Posted on September 23, 2018
In central Ohio it’s not quite autumn but with daylight too quickly losing the battle to the setting sun it would be hard, even on a warm day, to mistake it for summer. Plants, animals, insects, weather, and daylight are all in all in a state of flux. It’s as though we’re passing through on our way to somewhere else, to a place that’s easier to put a label on. It’s hard to bring oneself to the realization that present forms of life are dying but such an awareness is inescapable as one walks through the woods. It is a season of paradox as late summer and fall wildflowers arrive doing their best to announce the autumnal fireworks to follow.
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Caterpillars active just a few weeks ago have disappeared in preparation to reintroduce themselves next year in a new perhaps more beautiful form. Highlighted by the early morning dew, spider webs are everywhere often to the detriment of passing grasshoppers which seem more plentiful now. Other insects continue to make their daily rounds without the urgency of the squirrels which all seem to have a nut in their mouth. An occasional migrating warbler is seen making its way south while blue jays and crows are noticed more often just passing through while others have undoubtedly taken up residence for the winter.
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Unlike summer, with days that change little from one to the next, it’s a time of year that assigns value to what we have and blesses us with a feeling of gratitude for what soon will be lost.
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Thanks for stopping by.
Category: Central Ohio Nature, Central Ohio Parks, Columbus, Nature Photography, Prairie Oaks Metro Park, Wildflowers Tagged: Banded Garden Spider, Bay Breasted Warbler, Goldenrod, Killdeer, Monarch Butterfly, Morning Glory, New England Aster, Nodding-bur Marigold, Question Mark, Tree Swallow, Viceroy, Violet, Widow Skimmer
Posted on October 16, 2017
Recently, after several weeks of very dry weather, the rain came. One day it amounted to almost three inches. Once clear and lazy, area rivers are now swollen and turbid and flow with more purpose as though their water has somewhere to go. The precipitation came too late to have a major effect on the season’s color but the orange, yellow, and brown of oaks and hickories is now more saturated. The moist earth returns it’s recent gift to the humid early morning air, as suspended leaves, some no longer green, appear to almost come back to life.
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Two days ago during a walk in an area park a bench provided a place to eat lunch. In the stillness we watched an occasional leaf from some unknown high branch in a nearby tree, like a large early winter snowflake, silently float down and land quietly at our feet. A few descended without a flourish, but most either spiraled, spun, or sashayed side to side on the last and only journey of their lives. They joined those already fallen to complete the cycle of life. One here, another there, slowly, as we sat watching, they never stopped. Today, as I write this, with wind howling past a partially open window, the scene would be much different.
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It’s hard not to think of them as friends, the group of birds; robins, nuthatches, blue jays, etc., that are such an important part of our walks in nature near home.
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Others birds, such as the Bald Eagle, are only seen on occasion but that occasion is a miracle. When I was young, in the days of DDT, a trip to Alaska may have been necessary to see one. Now they can be seen just a mile and a half from our house. Ospreys are seen more frequently, but soon they will embark on their journey south following the already departed community of Black-crowned Night Herons that through early fall call Griggs Reservoir home. With each osprey sighting we wonder if it will be the last until next year.
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The true magic of the rain, after such a long period of dry weather, is the fungi. Many just seem to appear out of nowhere while others, having endured the dryness, regain their color. Identifying what is seen can be a challenge.
Moss on what appears to be False Turkey-tail causes one to wonder just how long it’s been there. Emily Traphagen Park, (Donna).
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Early morning fog, also the result of the recent rain, greeted us during a walk at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park creating splendor in a spider’s web.
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Later, as we continued our walk, we noticed a few moths that apparently had gathered on the light gray wood siding of a park building during the night.
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As we continued on a number of Eastern Commas where seen, usually right on the trail.
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When the rain came, after such a long period of dryness, I stepped out onto our porch, took a deep breath, watched, and listened. The rain fell softly at first, with the sound of a mouse playing as it touched the dry places. After a while, standing there, the rain leaving fleeting patterns in driveway puddles, it’s fragrance in the wet grass, soil, and filling the air, I was taken to a different place and embraced by a feeling of newness and rebirth.
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Thanks for stopping by.
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XXX
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Category: Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, Central Ohio Nature, Emily Traphagen Park, Griggs Reservoir Park, hiking in central ohio, Nature Photography, Ohio Nature Tagged: Angel's Wings, Artist's Bracket, Bald Eagle, Banded Garden Spider, Belted Kingfisher, Blue Jay, Canon 60D with Sigma 18-300mm, Carolina Wren, Common Split Gill, Crown-tipped Coral, Dot-lined White Moth, Downy Woodpecker, Dryad's Saddle, Eastern Comma, Eastern Phoebe, False Turkey-tail, Large Maple Span Worm Moth, Luminescent Panellus, Mallard Duck, Non-inky Coprinus, Osprey, Panasonic FZ200, Panasonic Lumix G7 100-400mm, Pigeons, Puffballs, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Sony A7, Turkey Tail, White-breasted Nuthatch, White-marked Tussock Moth, Witches' Butter, Wolf's Milk Slime, Wood Ear
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