Lorance Creek

Lorance Creek is a neat little nature area, located a short drive from Little Rock. It's always worth making the short drive out there to take pictures, so I headed out there with the infrared camera.



I wasn't the only one out there, I was joined by a gang of mosquitoes and bugs that tried their best to make me their dinner (and of course I forgot to bring bug spray). I got a few pictures and survived without being turned into a big bug buffet.

Lorance Creek

A few weeks back I made another visit to the Lorance Creek Natural Area with the hopes of catching some good fall color on the cypress and tupelo trees there. But my timing was off, and almost all of the leaves had already fallen off the trees. There were a few good patches of color still clinging on, mostly on some of the oak trees.



The sky provided another nice bit of color, it was close to sunset and the creek was reflecting some colorful clouds floating above.



The fallen leaves ended up in Lorance Creek,  flowing along past the tall trees. At one point, the leaves got caught in the current and swirled around. This was taken when it was nearly dark, with a long exposure capturing the motion of the leaves as they slowly floated around in circles.

Lorance Creek

One great thing about living in Little Rock is that while it is a big city (by Arkansas standards), there are still lots of places that you can easily get to and see nature. One such place is the Lorance Creek Natural Area, which is just a short drive from downtown. 

The Natural Area is jointly owned and managed by the Nature Conservancey and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. The 390 acres of the Natural Area preserve a shallow, groundwater-fed swamp. A short, paved trail (ADA accessible) first cuts through an upland pine-oak forest before a wooden boardwalk stretches out over the swamp. From there you have a great view of a mosaic of cypress and tupelo trees. 

 

In fact, you can find over 600 species of plants here, along with 125 bird species and 25 reptile and amphibian species (along with countless mosquitoes).