Another Birthday

Well yesterday was my birthday and it was a very nice one...was with my Sister going to our favorite places..

First at Charlie's Pond, we only saw this lone Pheasant walking through the grasses.

Then to Canal Rd.  This is a hillside of Virginia Bluebells blooming at the picnic site.

In the tree above us this Yellow-rumped Warbler was flying around.

We drove on down the road and saw this Heron in the grasses beside the road.

 The Heron saw us and after letting me get a couple of pictures, he flew into a tree...

 Below there were turtles sunning themselves...

 Saw a lot of squirrels...

 Then we saw this huge white bird fly up out of the canal!  It was a Great Egret!  We had never seen one on Canal Rd.  He landed in a tree and I was able to get this picture.

 We were having a great time along Canal Rd....We got to the falls and decided to take a small hike

There was a well worn path that we could follow, figured deer and other animals used it.

Birds were chirping and flitting around us.  Then we saw these two tiny birds, making all this noise and flying around us.  As I am trying to get a picture (which was almost impossible) My Sister found out what was going on.....They were building a nest!  Oh the cutest little nest I have ever seen....

These little birds were Blue-gray Gnatcatcher... A first for both of us.  It was quite exciting.

From what I read about them the like to make their nests of plant fibers and bark chips and decorate with lichens and lined with fine vegetation, hair and feathers.

See him peeking at me through the leaves....we didn't stay too long because we didn't want to stress them and more than we had.

The Buckeye trees were beginning to bloom.  There are a lot of Buckeye trees along Canal Rd.

There were violets blooming everywhere.  Two different colors!

This pretty Trillium was blooming everywhere too.  I had never seen this one in the wild before...

 We spotted this groundhog sitting on a hill...looked like he was just enjoying his morning view!.

We also saw our first Indio Bunting of the year at Adam Lake in Adam County.

He was shy...only give me a back pose.... 

And our first baby goslings!  Canadian Geese and their 3 babies...

We also saw 9 Wild Turkey (they ran away before I could get a picture) and a rabbit and the Redbud trees were gorgeous!.

We stopped at an Amish Bakery and got so yummy stuff and they were having a sale on bird feeders, so we each got one!  When I dropped my Sister off, my Niece had me a delicious cupcake for my birthday.  I was tired but very, very happy.  It had been a great day!

But the best was yet to come!!!!!

I had a birthday card waiting for me and here it is....

 Can't get any better than that !!!!!  So I just want to thank everyone that remembered me and wished me a Happy Birthday because it worked....Thanks!

(you can't view the little video on your phone or tablet, must view from PC)

Free Sunday!

Some days it is wonderful to know that you can go places for free and enjoy art and nature in a big city like Columbus, Oh.  My friend planned this day of adventure, first going to the Franklin Park Conservatory.  This time we weren't going in, we were going to walk around the grounds.  I hadn't walked the grounds since Amer-a-flora was there back in the 90's...I went twice and it was beautiful.  We started our walk here....

If you haven't gone to see the butterflies..do plan to...it is fun and pretty.

Daffodils blooming, several different types.

Great old trees!  Love the Sycamore.

This Robin hopping around the ground.

Lots and lots of tulips!!

Just so beautiful!  I found this butterfly on a rather ugly tulip....

Guess the butterfly thought it tasted good.... 

This is the John E. Wolfe Palm House.  

Sculptures...

 From any view there is a different look to these
sculptures.  Was fun walking around and seeing how
they changed.

Another interesting sculpture...Reach Out by Alfred Tibor...

The ribbon of red Tulips was in memory of those
that have died of AIDS and in honor of those
living with HIV/AIDS

The only way to get a close up to the tulips.....

The beautiful Weeping Cherry tree!

Just looking up to the sky I found beauty in the tree branches...

The Japanese bridge area was nice....

Then this inspired me to experiment ....

I guess the want-a-be artist in me just couldn't
resist seeing what would happen....
The pictures turned out ok! LOL!

In the dry creek bed found this bird egg shell...aw spring is here. ;)

Walking in this area found several different kinds of plants.

Grape Hyacinth.

Virginia Bluebells.

May Apples

Continuing our walk.

The small lake.

These beautiful Hellebores.  Wish mine looked like these.

This bird was singing up a storm....I couldn't ID him but enjoyed his song. (and gave my friend his first birding experience!)

We were pretty hungry after our walk and went for lunch!  Our day was only half over...then we headed to the Columbus Art Museum.  On Sundays you can get in for FREE!  They are having an exhibit "Strings Attached" The living tradition of Czech Puppets!  It is a neat exhibit.

Weeping Willow by Monet.  (He is one of my favorite painters)

The ceiling in the museum is beautiful.

They were having music in this area where the Chihuly glass work was.  So pretty.

 

I noticed these stairs in the little restaurant.  Remind me of something that might be in a lighthouse. 

 "Gift Eggs" by Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson.

This little two room fun house...I am sure it was created for the kids....but I loved the colors and the interesting way things were displayed!

The last stop was the gift shop!  I found it to be just as pretty as some of the exhibits.

The next few pictures are of the First Congregrational Church next to the art museum.  

Such a beautiful church.

Now it was time to head to Jeni's ice cream on High St.   Oh my if you haven't had any of her ice cream you need to put it on your list of things  to experience!

I had the Savannah Butternut, Wildberry Lavender, and Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries!  Yummy! 

Then it was time to head home!  I got to ride in the cutest car.
This pretty Fiat!

It was a great day...the only bad thing was the wind!  It was still a cold wind but other than that we had a good time and it was FREE  (except for lunch and Jeni's  )  LOL

This is a picture of me taken by my friend...yes trying to get a picture of that bird... ;)

Just remember that if you are having a boring Sunday...go check out the Art Museum in Columbus and the Franklin Park Conservatory grounds...if you want to go inside, which is really neat, especially the butterflies.