Roses, Lunch and Ducks...February 22

It's been fifty-eight years that a dozen red roses have arrived for me on April 22.  This November, Tom and I will have been married fifty-eight years.  Tom and I had broken up in 1960 and we hadn't seen each other since that fateful day.  Tom said when he sent the roses he really didn't think I would reply but he wanted me to know that he would always remember me. I had been remembering him, too.

The flowers arrived in late morning.  At noon, we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's.  Our daughter had given Tom a gift card for Christmas which he used.  After choosing salads from the well stocked salad bar, Tom had meaty ribs, so tender and well cooked that the meat fell off the bones.  I had grilled chicken with a honey barbecue sauce.  Dessert was apple cake with ice cream.  We were pleased.

The day was chilly but sunny.  This time of year "sunny" means the day is a good one.  Tom drove us to Englewood dam, one of the five dams built in the Dayton area after the devastating 1913 flood flooded downtown Dayton up to the second floors of many buildings

The ducks were too far off for Tom to get good photos but we got good looks at Canvasbacks, Redheads and Ringbills

The usual Canada Geese and Mallards were there also.

Tom decided to check out Eastwood Lake.  That was where we saw our first Bufflehead of the year.  The next stop was Eastwood Metro Park.  There we spotted two Hooded Merganser males and one female. 

Tom finally found a bird close enough to get a good photo...a Great Blue Heron.  He already had a nice bib of mating feathers.

Seeing the ducks means Spring is on its way and that brings smiles to our faces.

A Great Weekend with Steve, February 4, 5, 2017

When Tom and I were talking about the four American Bald Eagles we saw a few days ago at Eastwood Lake, Steve said, "I've never seen a bald eagle."  He meant out in the wild because he has seen caged eagles at sancturaries and zoos.

Tom decided we would all go to Eastwood Lake and see if we could find an eagle.  We didn't but we did  see a Brown Creeper working its way up the trunk of a tree. The Brown Creeper was a "Life Bird" for Steve, the first one he had ever seen.

Because we didn't find the eagles, Tom decided to drive to the little county park across from the entrance to C. J. Brown Reservoir.  There are always birds there.

Tom took photos of some of them.  So did Steve with his new ipad.

These are Tom's photos.

Mute Swan

Gadwall

Black Vultures

Ring-billed Gulls standing on ice.

We saw other birds as well.  It turned out to be a fine day for us birdwatchers.

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On Sunday morning Steve and I walked down Shortstep Hill and  across the floodplain  to the swamp at Brukner Nature Center.  We wanted to see if the Skunk Cabbage was blooming.

This Red Fox lives at the top of Shortstep Hill.  For some reason that I don't know he would not be able to live on his own in the wild.

Steve found a blooming Skunk Cabbage.

I showed him these Hepatica leaves and he went on a Hepatica leaves hunt.  There were plenty to be found.

"Look," said Steve.  "These leaves look like gold when the sun shines on them."  (American Beech)

These Common Mullein leaves were as soft as a fleece jacket.

First Birding Weekend, March of 2013

It's time for the migrants to head north so we decided to look for ducks.  We kept our eyes open for other visitors and recently arrived summer residents also.  I'm not listing all the birds we found, just the ones we found notable for one reason or another.

At Spring Valley on Friday afternoon we saw swans across the lake among the old cattail stems, probably Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus).  From there we drove to Eastwood Lake where we saw Lesser Scaups (Aythya affinis),  Ringnecked ducks (Aythya collaris), Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), and American Coots (Fulica americana).

On Saturday we drove  through the fish hatchery at St. Mary's, then  around the lake and stopped at Mercer County Wildlife area. On that trip, we added a Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)

Monday was rainy but we drove to Englewood Lake and found two addtional species, Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) and Redheads (Aythya americana).  Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) were swooping above the rafts of scaups.  Must be enough insects have emerged for them to find lunch.

The Worst sighting...evidence of the Emerald Ash Tree Borer which has invaded our area.  Ashes are one of the trees that are prevalent throughout many wooded areas of Southwestern Ohio.  We will miss them.  Scientists are working on ways to save the trees but haven't come up with a surefire way, yet.

And the best sighting on Saturday...a male Lesser Scaup and a Canvasback swimming close enough to get a good size comparison.

We saw this groundhog at Eastwood Lake, one of the Dayton Metro Parks on Friday afternoon.  It is the first one we've seen this spring.