December Drive to Deer Creek !

I had a very nasty cold for about 10 days.  Had been inside trying to get well.  Finally I started feeling better and really tired of being home.  My sister called and off we went on a drive to see what was out there.  My sister had been taking care of her daughter and grandson...her daughter had broken her foot.  So you can see we were both ready for a nice long drive.
We first stopped at Charlie's pond.  There we watched an American Kestrel.  He was hunting for food.  He was on the telephone line and would dive down to the ground.  Sometimes he would come back to the line with a tidbit, he would eat and sometimes he would have nothing.

He also kept an eye on us.  We tried to get a little closer so I could get a better picture, but he would fly further away when we had gotten to close.
Was thrilled to see that the rain had helped the canal area that had been dry because of the drought this summer.

We then decided to head to Deer Creek but missed the turn off and turned on Island Rd. off 23.  A new adventure, we hoped.

As we were driving down this road, 3 deer ran out in front of us and we stopped and watched them leaping and running through the field.  Those cute white tails up in the air..was a treat to see. 

We came to this beautiful bridge....

With a nice view...

This was the Commercial Point Road Bridge.  I had never been out that way before.  Always something new to see and learn about.

We finally found our way to Deer Creek and started checking out our favorite places to see wildlife...nothing!  Was so quite and not even a sparrow flying around...very disappointing...

Finally we saw 4 crows and a couple of Killdeer.  So we continued driving around the Lake...then my Sister saw something moving in the tree....yes!  a woodpecker really working on this hole....A Hairy Woodpecker

From the looks of this tree, he has worked on this tree for a long time....

We then went to the Lodge, since we weren't having much luck with birds..

This squirrel greeted us at the lodge and so did this Vulture!

The Lodge was all decorated for Christmas, each tree had a different theme...

Even the deer was all dressed up.....

So we had to get into the picture too.....We have always enjoyed driving to Deer Creek and having lunch at the Lodge (but didn't today)..I recommend it to everyone, if you have cabin fever...

We continued our drive and found some sea gulls and a Heron.

There were a couple of Hawks but of course they didn't hang around....off they flew..Also saw a Northern Harrier hunting..That was fun to watch him flying around and diving to the ground..

So we started our way back to home and in the sky was this neat sight..that my sister called the Care Bear rainbow....

It lasted a long time....of course we headed for Canal Rd. to finish off our drive.  I wanted to see if the rain had helped...

This Red Tailed Hawk was there in the Canal Rd. Park as we pulled in ...and a few sparrows...

On of the Canal ruins...I think this was used to adjust the canal water level from the Scioto River which is just on the other side of this...

As we drove down the road there was more water in the canal then the last time I was by here....the falls are still dry but the pond seems to be coming back....

What is this?  On the ground and blooming in December!!!!

Dandelions!  I was a bit surprised to see them.... ;)

By now it is starting to get dark (can't wait till it starts to get dark at a later time!) and so home we went...but even if we didn't see allot of birds and wildlife...we had fun...

I snapped the sunset as we were coming into town.  What a wonderful day for a drive.

Hope everyone has the Merriest of Christmas and the Happiest of New Year!  I would also like to thank all of you that read my little blog..... Hope to have some new and interesting and exciting tales to share with you in 2013! ;)