I visited the Roy H. Park Preserve a couple more times in recent weeks in order to explore the northern part of this small, quiet, and absolutely lovely place. The preserve's northern trail winds through meadow and wetland, and along the forest's edge (another trail branches off into those woods, which are part of neighboring Hammond Hill State Forest). I'm thoroughly enjoying this preserve, and I found lots of interesting sights during my recent visits.
When I visited the preserve one morning in the last week of July, a (young?) Green Heron was hunting small fish:
The heron didn't appreciate that the trail brought me so close to its perch, and it soon flew off to find a new hunting spot:
A male Common Yellowthroat foraged next to the water:
An American Robin was chowing down on the berries of what I presume is an invasive bush honeysuckle:
Another robin landed on a perch just above my head, and I took the opportunity to admire this handsome bird up close:
A perfect little butterfly (some sort of crescent) sat on a perfect Queen Anne's Lace cluster:
A Muskrat passed quickly through the water near the boardwalk:
When I came back to this same part of the preserve this past Sunday, the Muskrat appeared again, this time pulling a large flowering Joe-Pye Weed stem through the water after it; the Muskrat dove underwater, and the plant went down as well, presumably into a den to be munched on:
I was very happy to see Red-spotted Newts swimming in the water; I love these little guys!
A juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak made a brief appearance (again, in a honeysuckle), showing off its still rather patchy pink breast and black head:
A set of neat tube-like structures in a dry stream bed posed a bit of a puzzle, although my guess is that these are the work of a wasp or some other insect that's good at building things with mud:
So now I know that the Roy H. Park preserve is wonderful throughout, and the trail into Hammond Hill State Forest's woods was very inviting. I have a feeling I'll be back and exploring more soon!
On Tuesday afternoon, I drove out to Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve to see what this place is like in the very earliest stages of spring. This was only my third time visiting this preserve since moving to Ohio in August, but I feel like I'm getting a pretty good feel for the place across the changing seasons. As with my previous visits (in the fall and winter, respectively), there were lots of things to see!
I'll just dive in with what I consider the most exciting sight of the trip. Turtles! Yes, it really must be spring if there are turtles out and about. And even cooler, these are Blanding's Turtles (I saw two individuals; the second is just outside of the next picture), a species listed as threatened in Ohio and considered endangered by the IUCN because of their declining populations. I've never encountered this creature before, and I love that bright yellow chin:
These turtles were quite large, maybe around a foot long including their heads. Apparently Blanding's Turtles are super long-lived (70 years and up in the wild) and they don't reach maturity until 12-20 years old, which probably isn't helping their population problems. (The much more common Painted Turtles, by contrast, are ready to reproduce after 2-16 years.) I've also read that predation of eggs and hatchlings is a big problem for these guys. Perhaps the two turtles I saw will make some eggs, and maybe those eggs won't get eaten.... I don't want these sun-chinned creatures to go away!
Waterfowl migration is in full swing, and there were plenty of birds swimming around in the ice-free marsh. A variety of ducks were dabbling in the back of the marsh, but I was pretty well entranced by a small group of American Coot -- relatives of rails -- foraging near the path:
Coot! So cute, with that little tail and head:
These birds mainly eat aquatic vegetation, and they must've been finding some good meals in this shallow water. Mmm, greenery:
Coots have so many weird features, like that red knob on the top of their beak that looks so much like a third eye to me in the above picture. And their feet are these big lobed things, all the better for paddling in water and walking on mud:
The lobes fold up (again, weird), but the foot remains large:
These really are quite handsome birds, and I'm glad I got to hang out with them for a bit:
A pair of Wood Ducks foraged close to the path as well, giving me just the briefest of glimpses of their amazing costumes through the reeds. It's kind of interesting to see just parts of these ducks at a time, little details picked out from the whole. Like the male's fantastic green-purple-pink ponytail:
And his fancy painted beak and speckled chestnut breast:
I'm astonished by the colors peeking through on the female's wings:
And an entire pool of the same swirling iridescence -- what incredible color! -- on top of the male:
Yes, these are some pretty amazing birds, in part and in whole!
I was glad to see a pair of Killdeer patrolling the marsh, making me think of the Connecticut shore (where I would be just starting to monitor for Piping Plovers and other shorebirds if I lived there now; sigh):
Several pairs of Canada Geese made a dramatic (and loud) presence. I hope the Muskrats don't mind that one of their many mounds seems to be under consideration as a potential nest site:
The Muskrats seem to be thriving in this marsh. I didn't see any signs of the American Mink I spotted here on my last visit, but there were definitely Muskrats splashing in and out of the water (trailing their weird snake-like tails behind them):
This male Red-winged Blackbird chirped at me from within the reeds next to the path, his shoulder patches demurely covered:
A Red-tailed Hawk landed on a pole and surveyed the marsh, totally confident and comfortable even with people walking by right below:
After a few minutes it took off again:
And headed down the path right toward me (passing over my head close enough that I could hear the small sounds it made with every wingbeat):
Ah, so many cool creatures in this place!
Speaking of close encounters, I'm sure that people hand-feed the squirrels in this preserve (I had a couple more Fox Squirrels walk right up to me) and I suspect that they feed the birds as well. This Black-capped Chickadee flew over and nearly landed on me when I stopped at its patch of the marsh, and then it perched nearby to look me over. Well, if this creature's going to offer me an adorable chickadee photo op, I'm certainly not going to pass it up!
This Eastern Chipmunk also seemed ridiculously confident, peeking out of its hole right on the edge of the path:
Do you have something in your cheek pouches, little chipmunk, or are they always that pudgy?
Another chipmunk across the way must have been working on a nest, with all those leaves in her mouth; she dove into a nearby hole right after I took this picture:
Wow, I really did see a lot of things! And all while getting to be out in the bright sunlight, which did a good deal to make the cold day feel warmer, and made for a lovely misty marsh:
I visited Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve this afternoon to see what kinds of creatures hang out in these marshes and woods next to Lake Erie during the winter. The marshes were all iced over and quiet:
Quiet, that is, except for the loud splashes I kept hearing as I walked by this part of the marsh. I stood around for a while, and it turned out that the creatures who made the mounds in the above picture were popping in and out of holes in the ice. Hello, Muskrat!
These guys came out of the water several times, but they mostly stayed hidden in the cattails, so usually I only knew they were there because of some mysteriously waving reeds and then a splash as they flopped back into the water. I only got brief glimpses of their whole bodies. Look at those weirdo feet:
The Muskrats weren't the only mammals living in the icy marsh, either. At one point, I looked down at the big rocks piled at the edge of the water, and a little American Mink face was staring back at me! I missed that picture because the creature dashed off too quickly (alas), but another mink (or the same one) showed up a little later on the ice:
How can a creature be so cute and so fierce-looking at the same time? Right after I took this picture, the mink dove into the water and emerged a second or so later with a little fish in its mouth. Those are some pretty impressive hunting skills. Apparently mink eat muskrats (even though they're about the same size), so this seems like a pretty risky living situation for the muskrats! It was definitely cool to get to see these reclusive animals at their icy home.
There are tons of Fox Squirrels in this park; I saw them basically everywhere I turned. Fox Squirrels are such handsome creatures:
A fuzzy Fox Squirrel next to fuzzy Poison Ivy vines:
Somebody's almost certainly been feeding the Fox Squirrels at this park. This lovely girl walked right up to me and touched my boot as I made my way down the path:
She seemed confused when I kept walking without giving her anything. (I'm sorry! Don't look at me like that!)
This Red-tailed Hawk, for its part, was doing its best to keep the Fox Squirrel population in check:
While a second Red-tailed Hawk watched on from a neighboring tree:
I so rarely get to see adult Red-tailed Hawks from behind. Those rusty red feathers really are beautiful, and I love the pattern on this creature's back:
I'm so glad such wonderful surprises are out there, even the middle of winter.
This morning I made a quick visit to Southford Falls State Park to fulfill my woods-walking urge. I was hoping to see lots of birds (fall migration: it's happening!), but there weren't a ton of feathered creatures around. While the tree-tops were relatively quiet, though, I did get to see some cool things, including this Ovenbird who took time out of skulking in the dark forest floor to give me a good looking-over -- I think these birds are really pretty, and it's always nice to meet one in the woods:
In the shaded, damp paths, interesting fungi were springing up. I don't know what these small orange/red fungi are, but they looked like bright lights scattered among the green moss:
And this yellow coral fungi happened to be growing in a patch of early-morning sun, making it stand out even more against the dark ground:
On the shores of the park's pond, Broadleaf Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) was holding shining white blooms above the water:
I didn't stay too long, and on my drive home, I decided to stop by a place on Paul's running route where he has told me he often sees a Muskrat. When I got out and looked around, sure enough, there was a big furry rodent (smaller than a Groundhog) with a long tail, munching its way through the grass:
This creature must be pretty used to people walking by its home, because it looked up at me a few times and just kept on eating:
Hello, Muskrat! You're pretty cute!
I don't know that I've ever had the chance to actually watch one of these creatures before, so that was a very cool end to my adventure for the day. (And by complete coincidence, I heard the song "Muskrat Love" for the first time yesterday. Oh dear.)
