Pymatuming field trip

On March 21st twenty Blackbrook Audubon members took a field trip to Pymatuming. Our first duck when we arrived at the bridge on the Ohio side was a long tailed duck.

Throughout the morning we traveled to a few places including the fish hatchery on the Pennsylvania side. We were able to see several bald eagles, bufflehead ducks, ring-necked ducks, wood ducks and several other species.

Plan on attending our next field trip on April 24th as we travel to Lakeview Cemetary in Cleveland.

Spring is in the air

I went for a walk with my dog Tucker who is a mixed breed of German short-haired pointer and black lab. I'm thinking it is the lab because we see water and he is in it. So today on our walk he chose to take a quick dip to "cool off" near the end of the walk. I'm so glad he chose to do it here because at the other end of the pond were hundreds of smelly dead fish. No doubt due to lack of oxygen while the pond was heavily ice covered this winter. On our walk we had an opportunity to see and hear a pileated woodpecker, nuthatches, chickadees, tufted titmice, crows, some turkey vultures in the sky (no doubt smelling the dead fish), cardinals and a few other birds whose songs I do not know. Some of the trails at Girdled Road Park South were still snow covered in the woods, the warm weather and sun made them a little soft. The open areas were clear but muddy. It was a really nice day today for a walk and it looks like the rest of the week will be the same. Go out and enjoy.

Bald Eagle Nest

A new nest is being constructed by this pair of bald eagles on Rt. 44 North near Mentor Headlands State park. It is not known at this time whether the eagles will actually nest at this site as they make more than one nest. Eagles will lay 2 to 3 eggs and hatch in about 35 days. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife would like individuals to know that state and federal laws protect bald eagles and their nest sites. Any type of disturbance around a nest could cause the birds to abandon the site or discourage them from using the nest in the future. Please do not do anything to disturb them by trying to get closer for a better picture by going into the marsh.