Saturday, May 09, 2009

We interrupt the West Virginia Love Fest to bring you some Ohio nature joy

Yesterday, Lorelei and I got to spend the day together.

I asked her what she wanted to do: "Starbucks!" (that's my girl)
What else? "I want to go birding with you, Mommy." (heart melts into a puddle of goo)

She specifically wanted to see a Great Blue Heron, so we decided to go to Kelley's Nature Preserve.

As we left the house, Lorelei spotted a sparrow eating dandelion seeds in the yard.
"Mommy! I see a new bird!"
White crowned sparrow close up
White-crowned sparrow? In my yard in May? That's fairly late for around here.
Lorelei thought it was a life bird for her (though I think she has seen one before), so I dutifully filmed her version of the Life Bird Wiggle...




Let's get in the car....oh, wait. We need to look at some very tiny mushrooms first:

Lorelei looking at the mushrooms
Never interrupt a child when they are investigating nature.

No Great Blue Herons at the Preserve (The Little Miami is too high and fast for them right now), but Lorelei scared up some Prothonotary Warblers...nesting Prothonotary Warblers:

bad shot of prothonotary warbler
They kept popping up from a tree cavity hanging over the river....
"Mommy! Those birds are yelling and they are hurting my head!"
"We are in their territory, Short Stack. If we move on, they will stop yelling."

With my shiny-new Nature Attitude, we reveled in simple things:

Vertical Sycamore Kelleys NP
We imagined how it would be to climb out onto this impossibly vertical sycamore tree and gaze out on the river.


Moss Kelleys NP
We tried to count the number of living things on a single fence post.



Bumblebee Kelleys NP
We were brave and watched a bumblebee sip dew from a stem of grass.



Firefly Kelleys NP
We laughed at a firefly, hanging on for dear life, on last year's growth in the meadow.


A pair of Eastern Towhees burst from the trail side. I whispered to Lorelei that they make their nests on the ground, so we shouldn't disturb them. Lorelei whispered back, "Mommy...don't step on the nest. Let's move on so they can get back to their babies."

Skytree Kelleys NP
And we enjoyed the blue sky and popcorn clouds over the trees.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your day, and so glad you're raising the next generation of the flock to follow in your footsteps.

Kelly said...

...fun post and congrats to Lorelei! We go to Kelley's Nature Preserve all the time to look for birds. It's a tiny little gem. I've seen lots of box turtles there too, and I don't get to see them very often.

NCmountainwoman said...

I loved this post, even better than the West Virginia ones. How wonderful to see your child experience the joys of nature. Her compassion for the creatures is something she learned from her mother. This is a REAL Mother's Day post, because this is what it's all about.

Hey, all that and Starbucks too! Happy Mother's Day.

KGMom said...

Well, Susan--I don't know about you--but as great as WVa was, sounds like Ohio & Lorelei has that trip beat hands down.
What a kid! And what a mom to have raised her thus.
Happy Mother's Day.

denapple said...

Susan, you win the prize for Mother Nature Award of the Year, hands down! Keep up the good work.

NatureWoman said...

What a great day with your daughter!!! Yay that she loves nature so much!!

Dawn Fine said...

Awe..that was so sweet!

Kathie Brown said...

Susan, You are one awesome Nature Mom! Great job Lorelei!

dguzman said...

Hey, a new kind of cloud--popcorn clouds. Thanks, I'll add it to my list!