Carlisle Nature Center

The Carlisle Nature Center on a rainy day.

We are so lucky in this area to have so many outstanding Nature Centers available to us. The Lorain County Metropark system is very well known for its Sandy Ridge Reservation with its wonderful wetland habitat with many species of ducks, warblers and nesting Bald Eagles.

Lesser known is the Carlisle Reservation in LaGrange, a little further west and south of Sandy Ridge. It has a mixture of grassland, woodland and the west branch of the Black River running through it. They have a nature center there also, which brings me to this post. I just happen to have an exhibit there right now, running through the month of May. The theme is "The Colorful Birds of the Americas." I have many of my favorite photos from birding around Ohio to birding in Panama and Ecuador.

Every month they have a local artist display their works. These are the North American birds.

On the opposite wall I have Central and South American birds.

Their nature center is very kid friendly with a play room to burn off some extra energy and special events geared towards the younger naturalists. While I was setting up they had a bus load of first graders enjoying a program about the wildlife of the area presented by Mary Ewers and the other naturalists of the center. I was secretly listening to the program myself!

The Carlisle Raptor Center has a Bald Eagle, Barred Owls and more. They are used for education as they are injured and can't be released into the wild.

Guess what kind of bird this is!

This is a recreation of the "Great Nest" of the early 1900's. It was the largest bald Eagle nest in Lorain County. Can you say "minivan?"

You know, you can't go to a park and not go birding! Even though the rain was coming down, I went out on the trails to get a little spring birding in. Ah, if only the April showers would make my hair grow as much as the weeds in our garden...anyway, back to reality. I saw close to thirty Cedar Waxwings working their way through the woods, way overhead of course. A few came down to check out the skinny wet guy and laugh. I also saw Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, but couldn't get any shots of them. So, here ya go, a few photos of my day in Carlisle.

You can't aim high when it's raining out, the lens tends to fill up with water quickly. It's hard to tell, butt, there are 7 Cedar Waxwings mooning me in this shot. Bad birds!

This one came down to give me the crazy eye. I named him Bob.

So, Bob calls his friend Ray to come down and check out this loon taking our picture in the rain. I could hear them laughing at me, really, I could, very high pitched you know.

What is it with the birds out there? This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher gave me the crazy eye, too! I think he was calling me a name, but I couldn't make it out. Very rude little bird.

A yellow-rumped Warbler that held still...for a second...I almost had a butt shot, then he turned his chin up at me. Must have been the rain.

And then this purple bird. I knew it was a warbler because it says so on the front! WRBLRZ! That's me!

For the month of June, I'll have an exhibit of the "Birds and Beauty of Britain" with scenic photos by Laurie-doodle and my birdy pics.