All Varieties of Nature

Today's post has a variety of things I've spotted over the last week on my hikes and in our yard.  It's been a fun week.

The weather has gotten a little cooler so I've really enjoyed the hikes.  Since I've written about the problematic dogs I've encountered during my hikes, I've met them 3 more times.  They really aren't bad dogs, just the owner doesn't control them.  Once the ranger drove by and mentioned to me and another lady to keep our dogs leashed because they've been receiving complaints.   So I know they're on the watch.  Funny thing, the lady showed up again just a few minutes after he left.  Darn!

I love these next two shots.  From the side, it looks like a little alabaster bird bath.  So pretty in form.

I didn't bother to look up what kind of flowers these are and unfortunately their pretty blue color doesn't show up in this photo.  They were nice to see along the trail.

My daughter came over on Saturday to collect some wood for their upcoming family Halloween Campout.  When she picked up the logs, she found this little critter.  He is a harmless Eastern Garter Snake.  Finn didn't pay any attention to him, so I think he's safe in our yard.  I wouldn't want a snake in my house, but I'm not freaked out about them as long as I know they're harmless.  I love his pretty colors and his eyes.

As Emily was loading up her car with the logs, she passed by one of our cars that we don't use very often and she found this pretty (?) little guy.This is a black and yellow garden spider, they are harmless and eat lots of pests like flies and mosquitoes etc.This one is a male..they weave the zig zag webs.

It's All About Dogs

People love to hike with their dogs, but some people take advantage of the trails in ways they shouldn't.  Our county parks allow dogs to be in the park but they must be leashed at all times.  Some people think that rule is only for others, and not themselves.

A facebook friend of mine recently encountered some unleashed dogs while she was walking, she reported them to the rangers.  I don't know if they were ticketed or not, but I ran into that same dog walker this morning while on my hike.

I could hear her calling her dogs, and by the time she approached me, they were leashed.  After posting this on facebook with the description of the person and her dogs, I found out that these dogs possibly killed some chickens at the park's little farm they have for visitors.  Apparently, this person has become a real problem for the park.  It's sad and unfortunate people don't realize how nice they have it. I go to other parks, that don't allow dogs at all.  They don't allow for the safety of the wildlife there....and I'm sure the stupidity of some owners.. END OF RANT.

Since this post is about dogs, I thought I'd post some pictures of two 4 month old puppies who belong to my granddaughter and my daughter's friend.  They stopped by to visit with Finn one day.

This is Aki.  She is an akita.  I love the way she has her paw in the bowl.  I also love the wrinkles on head between her ears.

 

This is Bernie.  He is a Victorian Bulldog.  OK.  I never heard of this breed either.  I was told this breed was developed with an English Bulldog and an American Bulldog.  Bernie has longer legs than an English Bulldog.  I have to admit, this little guy was so cute.  My other granddaughter calls him Meatball. 

Neither dog was aggressive with Finn.  They were all interested in each other and ran around like they weren't sure what to do with each other.  Finn was a little apprehensive with Bernie, but Bernie was more "Hi! I'm Bernie!" in your face.  They all wore each other out.  A fun day all around!

A Foggy Day

I love hiking in all kinds of weather.  I don't know if it's because the worse the weather is, the fewer people that are on the trail.  This day, however, it wasn't foggy at all when I started the hike.

It was good to start seeing fungi growing.  Lately there hasn't been much to see except dog feces that owners don't clean up, discarded water bottles, candy wrappers and dropped tissues.

When I finally came out of the woods, the fog had rolled in and it looked so cool.  I love it!

When I got back to the parking lot, I took this picture.   When I had started the hike, there was a man in this field looking for coins etc.  I'm not sure if he's still there or not in this shot. Hasha!

Oh Deer!

I've been doing a lot of hiking but not much picture taking.  I haven't figured out how to use my fitbit phone app to track my hike and still be able to take pictures with my phone without interrupting the tracking.  I'll figure it out one of these days.  The last couple of days I just haven't used the phone app.  I miss getting the little map of where I hiked, but I know where I've been so I'll just live with that. Haha.

Just lately I've seen deer nearly every day I've hiked.  The pictures in this post aren't the best.  I was standing on a hillside and being the klutz that I am, I didn't hold the camera very still.  I didn't want to spook the deer, so I stood as quietly as I could.  Finn wasn't with me, so that was good.

I saw 4 deer in all that day, but only got pictures of two.  Hope you can see them.  It was pretty dark that day with rain on the way.  Luckily, I finished before the rain.

This is not the best video...a bit shaky, but so was I.  I was standing on a hillside.

I'm still bouncing between the old computer and the new.  Using the old computer for my blogging because it has a nice program for photos.  Herb will get something for the new computer, but with working full time he has very little free time except to cut the grass etc.

Labor Day With Some of My Friends

I've still been hiking pretty much, but not taking a lot of pictures.  My new go to trail is a Parcours Trail at Winton Woods Park.  It's a trail that isn't used as much as the other trails, so less people to deal with.  When there are more people, like today, the trail is pretty wide, so it's easier to pass people especially if there are dogs involved. I get a good workout with several hills.

Driving through the park is always fun, and I'm always on the lookout for wildlife.  I passed these two driving through the park.  I think this path is used by the park employees to drive their equipment through when they mow the grass along the road.

This is another deer I saw peeking through the trees.  Can you see him/her?

I have to admit this isn't one of my pictures.  My son Paul, who lives in Florida, sent me this picture this morning.  So pretty!  A Zebra Longwing.

We recently bought a new computer, because the old one is beginning to have issues.  Right now, all of our pictures are on the old computer.  We have a way of moving our old pictures onto the new one (some kind of box...don't know what it's called), which is great.  However, any more pictures that  I download are just sitting on the old computer again.  I really need the old program for pictures loaded on to the new computer.  Until that gets done, I'm going to be blogging from the old computer.

A Visit to Raptor Inc.

I've always wanted to drive out to Milford, Ohio to visit Raptor Inc during one of their Open Houses.  It has never worked out that Herb was off work in order for us to attend.  As it turned out, this particular Sunday was our family reunion picnic that we have been attending for well over 60 years.  However, at the last minute we found out it had to be cancelled because no one reserved a shelter at the park!  We were all really disappointed, but then I remembered the Open House at Raptor Inc!!!

We only saw about 15 birds who are permanent residents due to circumstances that would not allow them to return to the wild..  However, they have many others that are being rehabilitated and were kept away from the public so they could heal and remain in a peaceful environment.

Here are a few pictures of wings and a pretty example of an owl.

Herb took a lot of pictures with a camera, I only took a few with my phone thinking the camera would get better pictures.   I was wrong...wish I had taken more pictures with the phone.


A beautiful peregrine falcon.

A sweet little barn owl.  Barn owls are my favorite!  I can't remember if he was missing a wing or just had major issues with it.

A turkey vulture.  A face only a mother could love!  I believe this "pretty" lady became too attached to someone who tried to keep her as a pet.  So much so that she couldn't be returned to the wild.

Some awesome looking owls!  Magnificent creatures!

A leucistic hawk who obviously would not fare well in the wild.  Pretty bird though.

What a cutie...screech owl.

My new Raptor Inc. t shirt.  Love the design!

A Conglomeration of Hikes

I haven't posted to my blog lately because I've been both busy and lazy.  I guess I've picked up too many activities I enjoy doing, but don't have enough time to devote to them.  Then there are days I just feel like a slug! Haha!

Today's post will be a conglomeration of different pictures from recent hikes I've done over the last couple of weeks.

These pictures are from Blue Jacket Trail at Shawnee Lookout Park.  One of my favorite parks but I have to have plenty of time because it's not real close to home.  I just love this little pass through on the trail.

I had forgotten how many sets of steep stairs there are on Blue Jacket Trail.

Oh goodie! Look!  Another long set of stairs.  I would much rather just climb a hill than to climb steps.  Steps are uneven, slanted, sometimes slippery and throws off my pace.  And the hand rails have splinters!

Pretty flowers marking the trails entrance to the parking lot.  The parking lot is quite small...holds about 12 cars and was packed that day.  When it's full, it's hard to park and maneuver around the large SUVs and trucks of today.  My car is the pretty reddish brown car.

These next set of pictures are from the Miami Fort Trail at Shawnee Lookout. This is a shot from the overlook on the trail.

A close up of the same view.

A boulder that is along the trail honoring Daniel Carter Beard founder of the Boy Scouts of America.

Finally, a picture of the Parcours Trail at Winton Woods.  A nice quiet trail to hike when you're not being over run by a cross country high school team like I was today.  Haha! This picture was taken 2 days ago when the trail was quiet.