Shhhh! It May Be Spring...Maybe...

 Well hello there...I'm back! Mwahaha!

So...anyway...after setting up my wonderful photo show, (I gave up humble for Lent)I went for a little walk about through the woods of Carlisle Reservation. The sun was out, mostly, the frogs were singing...until I walked near them, then poof they were gone, and the temps were above freezing. I think spring may actually be here!

Judging by the industrious little Black-capped Chickadee in these photos, she thinks it's spring as well. She was busy excavating a nest hole in a dead snag. Imagine building your house with your mouth...talk about splinters! There were few birds out and about during my walk, but a few is better than none...it will be WARBLIE time soon!

 Uh, ya got a little something on yer choppers there buddy!

 Yum, soft rotten wood...must be one of those vegans...

 The fungus is among us!

 Yes, I'm still taking those behind shots...I try to be sneaky, some birds are offended you know.

 Oops! I'm busted!

There's no rage like the ire of an angry Mourning Dove...or maybe not.

 No, no, no, no, no...

 This female Red-bellied Woodpecker was busy redecorating her home for the new year.

And she was being harassed by a bored Red Squirrel down below.

 This is the obnoxious Red Squirrel that wanted ever so badly to look inside that nest hole.

Maybe he lost his nuts there...

 

 Just making sure there are no other visitors inside.

 A rare Rufus-booty Nuthatch!

 Uh, sorry...caught again.

He said he's a White-breasted Nuthatch.

My mistake...

Yep, the photos are still there! At least I think they are...I better call and check...

Guess What I Saw?!

 Ha!

No.

 Though I did hear what sounded to me like otters giggling in the brook...

An unmistakable sound...

 Yep...another trip to visit Pond Brook, part of the Summit Metropark system(and my favorite!) Still looking for the River Otters that reside in the area...still... I've asked most everyone I've met along the trails about them. Most had no idea that otters lived in our area. A few had ACTUALLY spotted them. I think they were teasing me...

Anyway...it was a lovely autumn morning to be out, a lovely sky, nice temps and loads of Yellow-rumped Warblies in the trees and shrubs! Does life get any better than warbly time? Nope. Next to Magee Marsh in May, this is my favorite time of year to wander in the woods. The smell of the fallen leaves...what I like to call rotting vegetation...is so relaxing. Though it is hard to sneak up on birdies when those leaves are crunching underfoot. I can deal with it. I've never been known to be graceful or subtle when hiking anyway.

I must also mention the folks I've met walking here. All pleasant and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. I met a very nice young woman with her son out exploring along the trail Sunday morning. It's really great to see a young boy out in nature and liking it! We discussed aphids(you never know what you'll find interesting out there!) and the young man enjoyed checking out my camera. A future birder? I now have hope for the future of our natural world!

 Great trails and a boardwalk if you're afraid of tromping through mud.

I personally LOVE to stomp in the mud!

 Yep, Yellow-rumped Warbly!

Everywhere you looked at the woodland edges and tree tops!

 Ruh-roh...

White-crowned Sparrows were out in full force as well...

You know what that means...winter is coming! 

And these guys were getting crabby...

 I didn't like the way this Turkey Vulture kept circling over my head...

HEY! I'M NOT DEAD YET!

I told you the Yellow-rumps were everywhere!

 A very handsome...and fluffy...White-crowned Sparrow.

 I think the first year White-crowned Sparrows are gorgeous.

 Yep, another "butterbutt"...like I said, everywhere.

 The Song Sparrows were still singing.

I think this was one migrating through...he had an odd song, maybe a slight Canadian accent...

 Freshly seeded areas attracted a number of Red-winged Blackbirds that were passing through.

I think the females are striking...

 You'll never guess what this is?!

Yep!

 Hard to believe this used to be access for drilling rigs.

It's much better now.

 Speaking of warblies(I always am!,) there were quite a few Palm Warblies feeding along the trail and in the "weeds."

 There's beauty everywhere if you look closely.

 This Northern Cardinal actually sat still...for almost a second and a half.

Palm Warblies don't usually sit still very long...

 The light coming through the forest was great!

This is one of my favorite shots of a Palm Warbly.

 They have to really chow down to prepare for their long journey south!

Sounds like a good plan to me...ROAD TRIP!

 Look, but don't touch!

 I was very surprised to see this Monarch butterfly out in the grass.

Must be a straggler. I hope he makes it south!

 Of course, House Sparrows are always found where there's a meal...

 This day was so beautiful that I even took a photo of a European Starling.

Very bad and destructive invasive bird, but still attractive in the fall.

 This Eastern Chipmunk froze on the boardwalk as I came up on him.

I told him no worries lil buddy and he smiled and trotted off with a wave of his tail.

My reality and your reality may be a little different...a little.

 There was an Eastern Bluebird pair sitting in this tree, but I think I startled the male and he flew off.

 This is the dirty look I received for shooing off her mate.

But it was an accident!

Oh well...the same look I get from most women...

 The American Goldfinches seemed very sad today.

They miss their bright and cheery summer apparel.

I know the feeling.

 Poor sad little finchy...

 All the young American Robins were in the meadow hunting for worms and grubs.

Good eating this morning!

I had a sausage McMuffin.

Better than worms...but not as healthy...

 Rude little Black-capped Chickadee...

 This Blue Jay and his buddies kept a close eye on me as I walked around the parking area.

They have trust issues.

 I finally found the ideal BirdMobile!

No roof and I can see all around...just gotta watch that car ahead of me...

Oops...

Once last Yellow-rump for the road!

Until we meet again on the trails...Happy Birding!

I'm Lichen Pie! (it's Punday!)

 That lil Black-capped Chickadee is lichen that Hammered Shield Lichen! 

Ha? Maybe not...

We had another fun filled festival of food, friends and fauna at the Shreve Migration Sensation recently. It was enough to finally get us out of the house and the winter doldrums. This has been a rough winter, if you hadn't noticed. This first fest in March every year gives us the inspiration to get our behinds in gear for another mad spring warbly season.

Shreve is great...inexpensive to register every year(this was our 10th!), great programs and speakers(Kim Kaufman, Jim McCormac and more!), lots of ducks and birds migrate through here every March, AND...home baked Amish PIES!!! Can life get better?

With all of the snow, then the warm temps and the snow melt, quite a bit of the area was flooded. Good for ducks. Bad for Dave and The Doodles. We slogged around looking and searching for our feathered woodland friends, but not many were seen this year. Doodles did see an Eastern Bluebird...about a mile away with her mighty 10X bins! I struggled seeing any birds, butt, the Ohio Division of Wildlife came out with a new guide to the common lichens of Ohio. Those I could find! Sound boring? When you start looking around, almost every tree you see has something growing on it's bark.

A new obsession is born...LICHENOLOGY! Well, maybe when I can't find one of those warbly things...

 My pieology guide lists this as Coconut Cream Pie, Creamius Coconutii.

Look it up.

 Brown's Bog is a great place for lichens, mosses and fungi...and even birds on a good day!

This may be a species of Ruffled Lichen.

One day I will know for sure...one day...maybe...

 This is the human species known as "The Doodles." 

Very rare.

She likes that Funk Bottoms.

(I don't know what that means either.)

 This is stuff growing on a dead tree.

?

 WAY out in the distance is the viewing platform we usually stand on to see ducks, bluebirds and more.

There's more water than birds today.

LOTS more water.

Loopys don't swim.

 Another type of bracket fungus I believe.

I loved the moss with the sprouts popping up.

 Doodles has taken photos of this barn every year.

The upper floors have finally collapsed, I fear its time is nigh...

There's some Rough speckled shield lichen growing between the fungus.

Wow, I can be a real fungi too!

(You can laugh if you like.)

 Here's some very odd looking fungi growing under a fallen tree.

I guess I would look odd too if I was under a fallen tree...

 If you look very closely you won't see the Lesser Black-backed Gull that was there that I didn't see either.

There are Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers and Ring-billed Gully things though.

Gulls...silly birds.

 I find whatever these funguseses are much prettier than those gully things.

 Doesn't it figure?

I finally get close enough to a bird and this silly Song Sparrow moons me!

It's a curse...

A second earlier he even stuck his tongue out at me.

Rude...very rude.

 Sphagnum Moss.

The Doodles is a seed eating vegetarian.

I had to tell her not to eat this.

She said she was hungry. 

I said wait for pie.

 She said okay.

We got pie.

 More pie.

Dutch Apple if you please.

Scrumpdillyishious.

Truly.

PIED-billed Grebe.

He has pie on his bill.

Looks like chocolate.