Hunting the Wiley Wild Otter...will it never end?

 An Eastern Notanotter....very rare beast...

Here I am at Pond Brook once again...this time earlier in the morning. As you can see, I heard more splashing, jumped up and get another shot of a Muskrat...I could hear him laughing too. Nutz...

 I know they're over there somewhere!

I find you, you stinkin' otters!!!

 bah.

 I did find this Groundhog baby chillin out at the edge of the parking lot.

 It was an unusually quiet morning with very few birds out and about.

I did see lots of dragonflies along the brook.

I believe this is a female Common Whitetail.

 ...and this is the male Common Whitetail.

 There was also a large group of Eastern Forktail damselflies ovipositing along the edge of the brook.

Healthy water!

 One of the few birds that came out...sort of...a Gray Catbird.

I heard Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and Song Sparrows singing, but none came into view....just like that otter...

 Ooo...another lil Groundhog...cruisin' low and slow...

 

 I chased this Rose-breasted Grosbeak from tree to tree, before he finally sat still for a second.

I'LL BE BACK!!!

 In other news...

 On a walk after work at Wood Hollow I had a little excitment!

When I stepped onto the boardwalk, a Wild Turkey hen exploded off the side of the trail and into the trees...scaring the, uh, stuff out of both of us! I could hear her squawking somewhere in the distance. Then I noticed a few of the leaves seemed to be moving! I looked down and right along the path a half dozen little Turklettes were scurrying about! After a bit they all froze in place, heads down hoping that I wouldn't eat them. No chance, they aren't ripe yet...

No camera on the walk, but I had my trusty cell phone...much lighter...

Little Turklette pretending to be invisible...and not well.

*Don't forget to check out Wild Bird Wednesday! 

I'll see you soon!

Happy Turkey Day!

 Oops...wrong turkey...

 Have a happy Thanksgiving Day!

"Run children, RUN!!!!"

Not Magee Marsh...

 Who's my favorite lil warbly thing?

Nope, not Magee this week. Too much of a good thing and all that...So, I went to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve...on the lakefront...in Cleveland. Just on the edge of downtown, this is part of the Lake Erie Birding Trail and it is a reclaimed area created by the dredging of Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.   This place is amazing, considering where it's located and what it's made of. LOTS of birds, butterflies, mammals and reptiles have made it their home. An oasis amidst a pile of cement.

The trails are easy to walk, and improvements are being made in a large wildflower meadow. Be careful though...the bathrooms aren't always open! That just made me walk a little faster near the end...

 Black-and-White Warblies are goofier than me. Hard to believe.

An American Redstart nested here last year...maybe again this year!

I also spotted a Chestnut-sided Warbly in this same area as well as an Ovenbird.

You don't want to see those photos...ugh.

 This female Baltimore Oriole was trying to hide from all of the obnoxious males.

Hmmmm...just like humans...

 

              "Oh Yeah?!"                                                                                     "Yeah!!"                     

  These guys were having a "whistle off." I got bored and didn't see who won.

 I think this was a Brown-headed Cowbird doing his imitation of a plane landing at the airport next door...or not.

 

 "No, no, no. It was more like this! Look and learn!"

 

 Oh my! It's the "marsh bandit!"

Wait...no...it's a Common Yellowthroat.

My mistake...

 

 Go meow.

 

 I think this is a Least Flycatcher.

That's why the photo is so small.

 

 This is a test.

Who's doing the scrub-a-dub here?

 

 Peek-a-boo!

Four score and twenty blackbirds ago, our Lincoln's Sparrow washed behind his beak.

I think I need a nap now...

 

 This is an amazingly poor photo of an Osprey with a fresh wiggly fish lunch.

Something you don't see in downtown Cleveland everyday!

 This Ruby-crowned Kinglet has lost his crown in the weeds.

Not funny, but I'm tired...

 

 This is a Song Sparrow making up a song.

It was a nice song that he sang.

 

 This is a Warbling Vireo doing nothing.

 This is a Wild Turkey hiding while checking his calendar.

"Ahuh-huh...nope. It ain't November yet...ahuh..."

 You guessed it...a Yellow Warbly warbling.

 This is a Yellow Warbly looking at me in disdain.

"Get a new joke book Loop!"

 

 WOWIE! Look at those crazy legs! Woo-hoo!

 Another rare one for the Cleveland lakefront, a Red-throated Loon.

At first glance, and at a far distance, it was thought to be a Western Grebe...oops.

 It slept as we rudely stared in hopes that it may float closer and turn around...

What a rude little bird!

Coming soon!!! 

More from Magee Marsh! More Warblies! More bad jokes! 

Stay tuned!