Tanacetum Coccineum a.k.a. the Painted Daisy, is native to Asia but looks great in our backyard.
Monthly Archives: May 2021
New Life Birds
An outing to Chippewa Inlet Trail produced several new “life birds” for North America, which is rewarding and also a bit of a challenge now that I’m at 176 unique species. (At least, a challenge as long as I’m only birding in Ohio.) There was a group of shorebirds on a mud flat, and at …
Atlantic Camus
My plant-lore is not nearly as developed as my bird-lore or butterfly-lore. This wildflower was seen at Schoepfle Garden along the banks of the Vermilion River, and I had no idea what it was. So I put some observational skills to work and did a web search for “light blue spring wildflower with six petals …
The Song in Songbird
The Bobolink is not the most beautiful bird to look at. But he makes up for it with his wonderful song. There were two Bobolinks singing to each other in Bath Nature Preserve this morning, and I made a recording which you can listen to below.
Promise Kept
On my previous visit to Kopf Family Reservation, I noticed a lot of Mallards along Gable Creek. So when I made the sales-pitch to my wife to join me on this birding trip, I told her “You should come, there will be lots of ducklings, I promise!” Well, that’s a lot to live up too. …
Does Kopf rhyme with Hawk?
So I made a second trip to Kopf Family Reservation over the weekend. Last visit, a Red-shouldered Hawk provided a great photo op when it landed in a tree only forty feet away from me. This time, a Cooper’s Hawk dropped in. This hawk was so close that he would not fit into my lens …
Scarlet & Grey Black
The Scarlet Tanager is not your typical backyard bird, unless you live next to a large forest. Tanagers are not attracted to bird feeders, but might show up to raid your mulberry tree. My yard is heavily forested, but even so I was extremely fortunate to have this Tanager land in a tree right next …
Common Yellowthroat
In the bird world, the male is more likely to have showy colors. Perhaps this is the reason why I’ve seen (and photographed) many more male Common Yellowthroats than female: his bright colors and black mask help him stand out from the shrubs and briars he is normally known to skulk in. So I was …
Lake Medina
Lake Medina is a man-made reservoir that was once the primary water source for the city of Medina. Those days are past, and now the lake is a great place to see migratory waterfowl like this Spotted Sandpiper, Blue-winged Teal, and Bonaparte’s Gull.