I headed down to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park today, primarily to check out a great blue heron nesting colony. Herons nest apartment-complex style -- in this case, in giant sycamores overhanging marshland. One tree held thirteen nests, which look like massive piles of sticks, and on one nest, four herons, almost full-grown, craned their necks and stretched their legs. They were too far away for much in the way of photography, though, so I decided to walk on a portion of the Ohio-Erie Canal Towpath Trail, the portion that makes its way directly through the marsh:
The trip was well worth it. My short walk revealed a ruby-throated hummingbird, cedar waxwings, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, a flicker, a kingbird, tree swallows, Canada geese parents with four goslings, a wood duck hen with at least 12 tiny young scurrying behind her across the muck and vanishing into the grasses on the bank and, best of all, from my point of view, yellow warblers, who nest along river (or, in this case, canal) banks:
(http://www.pnl.gov/ecology/Gallery/Animal/ywarbler.htm)
Their nests are virtually impossible to find, but I could see that at least one of the birds was busy providing lunch to his family. It was a dreary, sprinkly kind of day, but I had a terrific walk anyway.
Walked: 4 miles.
Walked in May: 86.7 miles
4 comments:
This sounds like a wonderful walk. I feel blessed on a day when I spot a heron. I would certainly enjoy a place like this. Way to go...FOUR miles!
86.7 Miles in May!!! You should plot this on a map and see what places you could visit with all that walking. Fantastic! The place you walked looks beautiful! Do you go alone usually or with a friend or family member?
Great pics! Looks and sounds like a really nice place to walk.
Great pictures. Glad you had a good walk.
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