Looking for Spring on St. Valentine's Day

We've been having a lot of warm days.  On Tuesday afternoon, the temperature reached 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Tom, three friends and I met at Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary.

My main goal was to find Harbinger of Spring in bloom.  We found  leaves from a number of different plants  but despite all our looking none of us could find a flower or even a bud of the Harbinger of Spring.

We are fairly sure that the leaves below are Harbinger of Spring leaves.  It often grows close to the boardwalk.

We did find the leaves of Puttyroot, an Ohio Orchid.  The leaves are much easier to find than the blooming plants.  By late April when the flowers are blooming the leaves are gone.  The ten inch tall plants are hard to find among the other undergrowth.  We noted landmarks where there were a lot of leaves so we would know where to look later in the spring.

Before we left the parking lot, we discussed other special flowers that a person has to search to find.  Then the topic switched to birds, again, the special ones that a person has to search for.  

Suddenly, Tom pointed,  "Look!".  A magnificant mature American Bald Eagle soared overhead.

We didn't find Spring but we did see a beautiful sight.

Friday Afternoon, Saturday Morning...Changes Overnight at the Falls

 It was about 35 degrees F (1.66 C) late on Friday afternoon when I walked at Charleston Falls.  I was surprised to see long icicles at the falls.  The icicles had to be the results of the last two  nights in the 20s. (6.66 C)  Before that, we had had a string of warm days...forties(4.44 C), fifties (10 C), even a sixty degree day (15.55 C).  I thought it would take more than two cold nights to produce such a sight.

I was in for an even bigger surprise on Saturday morning.  It was 46 degrees (7.77 C) when Jeanne and I walked and when we arrived at the falls this is what we saw.

Obviously, we had not had cold temperatures overnight.

The falls have been interesting to watch this winter.  There has been a lot of change from day to day because our weather has been yoyoing up and down.  We rarely have as many warm days as we have had this year.

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.

January 25, 2017...A Walk Down to the Brukner Nature Center Swamp

Since we have had a warm January, I have been wanting to make a trip to the Brukner swamp to see if the skunk cabbage was poking its way up out of the muck.

Wednesday was drizzly in the morning but cleared off after lunch.  The temperature was in the low fifties Fahrenheit, a very pleasant temperature for a January walk.  

I started my walk at the top of Shortstep Hill where a number of native animals live because, for a variety of reasons, they cannot be released into the wild.  This is the American Eagle.

There are a pair of crows, one which, if it is in the mood, will say, "American Crow."  The other crow replies..."Aaaww."  Great mimics of the visitors they see.

I was surprised the Red Fox stayed outside and watched me instead of disappearing into his home.

Onward down the hill I walked, carefully.  It is a bit steep.

I saw green leaves here and there.  Just after I turned off toward the swamp I came across these glistening Hepatica leaves.  The flowers won't bloom until the leaves are fading to reds and browns.

A bit further along, I saw this attractive fungi.  Learning more about fungi is on my list of things to do this year.

Off I walked across the floodplain on the boardwalk.  I was pleased to find that it was all in place.  When the floodplain floods in the spring, sometimes sections of the boardwalk float out of place.

It has been quite a few years since an ice storm in late October brought down this Cottonwood.  The trees still had leaves which made the ice a heavy load to bear, too heavy.

Onward and I was rewarded.  Lots of skunk cabbage are breaking through the wet ground.

I continued on beyond the swamp to the platform where trail guides teach school children about plants and animals and the natural environment.

I found a few waterleaf leaves.

And these little pretty leaves...I'll return when the flowers bloom.  I'm not sure what the plants are.  People have suggested false rue anemone, rue anemone, columbine, or tall meadow rue.

Along the walk, many rotting logs and twigs had beautiful fungi attached to them.

This is the fallen cottonwood again, seen from the other side as I began my return trip.

From this point on, more than anything else, I noticed the wide variety of fungi.

I did see one surprise, a puttyroot leaf.  The puttyroot is one of Ohio's orchids.  The leaves are noticeable this time of year.  They look very different from any other leaf.  I didn't know that this plant was in the Brukner woods.

First Great Bird Sighting of 2017

Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens)...we checked in Tom's Birding Field Guide and later, in The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition.

There was a second Snow Goose with another flock of Canada Geese in another pond.

We have seen huge flocks of Snow Geese in October at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware but these were the first two we have seen at the fish hatchery at St. Mary's.  The geese only pass through Ohio during migration.

We also saw one American Coot (Gallinula galeata).  In a few weeks, we will be seeing big flocks of them.

Changes Around the House

I decided this was the morning to begin rehanging the family photos in the hall.  In late summer, I took down all the photos and spackled the holes in the walls.  However, when I brushed on the primer and paint, all the repaired spots showed.  Tom decided the paint I used had been damaged since we had done the original painting a few years ago.

Eventually, we bought new paint, same color, same brand.  However, we had a problem.  One of the walls extended beyond the hall, and became the living room wall.  Our piano sits in front of that wall and Tom and I don't  have the strength any more to move it.

Eric stepped up and said he'd help us.  Bless his heart.  Not only did he move the piano...he painted the walls a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

 But I still couldn't replace the photos because...I didn't have the new style damage-free hanging strips I wanted to use to rehang the photos.

I got around to buying the hangers shortly before Christmas.  They have been sitting in a bag until this morning.

I still don't have all the photos up but I expect to have them up before spring.

It's a good thing we are retired.

Charleston Falls, January 13, 2017

I was surprised when I arrived at the falls yesterday.  I thought there would be more ice left even though we have had temperatures in the fifties and sixties for two days.  Today we won't see anything above the mid thirties.  Many activities have been cancelled because of the danger of black ice.

As I walked through Octagon Prairie, I noticed the park staff has planted Red Cedars on a path circling the prairie between the Octagon and the woods.  I wonder why.

Red cedars are the only native evergreen in southwestern Ohio .  The staff could have dug them up from elsewhere on the prairie.  However I still have the question...Why?