Nature Hike at CNC

Encouraged by my walk at Crooked Run on Thursday, I planned another nature walk for Saturday after work at the Cincinnati Nature Center. Little did I know I was going on a nature HIKE, with the emphasis on hiking, rather than nature.

CNC has a program for encouraging members to walk all the trails on the property. Initially, they gave out free passports, with icons for each of the 10 major trails. When you walked a trail, you got your passport stamped by the naturalist. Once you filled up your passport, you would get a free "Take-A-Hike" T-shirt.


The program started in 2005. It has taken me a while to fill up my passport, as you can see.

If you click to enlarge, you can see
the notes I originally kept about things I found
during my early hikes.

After completing the Redwing Trail (2.6 miles, rated as "difficult") in June of 2007, I demanded TWO bootprints in my passport, it was that much effort.

Now, they sell the passports for $5 and your reward for hiking all the trails is a free Camelbak water bottle. We all know my new passion to decrease my consumption of disposable plastic water bottles by using reusable bottles, so I was psyched to complete my walks and claim my prize. My only worry - would they still honor my three year old card?

All I had left to walk was the Fernwood Trail, indicated on the map and on the trail markers by the dark green fern icon. I had walked all the other CNC trails previously, so I knew what to expect, but the Fernwood Trail is new. The property was at one time a Boy Scout camp and a Presbyterian Church camp during another incarnation. It has only recently become part of CNC property.

Click to enlarge for details

I have been on bits of this trail before, but this was my first attempt at hiking the whole thing. According to the trail map, it was only 1.6 miles, but was listed as "difficult," one of only 3 trails so indicated.

It didn't start out too bad,

but things soon went downhill.

Literally.

Looking up a valley along Fernwood Trail.

The only problem with going downhill is that eventually, you have to go back up.

It was a rough hike. Some of the footing, bridges, and steps aren't quite up the standards of the other CNC trails.

Going up!

These are the GOOD steps - you should have seen the bad ones!

CNC trail elves are on the case, replacing bridges first. One can only hope that the steps are next.


As you can see on the map, the Fernwood Trail passes behind the new property belonging to RAPTOR, Inc. I wondered if I would be able to recognize it as I passed by.


No problem - here is the back side of RAPTOR's red barn, cleverly named The Red Barn.

Just when I thought I was going to die in the wilderness,

I broke through the woods to this open meadow along a gravel drive

and these modern-day "standing stones."

This circle of stone pillars is all that remains of the garden of the original owners, the Grosbecks.

This is the old Grosbeck Lodge.

When I walked around the bend approaching the lodge, a large brownish gray bird silently flew out of the shadows and glided past the windows to disappeared in the trees on the other side. An owl, probably a Barred Owl. Sweet!

In keeping with my odd-shaped trees theme of my last walk:

I did find some wildflowers, on this walk, too. This is Jewelweed, aka Spotted Touch-me-not.

You can click any of the flower
photos for more detail.

I found this, too, but couldn't ID it till I got home and looked it up in my field guides.

Click on these photos to see

the tiny stinging "hairs."

Wood Nettle. Glad I didn't touch it!

In the field as I walked back to my car, I came across some Joe-pye Weed. In checking my references, I believe this to be Sweet Joe-pye Weed, one of several varieties of Joe-pye, all named for an American Indian medicine man. Spotted Joe-pye, the other variety common in Ohio, has a flatter flower and spots on the stem.

Did I get my water bottle?

Oh, yeah. And I earned it.

Late edit: Bonus points if you can find the hidden animals in one of the photos.

Friday Funnies - yet another "Light Bulb" joke

If you have ever been a member of an Internet bulletin board community, you will appreciate this addition to the "light bulb jokes" series.

###

How many board members does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: 412

1 to change the light bulb and post to the board that the bulb has been changed.

4 to respond and share similar experiences.

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

27 to point out spelling and grammatical errors in postings about changing light bulbs.

53 to flame the spell-checkers.

156 to write to the administrator to complain about the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to the board.

111 to defend the relevance of the light bulb discussion.

27 to post website addresses where one can see different examples of light bulbs.

14 to complain that the website addresses are in correct and post correct ones

and ...

12 to "leave the board forever" because they can't handle the light bulb controversy.

Nature Walk at Crooked Run

Come, take a walk with us!

"Can't you just smell the nature?"

Except for a few lunch breaks spent sitting at a picnic table at the Cincinnati Nature Center, I haven't been out in the field much in the last month or so. This "not driving to save gas" kick of mine has put a cramp in my style. Today, I was off, the weather was great, and I realized I needed a Nature Day to shake the dust out of my brain and cure myself of the blues. So at 8am, I packed up my camera, my binoculars, and my best hiking buddy, and headed out for Crooked Run Nature Preserve, on the Ohio River in SE Clermont County.

"Let's go, Mom. I've already smelled everything here!"

This little gem of a preserve along the Crooked Run estuary, about 5 miles from my home, never fails me when I need a nature fix. Several of my Life Birds were found here - Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Palm Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Hermit Thrush, American Woodcock, Double-crested Cormorant, Warbling and White-eyed Vireos - and I still remember the exact spots where I found most of them.

As I drove in, I was greeted with the ringing call of a Carolina Wren - "TEA-kettle, TEA-kettle, TEA-kettle!" (Is it just me, or does anyone else hear "CHEESE-burger" instead of "tea-kettle?") I usually head right into the woods, but today, I started birding around the little wetland and then took the path through the prairie.


The wetlands area is small, but mighty. I have seen a lot of different waterfowl here, including a Snow Goose once,

(BAD photo of my Crooked Run Snow Goose)

and Sandhill Cranes have been reported to stop over during migration. A Green Heron hung around the wetlands until sometime in January during the winter of 2006-2007, a new state record.


Today, it was slow. The water level is low, so no waterfowl, and the only shorebird I had was a fly-over Killdeer.
I kept hearing a rattling call and finally looked up:


Now, we know no one has ever gotten a good photograph of a Belted Kingfisher, so I don't want to hear any complaints about this one.


I had several good field birds as we walked along, all too distant for my camera. Field and Song Sparrows and American Goldfinches predominated. (Most people hear their calls as "per-CHICK-or-y!", but I hear "po-TA-to chip!" Sensing a theme here?)

A Gray Catbird (not this one)

"meow-d" at me from a large clump of pokeweed, and an Indigo Bunting was using this same spot as a perch to sing his heart out. Oh, for a better camera and a great big lens - he glowed in the morning sunlight. I wish I could have shared him with you.

Eventually, I did move into the woods. How could I not - the cool shade, the trilling of insects, and the sun-dappled paths were calling my name.


Since this was officially designated a "nature walk" not a "bird walk," I was free to investigate any old thing that struck my fancy. (On organized bird walks, I sometimes get in trouble for looking at wildflowers.)

Like this bug I found on a milkweed plant.

click to em-biggen

Wonder what it is? Hmmm ..... It's a bug on a milkweed; could it be a Milkweed Bug? I'll look it up when I get home.


What do you know? It's on the cover of Kenn Kaufman's Field Guide to Insects. But, what is it?


It's a Large Milkweed Bug, on a Common Milkweed. Now, isn't plant and insect identification easy? (Well, sometimes.)

I love to see the trunks of trees that have been shaped by vining plants, like wild grape vine or Virginia creeper. Isn't this cool?


And how about these two trees, embracing each other?

[Perhaps we should leave them alone.]

Along the gravel road, we happened upon this box turtle.


This has been a great year for turtles for me. I have found more this year than I can ever remember finding.


Even though this lane is a private drive, and the only cars on it are those belonging to Chris, the director of the Clermont County Parks Dept. and his wife, Suzanne, and even though I can count on them to avoid hitting turtles, I still moved this guy across the road. Since I had the freedom of time and a safe place, I took the liberty of studying him more closely.

Of course, he closed up the minute I got too close, but I was able to get good looks at his shell, both carapace (top)


and plastron. (bottom)


When I first saw the turtle, I thought it had brown eyes, so I was surprised to find the plastron was concave.


Female box turtles have brown eyes, males have red eyes, which is one way you sex them. An easier way for me is to look at the underside. Female box turtles are flat on the bottom, males have a concavity (an interior curve) to allow them to fit the female during breeding.

For a moment, I thought I had found some sort of gender-bender turtle, or one who was "transitioning." On closer inspection of my photos when I got home, I realized his eyes are red after all.

Whew! Don't you feel better, knowing all is right in the turtle world?

I also tried to tell his age by counting his rings, but it is a little hard to do with bifocals. I got one number when I counted the actual turtle, and another when I counted the rings in this photo. [Edit #2: The Science Chimp says this theory doesn't hold water - see comments.]

Can you guess this box turtle's age?

After my inspection, I put him down on the grass and continued my walk. I wanted to leave him a "thank you" gift, but couldn't find any ripe berries to surprise him with, a la Julie Zickefoose.


When we came back through, he had come out of his shell, but hadn't moved too far from the spot where I set him down. I laid on my belly and slowly crept up on him to get this final photo.

Total turtle disapproval

"Oh, no, she's back again."
(said in an Eeyore tone)

For me, no nature walk is complete without an appreciation of whatever wildflowers are blooming. Ironweed is one of my favorite late-summer flowers, and it was abundant.

While most of the teasel has finished blooming, like these dried seed heads,

and these

I was able to find a few stragglers still in bloom.



I also took a ton of photos of a whole bunch of yellow flowers, most of which are yet to be identified, but they will have to wait for a later post.

Also unidentified were any number of confusing fall warblers, vague little flittery yellowish birds with small bills, which quickly appeared, then disappeared into the thick foliage. I let them all go as CFW (Confusing Fall Warblers.)

My last bird at Crooked Run was a Black Vulture that flew over the road as I was leaving.

Bird List:

Belted Kingfisher (1)
Killdeer (1)
Gray Catbird (many)
Indigo Bunting (many)
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Northern Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Carolina Wren (lots)
Common Yellowthroat
Green Heron (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch (heard only)
Eastern Towhee (heard only)
Northern Flicker (heard only)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (2, heard only)
Black Vulture (1)

Finally, here's a real treat: Nature's answer to those spiral mobiles that twist in the wind. A golden leaf on a silken strand.

Mesmerizing, isn't it?

Hope you enjoyed your walk with Holly and I. We'll have to do it again sometime soon.

Edit: Lynne asked about the bird singing in the video above. It is a Carolina Wren. I couldn't get any photos of them today, but here is one from two winters ago, eating Zick dough at my backyard feeder.

Carolina Wren