Time to pre-order Letters From Eden

Readers of my blog will already know how great I think Julie Zickefoose is.
Well, it's time to pre-order her new book, Letters From Eden.
I get the feeling that many, many folks will be getting this book for Christmas!

Another walk in the....oh, forget it.

Today at the Cincinnati Nature Center:

Isabelle loves moss, like Lorelei loves trees. Every bit of moss Isabelle sees, she has to touch.
This is Karl Krippendorf, the man who made the Cincinnati Nature Center possible. Doesn't he look like he was a nice guy?
A poster in the Krippendorf Lodge, for a benefit for France after WWII.
There's this statue outside of the Lodge. Is it a bear? An otter? A really big chipmunk?
Ah....the woods.

End of a busy weekend

Isn't Labor Day weekend supposed to let you relax, put your feet up, maybe shoot off some fireworks? Not for me. I spent a good portion of the past few days doing the RAPTOR thing. Farbach-Werner park was the scene today. David helped out the first two hours and then I took over. The birds that were there:

Peregrine Falcon (Lucy)

American Kestrel (Steel)

Male Red-tailed Hawk (Two Socks)

Red-morph Eastern Screech Owl (NO name)

I could never get enough pictures of Lucy. She does such a great job at programs and she is a fine specimen of her species. (The little bird on the big perch is the kestrel.)

Does a screech owl ever NOT look pissed off?

His new feathers are finally in, but they are still sheathed, so he looks like he's had a real bad bowl cut. (This is a weirdly angled picture...he is looking over his right shoulder)

I received my first RAPTOR boo boo today. Two Socks the red-tailed hawk is a bit feisty, having been used sporadically for programs. He bates a lot and he ALWAYS bates when being put into or removed from his carrier. As I was taking him back to his mew, he bated like crazy and got just enough of his jesses loose to get his talons on my arm below the glove.

OUCH.

I used a few very colorful metaphors but kept him in my hand and finally got him into his mew and released.

It's not deep, but it's long and jagged, like a cut from a serrated knife. It won't be my last, I'm sure, but I hope they are rare occurrences.

I get a breather this week as far as RAPTOR is concerned, with my next program on Friday.

And the girls start back to school next week!

***Susan is doing the Snoopy dance***

A new link

I got a comment from Dave at Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Achorage, Alaska. They do what RAPTOR does, but they also treat birds other than raptors. A great organization...go check out their link in my list!

A memorable day at Mitchell Memorial

I survived my first real program. This holiday weekend, the Hamilton County Park district and RAPTOR get together for some hot bird of prey action. They bring some birds, we bring some birds. Geoff brought the girls along later because they love to see Mommy handle big scary raptors.

Birds I took today:

Male Red-tailed hawk (Two Socks)

Great Horned Owl (Sylvester)

Peregrine Falcon (Lucy)

American Kestrel (Steel)

The park brought:

Eastern Screech Owl

Barred Owl

Female Red-tailed hawk

Black Vulture

Hey, who's kid is that trying to sneak under the rope?

Big Eyed Lucy. Have I mentioned that I love her?
Geoff said I did a good job. But he might be biased. But he might be telling the truth.
The girls love Lucy, too. Everyone loves Lucy.
The area was roped off to keep curious fingers from being bitten off.

Tomorrow is a different park, and Marc and Cindy were good enough to help out since we will be in Columbus. And Monday, David, the "old" director and I will be splitting the four hours.

Tomorrow we are doing our annual pilgrimage to Columbus to visit friends of Jim and Rita's from college days. They have a daughter and son-in-law who have two girls about the same ages as Isabelle and Lorelei. And these friends are birders, so the subject of birds just might come up. Yay!

Curly, the park's black vulture. Turns out that he doesn't like men. And our turkey vulture Earl, doesn't like women. I tried to get them to swap, but they declined. Shoot.
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Yet another walk in the woods

I can't seem to get enough of the Cincinnati Nature Center. We became members today and I plan on making it my new birding hot spot.

Some history of the area (from the Nature Center's website):

Carl Krippendorf was born in Cincinnati in 1875 to German immigrants. His father was the founder and president of the Krippendorf-Dittman shoe company. When young Carl became ill with Typhoid, his doctor counseled the Krippendorfs to send Carl away from the dirty air of the city. A country doctor living in Perintown agreed to house Carl for the summer. Thus began Carl's love affair with nature. In 1898, Carl Krippendorf purchased 97 acres of the land where he spent the summer recuperating to preserve it from becoming a tobacco field. In the heart of his beloved woods, Carl built a home for his new bride, Mary, where they lived for 64 years. Carl and Mary invited everyone they knew to experience the land they loved and affectionately called, "Lob's Wood." It has often been said that no one left the Krippendorf property empty handed. Carl was known to give daffodil, Lycoris and other bulbs to his visitors. Today, Krippendorf Lodge, thousands of daffodils, and the beautiful beech and maple woods continue to preserve the Krippendorf legacy at Rowe Woods in Milford.

I can't wait to see the woods in autumn colors.

The girls were more into hiking today, compared to yesterday. Isabelle was booking it so fast, I had to keep reminding her not to disappear.

I don't know what "cold frames" are or were. Anyone know what this could be? What I could see were old, moss-covered stone steps going down to...?

On this section of trail, you will be strolling along, and suddenly, the Krippendorf Lodge materializes in front of you.

LIFE BIRD ALERT!

I knew I would get one today. Yesterday, I was teased from the treetops by unknown birds, and today, I got to see not one, not two, but four Philidelphia Vireos. A bad photo of a gorgeous bird. And to make it even better, they are rare migrants, so I am doubly lucky to have seen FOUR.

You know, the cool thing about having a rather short (88) life bird list, is that your odds of getting a life bird is pretty good, no matter where you go!