...uh...what?...oh...it's a blog post.

 Meanwhile...back on the mainland...
 The dreams of Kelleys Island are fading and we're back to reality, or as close to it as I can get. We decided to chuck gardening and chores for a trip out to Sandy Ridge Reservation. It was a little chilly and very cloudy that morning. It's autumn in Ohio and you never know how the weather will be from minute to minute. It turned out that we over dressed a bit as it became sunny and very warm. Ya never know around here...

 Frogs like this bull frog were still active and hopping about.

We're still seeing a few green frogs in our little pond at home too!

Neither one of us can remember ever seeing a Double-crested Cormorant out here on our past trips.

He was all alone and far out in the marsh.

 There's always a few flycatchers like this Eastern Phoebe here.

 This pair of grasshoppers (differential sp.) were a little too busy for this time of year.

I guess there's not much else to do if you're a grasshopper though...

 This is a Peeping Tom Grasshopper. Really, that's what he's called.

He was watching the grasshoppers from the above pic.

When ya got an itch, scratch it!

This Great Blue Heron had plenty...

A master stalker...this Great Egret had his eye on something under water...

Splash!

I think he found it!

 A little fishy snack...I'll stick with my granola bar...

 Way off in the back are a couple of duckies...

 Oh look...a couple of Green-winged Teal butts.

They were too busy eating to be bothered by me.

 I'm amazed at the number of Large Milkweed Bugs we've seen this year!

We have them at home in our butterfly garden on common milkweed that we planted for the monarch butterflies.

 Finding this Lincoln's Sparrow was a nice surprise!

 And there's always a gang of Mallards...

 Another good find was a lone Rusty Blackbird along the side of the trail.

 We saw the Sandhill Crane pair wandering and feeding through the back of the marsh.

 

 This is just past the Cranes...beautiful place for a walk!

Just left of center, all the way on the other side is where Bald Eagles have been nesting and raising their family.

White-crowned Sparrows are here for the winter... ick...winter.

 I moved around for a better shot of the sparrows and this is what I got...

Nutz.

 Wood Ducks nest in this area.

Soon, we'll see flocks of migrating ducks of all sorts out here.

 Since I said the "WINTER" word, I thought I better leave you with the last of the wildflowers that bloom at Sandy Ridge...

Until we meet again...toodles!