Last Leaf, Last Light
The evening light falls through bare branches to the forest floor, illuminating the few remaining leaves that are not on the ground. Soon darkness will fall. Soon the leaves will fall. So ends the day.
metroparks
All posts tagged metroparks
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) Watches from Amongst Yellow Blooms
One of our more recent discoveries that has become a favorite place is the Sandy Ridge Reservation of Lorain County Metro Parks. A wetland surrounded by super-highways, industrial plants, and new suburban development, the place is a haven for all manner of wildlife … most especially, birds. While I’m only posting the one image (above) today, we were enthralled yesterday by the beauty and behavior of several Great Egrets, the statuesque poses of a couple of Great Blue Herons, and a pair of Sandhill Cranes that were patrolling drier areas between open water and the pedestrian path. The weather was excellent for our visit — high 70s and low humidity — though all around us were hints of coloration more reminiscent of fall. The day felt like summer but looked like autumn.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) Takes Flight
A quiet walk today in the Lorain County Metro Parks’ Columbia Reservation let us witness a Great Egret’s takeoff from shallow waters.
“What you lookin’ at?” – Juvenile Northern Cardinal
This disheveled-looking creature is a young male Northern Cardinal. I was waiting for a chickadee to show up on a sign post beside a trail in the Summit Metro Parks’ F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm. I heard a light rustling of wings nearby and to my left. What should I see but a bright red cardinal perched on branches only a yard away! I slowly turned and aimed my lens at the bird as he looked around, then preened, and looked around some more, allowing me an extended photographic opportunity before he apparently figured I had no food for him and he flitted off into the brush! This is my favorite shot of the bunch … the youngster briefly interrupted his preening to, it seemed, look right at me. The chickadee? Yes, it showed up too!
Trail Post Chickadee
Great Blue Heron Up Close
Today was a very active day in the wetlands of the Sandy Ridge Reservation, Lorain County Metro Parks. There was a large number of Great Egrets present, sometimes chasing each other, squabbling over fishing rights or something. The big white birds perched and waded everywhere providing photo-ops galore! I spotted a little Kingfisher but, sadly, did not get a useable photograph. A Whitetail doe and her fawn crossed our path in the woods. Tree swallows were everywhere, as were dragonflies. A few Great Blue Herons were also present and one, in particular, behaved in a very unusual way; the tall wader seemed to prefer walking on the crushed gravel pathway provided for human hikers. What is more, the heron allowed me to get closer than I ever have to such a bird… so close I felt like I could have grabbed it! Instead, I used my big 400mm (~600mm sensor equiv.) telephoto lens to capture a “heron headshot” such as I’ve never gotten. The photo shown above is uncropped! Yeah, an active day alright!
A Little Cleanup
Female Mallard Duck with Her Offspring
Male Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus
It’s nesting time and the Red-winged Blackbirds raucously declare the boundaries of their territories! Whether perched upon a tree, a reed, or chasing trespassers, red-wings are an aggressive and busy lot. This one was spotted at the Sandy Ridge Reservation of Lorain Metroparks, North Ridgeville, Ohio.
Kayak Couple
Spring is really just taking hold around here so at Hinckley Lake, in the Cleveland Metroparks, things were fairly quiet on this warm day. I did a walk around the lake shore as more to get out in the fresh air and sunshine as anything. Along the way I enjoyed views of fresh greenery popping up from the leaf litter in the woods, the calls of many birds, and regular encounters with the many people who were also out to enjoy the day. Puffy clouds floated across the sky, casting spotlights upon trees flushed with colorful buds and new leaves, and highlighting them against shadowed wooded backgrounds.
Common Water Snake
The natural surroundings may have been quiet but if examined close enough, there were things other than plants to catch one’s eye. I stopped for a while and watched the single Great Blue Heron on Hinckley Lake as it fished; from the distance I saw it catch a couple, too! I watched a Common Water Snake swimming in a wetland adjacent to the lake.
Spiny Softshell Turtle
I spied a Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera), my first in the wild, when it made a little move in shallow water. I shot a couple of photos of the turtle as it watched me, only its head above water. The softshells grow to be among the largest turtles in North America though this one looked to be more medium-sized.
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
On the walk back to the parking lot a beautiful little blue bird flitted from branch to branch in the trees and shrubs lining the path. I’d seen this bird (or another of its kind) in the general area before but hadn’t gotten a photo of it. Today I was a little quicker or the bird was a little slower, anyway I captured a few images of the little guy, one of which was good. Looks to be a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea). Delighted to have met! Back at the parking lot a man, just arriving, stopped and asked me if I got any good photos, saw any birds? I mentioned the heron but forgot the delightful gnatcatcher. Then again, it might have sounded a little too “birdwatcher-y.”
Yes, a fine day to get out and hike with a 20-pound camera pack on your back! It was really about the walk. Really!
Snow coats trees, rocks, and river on February 1.
Groundhog Day – Between batches of heavy snow I ventured out to see what decoration Mother Nature had added to the landscape. Coatings of fluff clung to bare tree branches and evergreens. Massive, brooding rocks in the gorge were covered with soft, white blankets. Dark water was visible through a few openings in the river ice. Yes, Mother Nature had outdone herself again. By the way… while I believed it was Groundhog Day, the date stamp in my image files says 02/01/2015 — the day before Groundhog Day. Close enough, say I.
Winter Walk
Cold Change – Winter is Winning
PhotonStopper 