One of our neighborhood big birds, the pileated woodpecker, came for lunch today. He swooped in for a landing on top of the hopper feeder, and Bob spotted him feasting on the suet cake that is right below his "landing pad." Leaning over the end of the feeder, he would grab a bite of suet, take …
Big birds in the backyard
To my delight the sky cleared this afternoon, and I was even more delighted when I heard a familiar sound in the neighborhood. I hurried to the window and, sure enough, the pileated woodpecker was in our backyard. It didn't hang around for long, but before it swooped through the air to land on a …
A sure sign of spring!
Spring has been wearing its fickle face recently, bringing lots of rain, wind, and even a few rumbles of thunder. Thankfully we haven't had any severe storms, although at times the rain was heavy enough to create a large pond in our neighbor's backyard. This happens every spring, of course, and, without fail, when the …
Continuing my search for spring
Rain and thunder through the night and into the morning hours convinced me that this would not be a good day for another trail walk. Instead I will continue with part 2 of yesterday's post: Searching for Spring in the Arboretum. I ended that post when we reached the entrance to the Rhododendron Garden, so I will pick up there …
Dreary…AGAIN!
Part one of a two part post in which we continue our Search for Spring in the Arboretum. Thunder, buckets of rain, and puddles deep enough for ducks to take a swim! That's today, drowning in dreariness, but yesterday was beautiful...a great day for a trail walk at Holden Arboretum. That's where we will continue …
Twice surprised!
In the afternoon, the sky cleared a little, and I took advantage of the break in the clouds to do a little birding before sunset. I knew there would probably be a variety of birds along the trail near the fence post, so that's where I headed. To my surprise, a bluejay joined the others in …
Dreary…again!
Hoping to see a little sunshine this morning, after a cloudy weekend, I was disappointed to wake up to overcast skies. Had it been a sunny day, I would have grabbed my camera (and jacket) and headed to the Arboretum. However, completely unmotivated by the dull weather, I decided instead to park myself in front of …
A didgeridoo: An unusual sight to see (and hear) along the trail in Chagrin River Park
Anyone familiar with my blog is aware that most of my posts originate from my experiences along the trail in local parks. Today's post is not an exception, but it is somewhat unusual and definitely different from the usual sights I typically see along the trail. That's not the didgeridoo pictured at the top of the …
And then the sun came out!
As I wrote in my last post, Tuesday morning was chilly and completely overcast, but my friend Lisa and I had agreed to meet at Holden Arboretum for a "walk and talk," so off I went. As I drove down Sperry Road to the Arboretum entrance, the clouds parted, the morning haze vanished, and then, …
Celebrating spring!
My friend Lisa and I took at trail walk in Holden Arboretum today. The morning sky was completely overcast, but as I drove down Sperry Road to the arboretum entrance at about 1 pm, the sun came out. Admittedly it was still only about 50 degrees, and winter hasn't entirely loosened its grip on northeast …
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 