried to get a variety of plant close-ups on my way to and from the cliffs.  The views of the palisades are beautiful, but don't expect to get fantastic landscape photos with all the trees in your way.  Even at the lookout point, you'll run into the same issue.  The whole trail was stunningly beautiful though, even in the dead of winter.  I would love to come back in the spring or summer this year.  Here are my photos from the trail: