Whenever I'm at Inniswood Metro Gardens, I stop by to see what's happening in this tiny, municipal wetland. And right now, tadpoles are what's happening.
These two, very different types of tadpoles were co-existing in the pond. I wonder if they are different species of frog, or the same species born at different times?
Let's take a look at some prospective parents.
The happy threesome above are Eastern American Toads. You can distinguish toads from frogs because the skin Read more ➜ Amphibians at the Inniswood pond
Whenever I'm at Inniswood Metro Gardens, I stop by to see what's happening in this tiny, municipal wetland. And right now, tadpoles are what's happening.
These two, very different types of tadpoles were co-existing in the pond. I wonder if they are different species of frog, or the same species born at different times?
Let's take a look at some prospective parents.
The happy threesome above are Eastern American Toads. You can distinguish toads from frogs because the skin Read more ➜ 
Although reindeer don't live in Ohio now, it was a different story during the last ice age.
Photo courtesy of Dean Biggins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, license: Public Domain
Reindeer once lived in Ohio.
About 24,000 years ago the Wisconsinan ice sheet expanded into Ohio. Central Ohio was buried under 1000 feet of ice (305 m). Near Lake Erie, the ice was five times thicker. As the ice sheet expanded southwards, all forests in its path were ground to a pulp. Animals from 
My family went for a hike in Ohio's Mohican State Park this weekend, and I noticed a number of flowers that were just beginning to unfurl.
To see more-developed examples of the above flowers, check out my post, Common Spring Wildflowers in Ohio.
Besides the flowers, fiddlehead ferns also were beginning to unfurl.
New life is emerging all over the forests.
I took all the above photos from the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk in Galena, Ohio.
Hayden Falls Park is part of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, but it's in Dublin, Ohio. You could drive past it without ever realizing it's there, but it's well worth a stop. The waterfall is about 35 ft high (10.7 meters) and fed by Hayden Run Creek which empties into the Scioto river.
Location
Address: 4335 Hayden Run Road, Dublin, OH
GPS coordinates: 40.068023, -83.108424
Directions: Here's how to find it. From Frantz Road (in Dublin, Ohio) turn 
I decided to write this after visiting Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve and reading all the informative signs there... except they weren't all that informative for me because I didn't know my swamps from my bogs. So when I came home I decided to learn a few wetland basics.
Let's start with the easy stuff. In North America a wetland that has trees growing in it is called a swamp. That's why Dawes Arboretum referred to the following grove of trees as "Cypress Swamp".
A marsh 
This is the time of year that many northern areas of the United States are seeing their first robins, a sign that spring has finally arrived... unless you live in Ohio. Our robins have decided that migrating south is too much hassle.
In case you're unfamiliar with Ohio and mistakenly believe that we typically have mild winters, here are a few other photos that I took the same day.
I thought I was being so clever while taking the above macro. After putting my camera 
The squirrels that I see in our yard and in municipal parks are so accustomed to people that they don't pay us much mind. But when we venture into more remote settings, squirrels soon remind us that we are big, scary creatures.
While my daughter and I were exploring Johnson Woods State Nature Preserve, we caught the attention of the squirrel below. When he had first noticed us, he tried scurrying up the trunk and clinging to the tree. However after holding that position briefly he apparently 
An article entitled, Ohio's Frog and Toad Species, states that there are 15 species in our state. To help me to learn to identify these species, I wanted to see photos of all 15 on one page. I selected a representative photo, but be aware that there can be a lot of variation in color for frogs of the same species. Below each photo, I note the range of colors that are possible for that species.
Toads
The "True" Toads
Eastern American Toad (Bufo americanus americanus)
The Eastern American 
I always associated the bald-cypress pictured above with the bayous of the deep south. Imagine my surprise to learn that we have some growing in Central Ohio. It turns out that the mature bald-cypress (Taxodium distichum) is actually cold tolerant. You may be wondering why we aren't seeing them all over the place. Well, they can't reproduce naturally in this climate because the immature seedlings are susceptible to ice damage. But if you nurture the little seedlings in a greenhouse, then transplant