Gems

Yesterday it was dams, the Great Miami River, and turkey vultures.  Today it was a visit to Charleston Falls, although there wasn't a whole lot of water actually falling.  It's been pretty dry (not Colorado dry, but dry enough that we are on alert for fires), so the falls were limited to one small area . . . I did find a few other things that caught my eye, though.

When I first saw this, I wondered why somebody had put an omelet on the tree trunk.  Duh.  Some kind of fungus I assume.

I loved how the light made some of the leaves almost translucent, while others were opaque.

I'm not sure I would have spotted this female cardinal if she hadn't put on her lipstick this morning!  Sure looks like it to me . . .

Just one of the many examples of a beautiful patch of sunlight in the midst of darkness or shade.  I won't bore you by waxing poetic . . .

Here are the falls . . . see the water falling?  Nope?  You're not missing anything.  Normally there is at least a small waterfall going, but not today.  Keep looking though . . .

I don't know why these vines appeal to me, but they do.

A couple of shots of the very small trickle of water falling . . . loved the individual droplets above, plus the splash below!

My favorite shot of the day - for the shadow . . . I spent quite a bit of time at this spot.

Love the detail in the wings on this one; so intricate and delicate.

There was water, but it wasn't moving . . . I did like the reflection in this shot.

More interesting shadows . . .

The imagination must have been in overdrive . . . this stick in the water reminded me of an alligator or crocodile!  It would have fit well in my Crafty Nature post . . .

This was a first for me - taking a picture of the shadows on the water . . . I like it.

Growing up here in the Dayton area, I always thought of us as pretty much landlocked, with not much in the way of lakes, rivers, etc.  I knew about the Great Miami and a few others, but didn't realize just how much water is around us (and I don't ever remember learning about the 1913 Dayton Flood in school).  I don't know if I'm more open to learning about Dayton and its history, but I am appreciating those who made sure we have such wonderful parks and reserves to visit.  I might just end up admitting I'm loving what Dayton has to offer and embracing its nickname of The Gem City.

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.