BIRDS FLYING IN THE RAIN

(AUGUST 19, 2010) During the last two days, Sadie and I had to work our morning walks in between summer rains.

At Angler's Park yesterday morning, the only birds we saw were some Canada geese standing in the newly replenished marsh that had visible water from the recent rains. The marsh had gone almost bone dry, but they have been resurrected. As we were walking back to the car, we heard the honking, the flapping of wings, and finally, saw a flock of geese flying over head and over the river on that dark and gloomy morning.

Today we walked from Dan Daniel Park toward the train station. Early in the walk, I saw a heron standing in the water near the dam at the Brantley Steam Plant. It stood there as Elizabeth held Sadie while I could get a closer shot. After taking a few photos, the bird flew down stream. Within 30 seconds we heard a flapping, looked up, and saw a heron flying over our heads at about 20 feet. The smaller bird landed in the dark woods, something I had never seen before. As Elizabeth walked on with Sadie, I followed the heron into the woods, and took some shots of it as it walked toward the water. Though it was dark in the woods, I got some interesting pictures of this bird.

As we approached the Public Works Department, I looked up and saw a group of young mourning doves perched on several power lines. As I took the pictures, something startled them, and they all flew off together.

In addition to the birds,today we did see another critter on the Riverwalk. There, right at our feet, was a box turtle. Sadie wanted to get at it; Elizabeth held her back for her own benefit. As we left the turtle alone, it eventually came out of its shell and moved slowly . . . oh, so slowly to the water.

It was rainy, but we had two very good days on the Riverwalk.

IT'S ALL ABOUT SADIE

(AUGUST 17, 2010) Because I got a later start than usual (I got to the Riverwalk at about 7:15), I didn't take my camera because I knew it would take us longer to walk the 3-4 miles we usually walk, and the morning heat would be oppressive for Sadie wearing her fur coat. Several people asked me why I didn't have my camera, and I responded that I had taken over 300 pictures yesterday and didn't want to have more pictures to work with. That was kind of a white lie. The reason I didn't bring the camera was really all about Sadie.

I've often asked myself why I go to the Riverwalk each morning. Is it because of: A) I enjoy the natural world and being a part of it for an hour or so? B) I enjoy taking pictures? or C) I enjoy being there with Sadie? Actually, all answers are correct, but if I had to choose one answer it would be "C" because it is all about Sadie.

Over the 4+ years we have been walking on the Riverwalk, we have had many interesting events happen that would not have happened had it not been for Sadie. She tends to draw attention, especially when she is pointing, and bikers, walkers, and joggers are constantly commenting on what a pretty dog she is. There are other comments as well, such as:

Does she hunt?
Is she like a bird dog?
Is she that dog that was on that magazine a few years ago (Showcase, July, 2008, to be exact)?
Is she friendly?
How old is she?
Did you teach her to pose like that?

As for that last question, that was raised by a friend who was on his bicycle and stopped to admire Sadie as she was honed in on . . . a butterfly. She was doing her "stealth" moves and moving slowly toward the small insect. She had her tail up, her nose pointed, and was raising each leg, very gently, as she crept toward the butterfly. My friend said, "That's amazing the way she moves. Did you teach her how to do that?"

I said, "Yep. Got down on my hands and knees and showed her how to hunt."

He said, "I'll give you $20 if you will demonstrate."

I said, "I'll do it for $40 and your willingness to help me get up. My pride is worth at least $40."

We laughed and watched as Sadie got within a few inches of the butterfly and, as in 99 cases out of 100, the butterfly flew away, unharmed.

As for the question, "Is she a bird dog?", my response now is, "Yep, but she's really a BUG dog." And, recently someone asked, "Is she LIKE a bird dog?", I responded, "She's not LIKE a bird dog - she is a bird dog." (Perhaps a little snooty?)

I've had people stop to watch Sadie as she poses in her pointing stance. Some have stayed for 4-5 minutes just saying over and over again, "That's amazing. That's simply amazing."

within the past few weeks, someone walked by as Sadie was stalking and asked, "Is she pointing at a snake?" I said, "Naw. Just a bug." Someone asked, just today, "Is she pointing at a bird?" I said, "Naw. Just a bug." Though it's less dramatic than a snake or a bird, it's the truth. Sadie stalks bug - AND frogs.

However, when it comes to frogs, she still hasn't learned that a frog in the mouth is worth 10-15 minutes of foaming mouth. The first time she DIDN'T learn this was a few years ago when she saw a small frog on our driveway and, when the frog jumped," she attacked it and put it in her mouth. The frog emitted some distasteful substance, Sadie dropped the frog, the frog hopped away, and Sadie foamed at the mouth for 15 minutes. I still have to keep her away from frogs or watch her foam for 15 minutes.

A final story. A couple years ago, Sadie had come upon a group of small butterflies. There were 4 or 5 of them, and Sadie started stalking one. She did her "stealth" attack (poetry in motion - very slow motion), and after about 5 minutes had come within about a foot of the small insect. While she was in her point - paw up, nose pointing, and tail straight out - another butterfly landed on her tail. The butterfly stayed there until the butterfly Sadie was stalking flew away (about 2 minutes later). I took a picture which can be seen below.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

INSECTS AT WORK

(AUGUST 16, 2010) This was a great morning for taking pictures - bugs and flowers. Birds are hiding in the trees and the ducks and geese occasionally do something photogenic, but not on a regular basis.

Shortly after we had started our walk, I noticed about 12 feet over my head was a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly, caught up in a spider web. It was frantically trying to get loose, but I was too far below it to help out.

As I was taking pictures of this frustrated beauty, a fellow walker came by and asked what I was taking pictures of. I pointed out the butterfly and said, "Well, I guess it will be food for a spider."

We continued talking and the fellow walker walked over to some debris near where the butterfly was floundering around trying to free itself. He picked up a large branch, walked over to where the butterfly was, threw the stick into the air, and the butterfly was free. It flew off. I stood there in amazement and thinking to myself, "Why hadn't I thought of that?"

Well, I guess there were two reasons. I have been in nature enough now to realize that there is life and death along the river. I guess I must have just decided that this butterfly was just a victim of nature. The second reason was just a simple one - I just didn't think about it. I regret either reason for not coming to the assistance of an animal in peril.

As we walked further, I started noticing that the insects were busily working, doing what they do - hanging around flowers and moving from flower to flower. Sadie noticed, too. She was quite taken by the small butterflies as they moved from flower to flower. She often startled small damselflies as they flittered around and landed on leaves and plants. She stayed away from the bees as they buzzed around the flowers.

As I looked closely at the insects moving about, I became quite interested in their movements. The bees and butterflies climbed all over the flowering plants, the damselflies landed on leaves and flowers, moving away whenever frightened by Sadie and then returning to the same plant, and the dragonflies as they landed on everything from the side of a concrete building to the side of a fencepost to a leaf.

Near our car on the way back, I heard a loud chirping sound. So did Sadie. She had stopped, pointed and pounced upon something before I even saw what was making the noise. It was a cicada about an inch and a half long, and it was now in Sadie's mouth. It was chirping louder, and the sound was echoing out of Sadie's mouth. She had he teeth clinched tightly, and I yelled, "SADIE. DROP IT. DROP IT, SADIE."

She did, and the cicada lay there on the ground shining under the sun. I got the picture below - the cicada in the shadow of my English setter. After we had moved on, I noticed that the cicada was moving on also.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

UNDER 50

(AUGUST 14, 15, 2010) WHAT IS UNDER 50?

SOME ANSWERS:

* The number of Republican U.S. Senators presently , in Washington
* The number of people Sadie and I see on the Riverwalk every morning
* The number of miles I walk every week
* The number of pictures I took on our walk each day on Saturday and Sunday

All of these are true. The main reason for this entry, however, relates to the last answer.

A few months ago, I mentioned to a friend that I took from 300-600 pictures everyday on the Riverwalk. I then said that out of those 300-600 pictures, "I would get, maybe, 8-10 that were pretty good, and, maybe, a couple that would be extraordinary."

My friend replied. "Out of that many pictures taken, you're bound to get some that are good. Even a blind person could take that many pictures and get some good ones."

I told him that he was probably right.

Back in the days of negative film photography, each shot was made as perfect as possible since the cost of film was, well, costly. Also, with a camera that would hold, at the most, 36 shots, it was important to conserve the film for that really great shot. It was frustrating to see a great shot and be out of film. I have a memory card that holds nearly 6000 pictures, so I just have to make sure the battery in my camera remains charged.

Now, with digital photography, I have enjoyed the luxury of taking a half dozen shots of one subject, thinking that, perhaps, one may be a good shot. I have become spoiled, so I decided that this weekend I would limit myself to no more than 50 shots each day on the Riverwalk. That is what I did, and I posted the best shots above.

On Saturday morning I took 46 pictures; on Sunday morning I took 49. It was difficult to NOT click away as I saw a beautiful great blue heron standing near the shore, but I refrained from shooting 3 shots a second to shooting . . . pausing . . . shooting . . . pausing and then shooting one last shot.

The pictures I got each of the last two mornings were not the best shots I've taken, but some were fairly good. Of course, I still have the advantage of seeing my pictures the morning that they were taken. I didn't have to send them off to be processed and printed and wait for a week or so for them to come back. Even then, I may not have any pictures I liked.

I recall back in the summer of 1980, we were traveling through the mid-west. I ended up taking over 10 rolls of film (36 shots per roll), and out of those rolls were only two really good shots - one was a seal swimming underwater at the Cincinnati Zoo and the second one was a mountain goat that had fallen asleep on a faux mountain at the same zoo; the second shot won a blue ribbon in a local photo contest that year, and I still have the print hanging on my wall.

I think that I will go back to taking many shots tomorrow on the Riverwalk. It was a good experiment, but it surely encumbered my style. Had I been using film, the pictures would have equaled at least 3 rolls, and the cost would have been around $20 just to see what I had; with digital, the cost was nothing.

It was another two good mornings on the Riverwalk.

BIRDS IN THE MORNING

(AUGUST 13, 2010) Friday the 13th. Elizabeth pointed that out to me on the walk this morning. However, the day did not start out to be unlucky, nor has it proven so during the rest of the day.

It was a pleasant, cooler morning than the mornings earlier this week. We shortened our walk to two miles since Sadie had been having some stomach problems, but we did enjoy the cool air and all of nature around us. I'll take Sadie out this evening to Angler's Park for another couple of miles if she feels up to it.

A lady walker this morning said that "The leaves are beginning to change, now."

I responded, "Thank goodness fall is near and the heat of summer will pass."

Then I started looking around to see the change in the leaves' color. They are still green, but I did see an occasional leaf that had fallen and some of the fallen leaves were red.

In addition to the falling of the leaves indicating cooler weather, it also indicates that the song birds will be easier to see when the foliage thins. During this time of year, a person can either hear the birds singing but not see them, or if the birds are seen, they have embedded themselves into the dark foliage so that only their shadows may be visible.

This morning as we got into the dark woods, I saw a few robins "hop, hop, hopping along." I took some pictures. In the darkness of the woods and the morning, there was only a faint sight of the orange breast of the robins as they moving along in the ground foliage.

Once out of the woods, I looked to the air and water for the birds that could be seen there. The river was running fast and high since there must have been rain in the mountains. Therefore, the bird life ON the river was not there. Usually I could see a heron or some Canada geese on the river below Dan Daniel Park. There weren't there this morning. The river was too rapid for the heron to stand near the dam to catch fish or for the geese to gather in the river to eat.

However, shortly out of the dark woods I saw a crow take flight. Against the morning gray sky, the birds make an interesting silhouette. In the foliage near the river, Sadie's attention was attracted by something. Usually, it doesn't take much for her to be distracted, so I assumed it was a bug of some type. As I looked on the ground in front of her about 20 feet away, there was a mourning dove, looking at us. These birds don't seem to be as nervous as some others, so the bird stood there and just looked as Sadie got closer and I took some pictures. When Sadie was within 5 feet, the dove flew off.

The day was filled with birds in the tree or grass with fairly poor lighting or birds in the sky or on a wire. However, there was one saving grace of the morning. Through the clouds the sun made an interesting contrast to the dove on the wire. The dove seemed to be ready to feather its nest as it sat on the wire with the gray sky and the bright sun in the background.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

DEATH AND PENANCE ON THE RIVERWALK

(AUGUST 11, 2010) Each day on the Riverwalk there are life and death stories. The food chain on the river keeps the larger animals alive while the smaller animals are constantly alert to the dangers of the predators. This is one of those stories . . .

Sadie and I got out to the Riverwalk at about 6:45 this morning. The dark woods were dark, the brown river was brown and the great blue heron was . . . great and blue. Not much different from other mornings as I thought, which I do every morning, "I wonder if I'll have anything to write about today?" So far, for over 120 mornings, something has prompted a story idea.

This morning, I started noticing patterns in nature (the "S" shape of the heron's neck, the serpentine vines growing along the fences, and the star shape of a beautiful pink flower just to name a few). I began consciously taking pictures of patterns in nature.

Other possible ideas came to mind as we walked our 3 miles. However, it was on the way back that I met another walker, and we started a conversation. During the conversations I have on the Riverwalk, Sadie entertains herself with her stalking of whatever may move in the length of her leash. She will stalk, point, and, sometimes, attack.

We had stopped by a honeysuckle bush that had small flowers now. I was taking a picture of some moths and butterflies and bees as the individual stopped to talk. Among the small flowers there were two very beautiful tiger swallowtail butterflies darting among the sweetness of the honeysuckle. Right after our conversation ended, one of the swallowtails flew right over Sadie's head, and Sadie took a leap in the air. It was in the reach of Sadie strong jaws, but she just missed it.

She followed the butterfly until it landed on a low branch of the honeysuckle. She stood there, lifted her front paw, pointed and lurched forward, grabbing the beautiful creature between her teeth.

I let out a primordal cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It was too late. The beautiful creature was struggling its last moments as Sadie pulled at its wings and finally let it be as it fluttered its last flutter.

I was sad that this beautiful creature had fallen to my predator dog, and was a little upset at Sadie but more upset with myself for allowing Sadie to carry out this killing.

We passed one more beautiful butterfly on a lower branch of a bush before we got back to the car, and I kept Sadie at least several yards away from the beauty as she pointed at it.

As we left the park, I thought about the cruelty I had just witnessed as Sadie had taken down the beautiful butterfly. I was getting a little angry at Sadie for doing what she does.

I exited the ramp onto the expressway and found myself fussing at Sadie. The car got up to 60 mph and my fussing became louder. At 65 I looked back in my rear view mirror and saw Sadie looking at me. As I glanced back at the road, I saw, just ahead of the car, coming in my direction, fluttering along in an up and down path, a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly just the size of the one Sadie had taken down in the park.

SMACK!!! Right into the windshield.

I thought, "Karma," and drove silently home.

CATTAILS, INCH WORMS AND WTH?* (*What the Heck?)

(AUGUST 9, 2010) This morning we had to rush our walk because someone was coming to our house to put in some blinds "between 8 and 9." I decided to go to Angler's Park so I could be within sight of my car and could end the walk quickly if I saw that I was running behind.

As we went into the park, two deer ran across the road about 50 yards ahead of us and disappeared into the marsh. I had driven only a few yards more when a much larger deer ran in front of me, following the other two into the marsh. I pulled over into a rocky parking lot and got out with my camera. As can be seen by the photo to the left, I was too late.

CATTAILS

I decided to leave the car in the rocky parking lot, so I went back to get Sadie out of the back. We crossed the wooden bridge, and I noticed that the marsh was full of cattails. These "hot dogs on long sticks" were everywhere I looked. It was 6:20 in the morning, and there wasn't much else to see in the marsh. Unlike deer, that disappear into the marsh, the cattails just stood there and let me snap away.

When I returned home, I discovered that cattails go by some other names in American English. They are also called "punks" and "corndog grass." In England they are called "bulrush," "bullrush," and "reedmace." The red-winged blackbird calls them "home." This is where they sit in the spring and summer and build their nests

INCHWORMS

As we came to the part of the path that leads up river toward Dan Daniel Park, I noticed a shimmering thread hanging about eye level. Attached to the end of the thread was an inchworm. This is not actually a worm but a caterpillar that will eventually turn into a small moth. I often see these small creatures hanging on their threads along the Riverwalk. This morning, in the quietness of Angler's Park, the little guy seemed to be hanging there waiting for me to photograph him.

WTH* (What the Heck?)

As we walked by the marsh, I notice some very pretty flowers - purple, blue, yellow, and I also noticed that one purple flower seemed to explode out of the a thistle and had some white cottony fluff coming out from where it exploded.

While walking near the marsh, on the other side nearer to the river, I had passed some flowers and saw cottony fluff clinging to the leaves of some of the marsh plants. I ignored these little fluff balls thinking that they had come from these purple flowers or were just goose down hanging there.

As we were returning to the car, I saw a yellow flower and stopped to take a picture. It was near one of the white cottony fluff balls. All of a sudden the fluff ball started to move. My reaction was WTH*? (*What the Heck?). As I looked closer, the white fluff didn't move again immediately, but as I stood there, I could see a little head coming out of the white "cotton."



I realized that this was a small woolly worm. Checking it out at home, I discovered it was a woolly bear, a small caterpillar that will eventually become a moth. This little fluff ball seems to want to confuse a potential predator into believing that it is either a part of the flower or a piece of goose down. Or, perhaps, I am the only one fooled by this, though nature is wonderful in protecting its littlest creatures.

On the way back to the car, we were still fairly alone in the park. As we crossed the road to the rocky parking lot, Sadie started prancing and looking like she had seen a deer or other wildlife. As I got within 30 yards of the car, I pushed the unlock button to open the back window. When it went up, Sadie jumped like a frightened dog. She hadn't recognized the car because it was parked at a different place, and when we got there, she started sniffing it. She finally accepted it as ours and jumped into the back.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk at Angler's Park.