April 6, 2019...A Walk at Brukner Nature Center

I came to Brukner Nature Center to see the Snow Trillium.  They were scattered about at the foot of Short Step Hill.  They were growing among clumps of Hepatica.  It was a beautiful hillside.

Here and there, single Spring Beauty flowers bloomed.  There will be clusters of them, soon.

With my walking stick in my left hand, my binoculars strap around my neck and my Olympus Tough camera in my right hand, I headed to the swamp to see if the Marsh Marigolds were blooming.

On the way I made more discoveries.

The first completely open sprays of Dutchmen's Breeches that I have see this spring...

Purple Cress in bud....

Another photographer was focusing on a tree trunk as I headed up Wren Run.  I didn't get a picture but we saw a Red Admiral, a Mourning Cloak, and an Eastern Comma sucking the sap running down the bark.  All three stayed on the trunk the entire time we admired them.  So nice to see three different colorful butterflies at the same time.

And onward toward the swamp...

The boardwalk on the floodplain was still mostly covered by water.

But as I looked down on the steps to the swamp section of the boardwalk I saw the Marsh Marigolds...

and Skunk Cabbage leaves unfurling its leaves throughout the swamp.  In a few weeks the leaves will cover the entire surface.

The boardwalk in the swamp was not flooded.  It rarely floods.  I followed it out to a little rise where the Harbinger of Spring and the Squirrel Corn grows.  I found the Harbinger of Spring but not the Squirrel Corn.  Maybe next week...

But I found one blooming False Rue Anemone (Isopyrum)...

and this pretty Waterleaf leaf.

I was pleased to get a good photo of a Crayfish Chimney.  I find them hard to photograph.

As I was climbing the hill out of the swamp,  I spotted a Bloodroot fully open.

And I was surprised to see the leaf of a Mayapple that had just broken through the ground.

As I hiked up Hickory Ridge, I found a few more signs of spring.

The Buckeye buds were opening, showing their clusters of  leaves.

There were many more Snow Trilliums and Hepatica in white, lavender and pink.  There were Purple Cresses in bud...

And after much searching I found a Purple Cress blooming.  A pollinator had found it, too.

April 3, 2019...A Perfect Spring Day in the Woods

Frogs singing for their mates provided music for our ears and flowers provided beauty for our eyes.   This was the first day of Spring in Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary.  The calendar Spring is only a date.  This was an event.

Harbinger of Spring clusters were sprinkled throughout the woodland, little tufts on the blanket of last year's leaves.

Here and there other flowers joined in the celebration.

Spring Beauties...

Hepatica...

Bloodroot...

And a little further down the boardwalk, Dutchmen's Breeches buds were swelling.

A few Sessile Trillium were opening their leaves.

Waterleaf was just beginning to show itself all through the woods.

And the pollinators were busy gathering food for themselves and spreading pollen.

A bee or a wasp or a fly?  The flower is Purple Cress.

Eastern Comma Butterfly

A couple Eastern Garter Snakes  awakened to check out the territory.  

One decided to explore further.

Happy Spring, everyone.

Steve's Visit...March 1, 2 and 3, 2019

I found it hard to believe that I didn't take one photo of Steve the entire weekend.  This is one I took at Christmas.

Our entire weekend was centered around Steve...except for the time when our new mattress arrived and was set up by the delivery men.

Before Steve arrived, Tom made a strawberry pie for the three of us for supper.  The strawberries were brought up from Florida by the Newton FFA students as a money making project.  They brought back memories of the years Tom and I had gone to Florida and watched the Strawberry Festival parade with my sister.

The next morning, Steve and I walked at Charleston Falls.  Instead to walking to the falls, we walked to Cedar Pond.  Steve told me he hadn't seen any Red-winged blackbirds yet this year and I knew we would see some at the the pond.  We heard them singing before the pond was in sight.

Back home again, I made oven beef stew while we waited for the new mattress to arrive.  It arrived about 11:30, exactly when we were told to expect it.  Because the delivery team was so prompt we were able to leave right after lunch for the expedition Tom had planned.

As you might guess, it involved Steve's favorite subject...trains.

We didn't have much luck seeing trains but we did find a diamond, an intersection of two railroad lines in a tiny town, Quincy, Ohio.  Tom drove us around in the area and he showed us an old railroad trestle which we think is still in use.

 The trestle over the road and the flood plain of the Great Miami River.

A view of the trestle crossing the Great Miami River

The supports of the bridge which raise the trestle above the floodplain.

As we headed back toward home, Tom stopped in Sidney so Steve could see the railroad viaduct.  Steve said  his dad had taken him to see it one time.

We were close to the viaduct in time to see the rear end of a train.  Steve was disappointed that he didn't see the engine.

The next morning I fried French Toast and for dessert! we had strawberry shortcake.  Tom made the shortcake biscuit from his mother's recipe.

Then our friend, Pat, Steve, Tom and I drove down to Cheviot to see The Drama Workshop's production of  Love, Loss and What I Wore.

It was different from most plays.  Five actresses presented 28 brief sketches centered around the title's theme.  Each scene required the actresses to transform to different characters so they had a continuing challenge.  Among the scenes were those centering on prom gowns, the little black dress, shoes, nothing to wear.  It wasn't a play especially interesting to Steve but he got to see his theater friends.

The weather on the trip down was windy and snowy.  When we left the theater there was snow cover and snow continuing to fall.  Because we had an hour and a half drive north, we didn't take Steve to supper as we usually do.  We dropped him off at his apartment, stopped at the McDonald's Drive Through for sandwiches and headed toward home.  Snow and poor visibility plagued us but we made it safely back.

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.

The Trip to the Swamp to Find Spring...February 4, 2019

The fox, one of Brukner Nature Center's Wildlife Ambassadors, has become accustomed to  people passing by and no longer dashes into its shelter.  Trail Guides talk about the habits of the various wild animals as part of their nature walks.  The animals are caged here because they can not be returned to the wild for one or several reasons.

Portions of the path down Shortstep Hill were icy.  The hill is called Shortstep because it is rather steep.  I was glad I was using a walking stick.

This sycamore log was even greener than it appears in the photo.

I looked down on the Stillwater River floodplain.  It was easy to see that it was a floodplain.  The snow and ice on it were covered by a shiny layer of water.

I hurried along as fast as I could using my walking stick to help me keep my footing.  Spats of rain pattered on my raincoat, then stopped for a few minutes, then pattered down again.  I knew a storm was coming and resolutely said to myself, "I can get to the swamp, see the Skunk Cabbage and get back before the storm hits."

I made it down the bank to the swamp and there at the foot of the three steps built into the bank, I found it.

Once I was down in the swamp , I had to go a little farther, see if there were more clusters of Skunk Cabbage.

The boardwalk was iffy.  I was glad I had my walking stick.

I found a few crawdad chimneys.

I followed the snowy boardwalk until I came to a large tree lying across the walk. 

I considered crawling across the log but decided I had already tempted fate enough times for the day.  I turned back.

I had found a few more skunk cabbage in bud but most were barely showing the points of their Spathes, the leaf like enclosure protecting the buds on the Spadix.

At the foot of the three steps, I found the lone plant in a perfect position for a close up photo.

Another short sprinkle of rain reminded me I should start back now.

If you click and enlarge this photo, you can see the boardwalk through the floodplain.  Closer to the swamp it is covered with several inches of snow, ice and water.

I was pleased to find a few other plants emerging.

Here and there I found a leaf of two of  Hepatica.  Its leaves are green during the winter and turn reddish when the flowers bloom in spring.

These fungi were as bright as flowers.

Near the top of Hickory Ridge trail I found the young beech that reminded me spring is still a few weeks away.

Spring Has Arrived in My Heart, 41 Days Before the Official Calendar Spring...February 4, 2019

The Skunk Cabbage is blooming.

For me, the first day of spring is the day I see the buds on the Spadix inside the Spathe.

And every year I check inside the front cover of  Newcomb's Wildflower Guide to be sure I know a spadix from a Spathe.

Got it.

Next post...more about my walk to the swamp at Brukner Nature Center.