A Great Egret wades in the solitude of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. 
Tag: Fall
Soaring Eagles (three photos)
Bald Eagles soaring at Magee Marsh along Lake Erie.
American Avocet (three photos)
I have a long standing fascination of the American Avocet. Much of it stems from the twenty or so years it took me to see an avocet in person. Still today, the upturned bill and seasonal color variations stir interest in the bird.
The deceptive personality of the American Avocet is also intriguing. Tall and slender, the avocet seems like a mild mannered ave. Yet it will strike at predators, challenging hawks and corvids alike.
The American Avocet also at times employs an interesting defensive technique. It will gradually change pitch in a series of calls to hamper the ability of predators to zone in on it’s location.
Perfect Day for a Duck
On a blustery fall day, a female Mallard Duck rests on a Muskrat “house” at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Trumpeter Swans
These adult Trumpeter Swans and cygnet were photographed at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in October of 2017. 
Early Fall at Indian Run Falls
Indian Run courses through Dublin, OH, a northern suburb of Columbus. Marked by falls and a cascade, this short run is part of the Scioto River watershed.
Early fall brought out some color on the trails along the run.
Change of Seasons
Just as the sudden appearance of American Robins is a sure sign of Spring, so their abrupt disappearance quietly heralds Fall. There are mid-winter days when I hike local wood lots and stands of trees, looking for loose flocks of wintering Robins. I watch them, muddy ice caked on my boots, until I’m reassured of Spring’s return. 
Orange Sulphur Butterflies (one photo)
Orange Sulphur Butterflies congregated on our gravel lane.
Preserving the Little Salt Marsh (Seven Photos)
Muse with me for a moment.
In the early 1800s, Easterners in America were told stories about the “Great American Desert” west of the Mississippi River. What are today Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska were described as forsaken, desolate areas unfit for cultivation or civilization.
I’m wondering if the images conjured in the minds of Easterners fit these photographs of the Little Salt Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.
My earlier posts about Quivira (landscapes and birds) gives the opposite impression of this unique area of central Kansas. It turns out the Little Salt Marsh was “under repair.” This meant draining much of the marsh, hence the drought-like landscapes. As seen below, there were interesting “drought resistant” plants.
I would like to return to Quivira when the Little Salt Marsh is again filled with (salt) water.
River Rock (3 Photos)
Photographs taken in the Clear Fork of the Mohican River in central Ohio.
