Olmsted Falls Respite
I made an all-too-brief stop at David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls this morning. It has, for a very long time, been one of my favorite places. I had my little Canon PowerShot G11 camera with me and managed to capture a number of “keeper” images. The filtered morning light in the ravine was lovely in the dim light where water flows over smooth rocks, trees and moss add a green softness to the scene.
Cliff soaring at the Castalia Quarry MetroPark.
Exploring places new to us, Sunday we paid a visit to the Castalia Quarry location of Erie MetroParks. The huge, open limestone pit is mostly dry and surrounded by wooded trails. Visitors must be cautious and are warned, in park literature, not to stray from the designated paths; there are no fences protecting visitors from steep cliffs with rocky floors below.
Vulture flyby on a blue sky day.
The place was mentioned as a good location to see birds and we heard a good many. The airshow, however, belonged to a species many revile or connect only with spooky images of death and decay … the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). What the big, black birds may lack in looks, they more than make up for in flight. We usually see them riding thermals over open spaces seeking carrion upon which to feed. Their keen sense of smell leads them to their meals, the bird’s eye view guides final approach, and their nearly-featherless heads and open nostrils make their butcher’s work, um, cleaner.
Soaring along the rock face.
This day, however, the big birds seemed almost to enjoy soaring on powerful updrafts created by lake breezes driven against the sheer rock cliffs of the quarry. Maybe a dozen vultures swooped and kited, back and forth, up and down over the rock pit. Standing near a cliff we watched as birds zoomed up, out of the stony depths in front of us, and went rocketing into the sky.
View over the quarry floor.
What a thrill it was to watch the buzzards in flight! They may not be much to look at but oh, how they fly!
A cascade of blooms falls towards a small stream on a misty morning.
While some like only bright, sunny days, I find harmony and inspiration in the melancholy nature of a day like today. The light is soft, the skies gray, a soft mist occasionally falls, colors are more intense, the world and my soul a little quieter.
Lovely Barn Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) posing for his picture!
On a lark (impending pun intended) we set off to visit the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area today. It was a gorgeous, sunny day making travel, then walking the trail, a pleasure. Magee Marsh is a birder’s hot-spot due to the large protected wooded wetland set along the south shores of Lake Erie. It is a perfect spot for migratory birds to rest and refuel before or after their non-stop flights over the Great Lake. In the wildlife area, through bird songs were delightfully the dominant sounds around, we saw no exotic avian visitors. We caught a glimpse of a large bird, possibly an immature Bald Eagle, as it winged past — too much of a surprise for me to catch via camera. We did enjoy the color and the amazing aerobatics of the colorful resident Barn Swallows. One posed for a portrait, shown here. Most beautiful, though not pictured, were the many, many Great Egrets we saw in wet areas all around the area. We do admire our fine feathered friends!
Like a Painting: The Pond in Spring
I visited the Alderfer-Oenslager Wildlife Sanctuary of the Medina County Park System this afternoon, seeking the season’s first dragonflies. None were to be seen there. It was, however, a splendid afternoon for a little stroll around the grounds and it’s not like nothing else was worth looking at! The ponds were fairly still and alive with the ripples caused by likely thousands of water-striding insects milling about, doubtless seeking mates. The first lily pads floated, soaking up the day’s sunshine while others could be seen stretching up from beneath the surface. Wriggling amongst the reeds and algae near waters’ edge were hundreds of tadpoles, somehow sensing my presence and quickly hiding. And oh, what’s that, lying in wait for the careless passing fish or tadpole? A medium-sized snapping turtle sat in the mud, barely submerged and barely exposed. The pond may display quiet beauty above, but there’s danger below!
My dragonflies? Oh, they’re likely crawling around underwater in their nymph phase: a terrifying aquatic insect (if you’re a small critter they might find tasty) and will emerge in due course, um, to stalk the skies.
Danger Below!
Earth Day: All living things on Earth are part of the continuum of layers that make up the planet. The survival of entire species (including humans) depends upon at least one,
usually more,of those layers remaining intact, viable.
It is a beautiful planet, a beautiful system. Let’s keep it that way.
Lorain, Ohio’s Lighthouse on Lake Erie stands on a plane between the morning’s
open, blue sky and sand-tinted waters.
Got Hay?
She Who Must Be Obeyed bought herself a new camera yesterday, so what better way to spend our Sunday than at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo! Near the entrance to the park is the zoo’s expansive African Elephant Crossing enclosure. Despite temperatures in the low-40s, all of the big animals were strolling around in the open air. The cloudy skies made conditions a bit chilly for us visitors but softened the midday light: perfect for portraits of people or pachyderms!
Keeping Company
The elephant enclosure is behind post-and-cable containment that, though lacking high-voltage warnings, looks like it came directly from Jurassic Park. There are plenty of vantage points for humans to watch the elephants, and places created for elephants to seek fresh treats secreted within concrete walls made to look like stone outcroppings.
Open Wide and Say Hay
We spent quite some time observing and photographing the elephants. Though we went on to see the Australian Adventure area, the primate-cat-aquatics building, and the African Savanna, I think our first sights and photos of the day — the elephants — were our favorites. By the way, these pictures are mine but She found her new camera to be quite to her liking. Her little Canon PowerShot SX50 produced images with terrific detail, excellent exposure and contrast, and lovely color — all without manipulation. The 1,200mm-equivalent zoom with image stabilization, all packed into a small all-in-one package, made me a little jealous.
A Place of Their Own
On my way to where I need to be, I try and look around. We are surrounded by everyday beauty and wonders. We see only a tiny fraction of what is offered us though it is all present; if only we would slow down. Look. Listen. Feel. This morning I paused to take in the first of the day’s light falling across the cold, still waters of shallow Baldwin Lake. Canada Geese were standing in shallow water streaming over a small dam. They watched me carefully and, judging I presented a possible danger, pushed off and into open water. Still water turned silver, reflecting the open morning sky. The geese had the lake, a place of their own. I had to move along, though I already was where I needed to be.
Returning from with nesting materials this Great Blue Heron turns into the wind.
This morning we paid a visit to the heron rookery, or heronry, to see how the Great Blue Herons were getting on with their nest building. This particular communal nesting area is within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, at the north end of Akron. It was a fine, warm, spring day with large patches of milky clouds floating in a pale blue sky. A strong breeze flowed from the west-southwest and we could see the big birds struggling, at times, to control their landings high in the naked tree branches.
Hard turn across the wind exposes this big bird wingtip to wingtip.
The bright cloud layers made many of our photographs into silhouettes; working with that was difficult but a few nice images emerged. Still, my personal favorite shots of the day were pictures that showed off the size, power, and primitive beauty of the herons — possibly my favorite birds to watch and photograph.
Flying up from the ground beneath the heronry trees, this bird returns with his prize.
PhotonStopper 