Conservation Trail - Murder Creek Re-re-re-re-visited

 Except for some wet weeds, today was a pretty nice hike. We waited until noon to start because it was raining fairly hard in the morning. We got sprinkled on a little bit, but not bad.

We crossed Murder Creek for the first time today at 1:53. This is the creek we crossed once yesterday. But now it was placid and grassy.

Before long, it had changed character completely to this rocky stream.

We followed it through a park, crossing again on this nice footbridge.

Walking beside it, there is an arch for the footpath in this bridge that carries Clarence Center Road.

Finally, we crossed it one more time, where it is now wider. It flows into Tonawanda Creek which flows to the Niagara River.

Legend has it that a Tuscarawas Chief loved his daughter so much that he became jealous when a young brave came to court her, and he killed them both. Murder Creek.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 292.9. Finger Lakes Trail miles hiked in 2024: 25.6

Conservation Trail, Western NY. NY Thruway to Clarence Center Rd. 6.8 miles

BONUS SECTION: Critters

It was a great day for seeing critters. Ones I could not catch with the camera include a brown thrasher, a mockingbird, and a small snake- possibly a red-belly.

This snail was easy to take pictures of. It moved so slowly, we decided not to wait long enough for it to extend its antennae all the way. But it was fun to watch. I have to wonder what a snail thinks when it is suddenly hoisted from the ground to sit in a hand that must smell really odd to it.

This handsome redtail hawk did not like us walking on the trail below and was very vocal about it.

We got an extra treat in the evening with a visit to another garden, but that will have to wait for another day. However, there was a friendly lawn bunny that was quite used to people.

A big ol' bullfrog is always fun.

The garden had ponds with beautifully colored koi.

But the best find of the day (well, I really did like the snail too) was a fledgling red-wing blackbird. It was just learning to fly and wasn't doing a very good job of it yet. Mama was close by.

This is way more than enough for one day!

See Murder Creek

Redtail in a Tree

  I managed to get outside and take a short walk today. It's hard to find new things of interest close to home when it's mostly brown outside. But then, one of the redtail hawks decided to sit in the top of a pine tree. I'm surprised the weight of the bird didn't bend the branches down more. They can weigh more than 3 pounds, which seems like a lot for those tiny upper branches.

I was a long distance away, so I couldn't get really sharp pictures, but I think it's clutching at forks in those upper branches.

My grandmother used to sing, "Little redbird in a tree, in a tree..." This is not a "little" bird.

Anyway, I like having the hawks around.

In other news: I did succeed in getting all four of my entries in the Michigan Outdoor Writer Association contest turned in. Other than that I mostly worked on photos, but did some other stuff and laundry.

See Kickboxing or Kisses?

Watching for Spring

  This gnarly tree-gnome is watching to see if spring is happening. Looks skeptical.

The quaking aspen tree is surely trying to act spring-like.

Catkins on it are fully fluffy and about to start spreading pollen. Quaking aspen is dioecious, which means there are separate male and female trees. So this one is male. That said, aspen seeds rarely result in new trees. Aspens most commonly sprout from vast root systems. When you see a clump of aspen, it's likely actually all one plant with a shared root. The largest and oldest is called the Pando Clone in Utah. 100 acres in size, it is all one organism and is estimated to be 80,000 years old.

Here's a tiny bit of good news related to a not-quality event I haven't shared (because it did not make me happy). For some reason, the road commission took out 4 big trees along a road on my common road loop. I don't know why- they weren't dead or obstructing sight lines on a corner. Anyway, they cut them, ripped out the roots, and backfilled the holes. What I'm sure they neither knew nor cared about was that there were daffodils that grew beneath those trees in spring. Ha! Bulbs are tough. There are quite a few of them in bud, and one has already managed to bloom. Hooray for the tenacity of flowers!

The moss is getting sexy too! Spore production on its way.

And I suspect the red-tail hawk has a better view of the arrival of spring since s/he is more mobile than the tree-gnome. Love my hawks!

In other news: I worked on a volunteer project all day. ALL DAY. Then I took a 5-mile walk because I was feeling so antsy. Yesterday, shirtsleeves. Today, 37 degrees and winter clothes. Tonight, a dustng of snow on the ground!

See Anything But Brown

Spencer Park Loop

  Today was mostly about visiting with one more friend from Girl Scout days and moving the trailer to a different place to camp. Here are the three of us, Marie, Janet, and me. We all went to the 1965 Roundup together, and were on Senior Planning Board. They both came to my HS graduation. Here we are... just a tad older, but as the song says: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Janet suggested we go for a short walk around the pond in Spencer where she lives. It was really lovely. Lots of flower beds with midsummer flowers- phlox and coneflower. One friendly (?) crocodile to play on. And another nifty nature encounter- this young red-tail hawk, possibly just a fledgling, was sitting on a rocky bank near the road. I was able to get quite close. We are established at our new campsite. The wind is blowing really hard, but all is well.

See Fun with Friends

Restful Day #2

 
I may be getting rested; I'm starting to feel a little antsy to be doing something. Nevertheless, we managed to avoid doing much again today. We cleared a few fallen branches off the drive to Ester's shop, and I took a different 4 mile walk. There was only a half-mile of overlap with yesterday's route.

She lives in some serious farm country. Farms in full summer can make lovely scenes.



And one of the roads was picture perfect.



I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile red-tail hawk. It flew into the tree, and I tried to snap a picture. Caught it, but not a great shot!



Passed by Thompson Lake. Lots of cottages on the side where I was.



And in that final overlap from yesterday, I saw the same pony. No longer hitched to the cart, it trotted over to the fence and wanted to say hello, but I wasn't going into the poison ivy to pet it. I just talked to it. Lovely temperature, slight breeze.



I think we have a plan for tomorrow. Ester and I, not the pony and I!

See Just Chillin'

Bartram's Garden

 
Way too much of interest today to share it all in one post. You'll see more from today on slow days in the future. To begin the day, Marie and I walked Rachel to work. This is just a Philadelphia sidewalk stroll, but it gets in a couple of miles before the day even begins.

In the afternoon, David took Marie and me to Bartram's Garden. This is a really neat place for botany freaks. But first, we parked at the end where we had to walk into the grounds on a trail along the Schuylkill River. The places to rest were these funky boat-prow platforms.



Each one had a plaque with some tidbit of natural history.



Then we arrived at the garden. John Bartram was a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin. He was a naturalist dedicated to discovering native plants of North America. He brought many species of trees to what is now the 45-acre public garden.

This is his house, built 1728-1741.



I learned a bunch of new trees, and saw several trees that were the largest examples of a species I've ever encountered. Here's how one of those stories went. Dave was reading the brochure/map and he said, "I think that's the ginkgo over there."

I glanced up and said, "Nope, they don't get that large. At least, I've never seen one that large." Then I looked up at the bare twigs and said, "Well, maybe."

We walked around to find the marker, and discovered that it's the oldest known Ginkgo in North America. Yup, quite a bit larger than any I've seen!


Bare ginkgo twigs.



One truly awesome event was that we watched a young red-tail hawk picking away at something on the ground.



Eventually it pulled it up so we could see- it had killed a garter snake. The strange and slightly sad part is that the bird didn't eat it. It just played for a while and then flew away. We didn't scare the bird away. I don't mind that hawks have to eat, but it seemed a waste to just leave the dead snake.



Anyway, there were a few things in bloom. We saw other large and/or interesting trees. I learned a TON. You know that any day I learn a new plant is a good one. I'm in botany heaven this week.

Total miles walked for the day, probably around 7. A piece of the Riverwalk, Bertram's Mile, and sidewalks.

See Intro to Philadelphia Flower Show

Another Walk with Cathy

 
Cathy and I managed to get in a 4-mile road walk today. I carried 33 pounds. The humidity is really up there, but we did it at a 3 mph pace. It didn't feel great, but I did it.

Some nifty sightings along the way. Cathy saw the one sandhill crane far out in the field, but when I opened the picture, there are two!



I thought this was a northern harrier, it was so light colored, but it appears to just be a red-tail hawk.



We saw two of these caterpillars. Both were trying to cross the road. Not a good way to make it to adulthood! Bugguide tells me it's the Dusky Hooded Owlet, Cucullia intermedia, which feeds on wild lettuce plants (which like to grow on roadsides) and will become a fairly boring gray moth.



And for the big finale, there is a Monarch chrysalis hanging right on the corner of her house. Love the way some of the spots look like jewels. This one is smaller than some I've seen, only an inch long, although I looked up the normal size, and it's about right.

In other news: Couldn't sleep again last night. This is getting boring, and it means I'm really tired already now. Worked on hike food. Oh, and 1.8 inches of rain overnight. Drove home from the concert in big rain, and this was the result. I think we've had enough for a while, but my forecast app still looks gray.

	See New Adventure Buddy?
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