Hissy Fit

A few weeks ago we visited our friends at the home they rented in The Villages in Florida.  It was a  nice break from winter.  The bird watching was pretty good, too.

One late afternoon on our way to get dinner we spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes feeding on a lawn.

As we rounded the corner we could see that a woman had come out her front door with two small dogs, ready for their walk.  

The pups spotted the cranes and went ballistic.

Rather than take flight, the cranes became alert, stretching to their maximum height.

They proceeded to have quite a fit, honking and flapping and hopping (the other crane was close to a street sign, which prevented attractive photos).

The woman wisely took her dogs in the opposite direction.

Changing Seasons

Our autumn and early winter were mild and colorful and wonderful.  

The big Black Oak by the patio

Fall color on the southern shore of the Maumee in the evening light

Hawthorne berries

Steam rising from the river with the first frosty morning

Finally, last Sunday, winter arrived.  

By yesterday morning the river had frozen, but warmer temperatures during the day resulted in a thaw this morning.  

I thought I had seen the last of the Herons, but I was wrong.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Last "Monitoring" of the Season

The plant monitoring season ended October 23.  

There wasn't anything to actually count, but we collected seeds for the Metroparks to plant and reintroduce to new park sites.

It was a beautiful morning.

Ostrich Barrens
You can just see the "blow out" on the right at the crest of the hill. 

Diane walking along the pipeline with Mary's Savannah on the right

Denise, Louise, Diane and Larry collecting seeds

Red Oak in Mary's Savannah

Red blueberry leaves under the Oaks in Mary's Savannah

Around Loudonville

Last weekend my friend Cathy and I found ourselves sans husbands.  

So we made a girls weekend of it in Loudonville.

I have always been attracted to rural scenery and the gently rolling hills of central Ohio make it just that much more beautiful.

We spent most of our time riding around and storing up as much of the sights and smells of autumn as we could.

We'll need those memories in a month or two.

Fall Color Tour

On October 10 Dan and I joined the Porsche Club of America Rally Sport Region Color Tour in Pinckney, Michigan.

We reminisced about our first Porsche - a 993 (silver car on right).

It was a beautiful day.

The leaves were just beginning to change.

We all took a break in Mason, Michigan.  Dan and I had a snack at the Daily Scoop Ice Cream Shoppe. 

Mason has a beautiful court house.

We finished up at Johnny Carino's in Brighton, Michigan.  

We ate dinner with an engineer named Dan - whose wife was named Jonna.  Unreal.

Leather-leaved Grape Fern

A few highlights from monitoring this past Friday:

Leather-leaved Grape Fern near the old Scout garage

A sleepy bumble bee

Rattlesnake Root 

This rare species is a favorite of deer, so it is uncommon for us to see an intact plant.  This one was at least 6 feet tall.

The colors are just getting started.  This is across the street from the wet meadow (below) where the Rattlesnake Root was found.