Another first!

Wow.  So very happy with the pics I got today at Eastwood MetroPark!  AND I do know how very blessed I am to have so many MetroParks to visit within 30 minutes of home.  There are also several other parks and hiking trails to visit that aren't part of the same system, so there's plenty of variety for my wandering eye!

For several years, I drove by a stretch of land next to a railroad track that had a lot of thistles growing.  They looked so pretty, but it was never safe to stop there and take some pictures.  Today, I took the entrance to Eastwood by the lake, which is not where I normally go.  I was surprised to find thistle growing down by the lake, and in varying stages of blooming.  I would have been a happy camper just from getting those photos, but it got better!

I figured since I was close to the lake, I should probably get at least a couple of shots of it.  I'm glad I did.


Then, I drove around a little more before turning around to head back to the main road to the entrance I normally use.  As I was slowly driving along looking at the scenery (no other cars on that road), I saw a "new" bird and tried to stop so I could get a better look at it.  Unfortunately, all I know is that it had a black back and white underbelly; could be a whole lot of different birds.  Bummer.  But, it was still nice to have spotted it, even if I don't know what it was!


So, I resumed my drive out to the main road and on to the other entrance to the park.  I was about halfway to where I wanted to park, and I looked over toward the water and couldn't quite figure out what I saw, but hoped it was either a crane or heron (neither of which I'd seen before!).  So, I pulled onto the shoulder, turned the emergency flashers on, grabbed the camera, and ran across the lane (well, as close to running as I get).  As I got closer to the water, I slowed down and peeked around the foliage, and saw . . . 

 . . . a Great Blue Heron!  I'm not subjecting you to the numerous very similar shots I took, just a few.  Jenny @ I'd Rather Be Birding!, this is a HUGE first for me, and I have you to thank.  If you hadn't encouraged me to begin blogging, I wouldn't be making opportunities to stop at the parks to take photos.  You've pushed me to try different perspectives and styles that I might not have gotten around to for quite a while.  THANK YOU!

A baby Canada Goose (gosling) . . . loved the downy feathers!

An adult Canada Goose with some goslings.  With all of the "floaties" on the water, it looked kind of like twinkling lights. 

I love the bridges they have, at least to look at.  Today I went over them for the first time, and they are pretty steep.

There were a lot of mallard ducks, mostly males.  I think I saw a total of 3 females.  I wasn't sure I'd caught this guy in flight - I was moving and so was he!  What a thrill when I saw it.

The way these two guys were standing cracked me up - the way they both rested their bills on their chests . . . kind of a motionless strutting if that makes sense to anyone but me!

And the last few shots are more pics featuring reflection.  The rocks above made me wonder at first where the shore line was.

I felt like I saw double, double of the female duck . . . one of my favorites of the day.

When I saw this shot, it reminded me of the scenes in Mary Poppins that mixed animation with live shots.  The log and turtle seemed to come out of the "drawing" of the tree and sky . . . You're probably right to think I need to tone down the imagination a little (just not too much!).


All of this fun and creativity packed into about an hour.  I love catching these kind of images.  This needs to be my job.

Springing!

I love spring!  Getting over the winter doldrums, seeing plants come back to life, baby animals, flowers blooming, and that bright yellow thing in the sky . . . oh, yeah, that's the sun.  There are a couple of places I like to go to take nature pictures (I'm trying to broaden those horizons, though), and I thought I'd share some spring photos.

Eastwood Metro Park
Loved the blue sky that day and was looking for
a different perspective.

Eastwood Metro Park
The clean lines and emptiness caught my attention.

Crocus (not sure where!)
One day I will have some of these in my yard.  I think they
are beautiful, and a SURE sign of spring!

Charleston Falls
I like coming here at different times of the
day to take advantage of shadow and
light changes. 

Charleston Falls
For some reason, the rocks at the bottom of the falls
caught my eye and held it.

Charleston Falls
I wasn't keen on that bare branch at the top, but now I kind
of like the contrast w/ the green on the right.  Loved the
movement of the water.

I haven't been out to Eastwood Metro Park or Charleston Falls yet this spring, but I'll be out there soon.

It's nice looking out the window and seeing color again.  The grass is definitely green in SW Ohio (and needing me to get out the lawnmower), plants are blooming, temps are higher than normal, bees are buzzing, and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of hummingbirds.  The squirrels and I are about to do out dance w/ the bird feed . . . what will I try to keep them out of it, and what will they come up with to get into it?

It's also time for me to start cranking out the homemade suet.  I can't believe how much the birds (and squirrels) love it.  I found several recipes on the internet, but have begun adding cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, and chipotle pepper to those recipes to keep the squirrels out.  Love the antics the squirrels exhibit, but just wish they didn't take so much of the bird food.

Read this morning that we have a freeze watch until 3/27 @ 10:00 a.m.  Don't know how that will affect the plants, but at least I haven't planted anything yet!  I'll have to bring in one plant that I bought a couple of days ago, but everything else has already wintered.  Just when you get used to warmer, nice weather, it changes.  Sounds about like everything in life - nothing is as constant as change.