Spring has sprung in Yoctangee Park !

Overnight the trees have burst out in beautiful color after their long winter nap.  I had to go to the park to see.....

The bridge is always beautiful and the sun was behind menacing clouds.  I didn't know if it was going to start raining or not.

Loved the pink tree across the lake.

The beautiful fruit trees blooming with their white blossoms.

A view of the lake and Water Street down near Walnut.

View of Water Street near Paint St.  The Daffodils blooming on the hillside.

There were several couples of Lesser Scaup.  They are a diving duck and every time I focused in on him under he went!

As this picture shows!!!!  But finally go a couple of good pictures...This group came over to me thinking I was going to feed them something...they were very disappointed and the Mallard duck seems to have become part of their group...I believe they are Indian Runner ducks.

And of course the squirrels were everywhere, running, climbing trees, just having a fun time in the nice spring weather.

Looking to the west.

Still looking West... In this one I noticed the houses on the hill, that in a few weeks I won't be able to see them when the trees have all their leaves.

A close up...I think this is Mountain House the home of Dard Hunter.

So beautiful.....

My favorite tree in the whole park!

I wonder how old he is.  It reminds me of a wise, old man.

Now across the bridge I go to see what I find on the other side.

A nice walk along here.

The Swan making his tour of the pond to be sure there are no trouble makers about.  He had just finished chasing two other swans up the hill at Paint where you turn into the park.

Another look at the fruit trees,  not sure if they are apple or not? You can see the clouds but no rain yet... 

The Swan passing under the bridge...almost back to the nest.

This view is looking north...the YMCA is on the left.  Looks like the sky is beginning to clear!

 

What it is like to walk under these beautiful trees and smell (which I could give you that) is wonderful.

This Song Sparrow was singing his heart out....I love to listen to them.

Then I found this Mourning Dove nest...Oh my they build such pitiful nests...She must have laid her eggs because she didn't move when I stopped to snap a picture.

Then I saw an American Coot....wonder how he ended up here...

Then these two sleeping under the Willow....Wood Duck on left and Mallard...

The violets are blooming too...They are pretty and I love them but not in my yard!  LOL

Now I am over by the "Y"...

Looking across the road...that is the High School peeking through the trees...

Then I saw something which I couldn't quite make out...I was too far away....

Closer I got it looked like a ball of fur...a RAT!   no too big...hhmmm?  What is it?

He turned a little and guess what!  a Ground Hog!!!!!  He was just sitting there on top of his home!

They are cute but I guess they can be a nuisance...

Now I am at the nest....

This is the third year nesting here.  She hasn't had very good luck..so maybe this year will be different...the first year the eggs didn't hatch...last year she had one baby, but it didn't survive..don't know what happened to it...so hopefully this year will be a good one.

She know's I am near. She didn't move.  I quickly took a couple of pictures and left.

 

Going back to my car...

Such a lovely walk through the park....and when I got home...the sun came out! LOL

Exploring with my Sister!

Saturday, March 9, 2013, was a beautiful, sunny, warm day.  A sure taste of Spring!  So you guessed it! My sister picked me up and off we went to explore the out of doors.  First I took her to see the Eagle's nest on 180 that my GF (girl friend) and I had found the day before...got a little better picture (this eye problem really doesn't make good photos!)

She is in full view in this one and can tell this is a fairly new nest.....from here we went over to Orr Rd. to check out that nest!

This one is over 4 or 5 years old aleast...you can see the difference in size of the other nest....

The next stop on our drive was Charlie's Pond.  We hadn't been there in a while.  It was pretty quite.  Didn't see much until we saw this huge bird soaring overhead.....an Eagle!  We have never seen an Eagle at Charlie's Pond before.  We lost sight of him and drove down the end of the road and turned around and coming back.......OH MY GOODNESS!!!  What is that in the field!?

There sat the Eagle, just looking around like he was enjoying the day like we were.  We stopped and watched and I tried to take pictures....and got very lucky and got this one......

I just love looking at this picture...the lenght of his leggs, the wings....just beautiful.  We were so excited that we didn't mind that there weren't any other birds to be seen.  Our day had been made!

We then decided to go over to Canal Rd. (another one of our favorite places to just drive by).

The Scioto River is full and you can feel the power it has....

Above picture is looking south from the Canal dam.   The one below  is looking north....

You can walk a path from there down to the area where the falls and pond are.  We keep saying one day we are going to do it....One day for sure!

We have seen a wild Turkey and her babies in this area and of course frogs, snakes, birds, dragonflies...but today very quiet.  We could hear birds singing in the distance but didn't see them.

The falls finally have a little bit of water coming over....the end of last summer this was dry...(check my earlier blogs Aug. 2012)  There is the path you can walk over in the trees on the top part of the water.  We have walked a little ways on this end.  Seen Herons, Kinglets, warblers, mink, Red-headed woodpeckers, Belted Kingfisher, Baltimore Orioles, turtles, muskrats, just to name a few....So if you are driving around...try Canal Rd. between 104 and 22 south of Circleville.  The scenery is pretty and one never knows what one will see.

So we were getting hungry and decided to eat at the Deer Creek Lodge and off we went.

We both had the Waterloo Salad (think that is right name) delicious!  But the lake was very quite also!  Just a little group on the side very far away...this isn't a very good picture but they could only be seen with binoculars.

Canadian Geese and Herons and some ducks that can't ID....After lunch we hit our favorite places at Deer Creek 

Just Crows!   

Went over to the area where we took my Granddaughter to walk in the creek last summer when it was almost dry and it was very full.

We were enjoying our drive and on the way home we stopped at Paint Creek (it is a little out of the way).  The first thing we saw when getting there was an Eagle soaring overhead!  We couldn't believe it.  

Then one of the sad parts of life.  This beautiful Coyote laying beside the road in the sun like he was taking a nap....but he wasn't....

He was so peaceful looking....

On our way understanding that things like this happen and that we got to enjoy his beauty up close.

This is one of my favorite barns to photograph.  I have taken pictures in all seasons...Today we stopped for a closer look......

My Sister going up the hill to the house which is just about ready to collasp completely. 

We noticed the patches of Dafodiles....still growing in the spring even though this house is dying a little each spring.

The tree is huge...my Sister thought maybe it is an Oak...

Bet they bloom before next week....

This is the other side of the Barn that one doesn't get to see.  Would love to know the history of this old homestead.

View of the Dam from the beach side of Paint Creek.

The only things we saw here were Gulls.....

and Crows, lots of Crows.....then one of the last little pull outs we like we saw this tiny, little bird!

What is that?  Oh My!  My sister yells "A Yellow-Butt!"  I laughed....she said, see the yellow spot!

Then I remembered!  It is a "Yellow-rumped" .  

Of course, the lighting and the fast movements of this cute little fellow prevented me from getting any picture that would do it justice.  Sorry...It is our first Warbler of the year!  A good sighting.

Over on the Dam were these Black-faced Vultures, sitting enjoying the sun.

Even at the bird feeders they have at the Ranger office...there weren't many birds...

Then 3 big Crows flew in and scared all the little birds away.

But we did see several Red-winged Blackbirds, which is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner!

They were letting water out of the dam.....

We decided to check out the Heron Rookery on Rapid Forge Rd. and we saw several Blue Birds there and the Herons were in their nest!   Such a beautiful sight!

Here are a few good ones I was able to take.  It is amazing to me how they can all get in those tiny nests....maybe if I was closer, the nests would look bigger.  They are so graceful.

Well, we were tired and ready to head home (and the sun was going down)....

                                .....To dream of another day and another adventure.....