Walking at CNC

I'm so glad my office is close to the Cincinnati Nature Center. It's great to take a break in the middle of my day and spend an hour or so strolling the paths.


My eyes and ears got me a total of 24 species of birds in a one hour walk this afternoon. When I pulled in, I heard my first Eastern Wood-Peewee of the year. That and the Eastern Towhee were the only two "heard and identified, but not seen" birds of the day. There were lots of things I heard that I didn't identify, and one bird that I saw and still haven't figured out. I think it was some kind of female warbler. Best bird of the day was the female Summer Tanager. She had me stumped for a while. I got "female tanager," then had to hit the books to sort out Scarlet vs. Summer.

My Trip List includes two "Heard Only" species (peewee, towhee) and two "First of Season" birds, the peewee again and the tanager.

Turkey Vulture
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Peewee
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Magnolia Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Summer Tanager (F)
Indigo Bunting (M/F pair)
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird (M/F pair)
American Goldfinch
House Finch

Of course, I have no bird photographs for you. I take pictures of things that don't move (plants) or that move very slowly (turtles, secure squirrels.)

Plant people, help me out. This is Dame's Rocket, right?

I always confuse this with phlox. I think that the four petals means it is a member of the Mustard family. True phlox, wild and cultivated, has five petals. That's right, right?


Some day, this tree is going to fall into Lotus Pond. Every year it seems to sag a bit lower. So far, a person can still walk under it, but one day, look out...


This squirrel was one of umpteen thousand that I saw today. Most of them were pretty skittish, but this guy was comfy and content to let me watch and photograph him from the bird blind.


These turtles in Lotus Pond were doing their best to warm up in the sun.. Too bad there wasn't much sun out today. See the bird box in the background, upper right? It is for Prothonotary Warblers, although I have never seen them nest here. I do see them nesting in a similar box on Powell Lake most years.

I wish you all walks in the woods.

Edit: Walked again at lunch on Tues and added these birds

Blue Jay
Baltimore Oriole
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Good birding!