Osprey

Last Sunday an Osprey had his fish lunch on a big limb of the dead Ash.

When he was finished he gave himself a nice grooming.

I am so happy we did not cut down this tree after the emerald ash borers ended it's life.
The birds I can remember seeing on it's branches include:
White breasted Nuthatches
Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers
Red bellied Woodpeckers
Great Blue Herons
Belted Kingfishers
Bald Eagles
Turkey Vultures
Red tailed Hawks
Wood Ducks
Osprey
Bluejays
Robins
Song Sparrow
Eastern Kingbirds

Butterfly Meadow

Today is cold and rainy and miserable.  I am waiting to see if we will monitor.

Last Friday was crisp and clear and beautiful.  There was a little frost on the low lying plants and a bit of mist in the air as we headed out to Butterfly Meadow.

Frost on the plants, including Legget's Pinweed 

(small seed heads mostly on the bottom left of the photo)

Frost and mist beyond the Oaks

The leaves were just beginning to change.

Dew outlines a garden spider web.

There number of Allegheny Ant mounds have been increasing over the years.  

These ants place formic acid on the top of their mounds to discourage plant growth.

Spiranthes species orchid

Much of the area is a wet meadow.

Bottle gentians were seen for the first time.

Bottle Gentian

Last Friday Jerry and I went out to monitor by ourselves.  

For the third week in a row, we tried and failed to find the rarest of Ohio plants, the Prairie Gentian.  

There was a new woodchuck den in the vicinity of where the plant has always been seen.  

Next we went to Campbell Prairie to look at the Bottle Gentian.  It had already been counted, but was too pretty to miss taking a peak at.

One of the last things left to monitor was the Thyme-leaved Pinweed, so we headed to Badger Barrens.  

The Winged Sumac along the forest edges was starting to turn.

These yellow mushrooms contrast with the leaf litter.

A sandy field at Badger Barrens