It was a fun day at work, I am working on an informative bird display that will emphasize bird behavior in Spring. Wow, I actually get paid to do this??? Hahaha, living the dream. We also went on a nice walk to look for and interpret tracks in the fresh snow. We had 8 people total on the hike and it seems like everyone enjoyed it. We saw a Cooper's and a Red-tailed Hawk fly by, as well as a group of 5 Tundra or Trumpeter Swans..too hard to ID from the fly-over.
Anyway, my hike this morning was beautiful. One of my secret spots...some of you may recognize it, but I'm not telling hahaha (sorry). I promise I only have like 3 secret spots. 2 of which are within the Grand River and her tributaries, the other within Chagrin's. The sun came out and told Winter that it was time to start melting away. I heard the Song Sparrows singing about it. As I walked along the creek, I continuously stared in awe at the beauty of this sunny morning. The snow was doing that special glistening of every color again.
Hemlock gorges are automatically my favorite habitat type, and if I lived in the wild, that is where I'd live. Everytime there is a creek around, I inevitabley end up in it. Speaking of living in the wild, I have found recently that foxes and I think alike when it comes to choice of path through the woods. We both love walking along ridges of valleys, and I frequently find myself following fox tracks without meaning to. As was the case this morning.
Other than some tracks and some typical birds singing, I don't have much to report as far as wildlife and ecology goes. I took this hike this morning just to get out an enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Winter coming to an end, so I spent more time composing photos than anything else.
After leaving my secret location, I had to head back to Kent for class, which I unfortunately ended up missing (so sad). Since I now had extra time, I stopped by Crystal Lake which is a small preserve owned by The Nature Concervancy. I am the preserve moniter! Yippee! I took a short hike around to scope the place, and discovered 3 hawk nests. None of them appeared to be occupied though : ( I will continue to check for activity...
On the way to my house from Crystal Lake (which is only a few miles down the road) I scanned one of the reservoirs on the side of the road and spotted 6 Hooded Mergansers. 5 males, 1 female. Poor girl. Males were getting rowdy too. I am ready for the ice on all of the reservoirs to melt away so I can go looking for more waterfowl!
I finally got back to "reality" and went to my other to classes for the day. Great day overall, I even had time to ride my bike over to the wetland on KSU property (the one I always mention) and I watched a possum (Virginia Opposum technically) eating a big dead catfish on the side of the pond. I saw at least 5 of these fish dead in the area, they must have froze : ( At least the possum gets to eat! (As well as other scavengers including a Bald Eagle).
Lastly, I got to see my Mockingbird for the second time in a week on the property, I don't see Mockingbirds too often for some reason, so I always enjoy watching them. Seems he is fond of eating fruits. Ok well I must finish this up and get to sleep I have to wake up at 6:30AM to go out and do some bird-watching in the morning : )
Good stuff! Reminds me of back home in MA!
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