Hobart Urban Nature Preserve, March 21

Hobart Urban Nature Preserve was once an eighty acre farm.  It is in Troy, Ohio, surrounded on all sides by the city.  The barn in this photo is the original barn, now refurbished and being used by the park district.  The barn is off-limits to the public.  The rest of the eighty acres are accessible by trails.

The prairie grasses are shades of tan, rust, and other browns.  Here and there I found Milkweed pods.  The yellow-orange interiors were bright compared to the surrounding foliage.

The park maintenance staff has planted many trees of various sorts.  They are growing but it will still be years before they are mature.  Many birds are building nests in them already.

The main trail is a circle around this pond.  Originally, it was just a low spot on the acreage but it has been deepened and extended.  It is big enough that migrating ducks stop in.  Tom took the following pictures.

(Aythya collaris) Ring-Necked Duck, male on the left, (Aythya affinis) Lesser Scaup, male, on the right

Ring-Necked Duck, male, on the left, Ring-Necked Duck, female, on the right

Here are our old friends, a pair of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos).  Mallards are here all year around if they can find a bit of open water.  We see them every time we look for ducks.  The males are so brightly colored, I never get tired of looking at them.