Saturday we went to Stratford Woods for a maple syrup event. They were serving organic, whole wheat pancakes with real locally made maple syrup, farm-fresh sausage and coffee. Delicious!
After breakfast, we took a walk through the site to see how maple syrup is made. Throughout the property, maple trees had been tapped and white plastic buckets mounted to collect the tree sap.
Farther down the trail, we came to the "sugar shack". Buckets full of sap were collected from Read more ➜ Enjoying Real Maple Syrup at Stratford Woods
Saturday we went to Stratford Woods for a maple syrup event. They were serving organic, whole wheat pancakes with real locally made maple syrup, farm-fresh sausage and coffee. Delicious!
After breakfast, we took a walk through the site to see how maple syrup is made. Throughout the property, maple trees had been tapped and white plastic buckets mounted to collect the tree sap.
Farther down the trail, we came to the "sugar shack". Buckets full of sap were collected from Read more ➜ 
Hoover Reservoir supplies the city of Columbus with its drinking water. At eight different sites around the reservoir is the Hoover Reservoir Park. It is a great recreational resource for residents and tourists, and it is important sanctuary for birds as well. Today I'm going to focus on one of the lesser known sites of this park: Hoover Meadows.
Hoover Meadows is 74.77 acres. Although a sign marks its entrance, the place looks fairly nondescript from the road. A row of conifers divides 
I struck gold in central Ohio! Although many trees have completely dropped their leaves, there are still large swaths of forest that are decked out in yellow. I stopped by two parks this week. On Thursday I visited the Sharon Woods Metro Park (part of the Columbus/Franklin County Metro Park system), and on Saturday I went for a walk in Char-Mar Ridge (part of Delaware County's Preservation Park System).
Sharon Woods
Char-Mar Ridge
Although 
One of our favorite locales for bird watching is Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk. We've previously posted about it here. This locale is constantly changing with the season and the level of Hoover reservoir, but it rarely disappoints.
Hoover reservoir is purposely lowered every fall to create a way station for migrating shore birds. But due to the drought, the water level has dropped earlier than usual. When summer began the boardwalk was several feet above the water's surface. Last month the 
Char-Mar Ridge is part of Delaware County's preservation park system. It features a wooded trail that passes over gently rolling hills. The trail itself is packed earth and gravel that remains in good condition even when it's rainy. A 0.25 mile trail connects the parking lot to a loop trail. The loop trail is 1.5 miles and is very popular with joggers who often do multiple laps. Like most of Delaware County's parks, visitors are allowed to bring their leashed dogs along with them. "Mutt mitts" are 
Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk is part of the Hoover Nature Preserve operated by the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department. It is one of the best birding sites in central Ohio. In the fall the city lowers the water level in Hoover Reservoir, so it's more hospitable to migrating shore birds. The area around the boardwalk is also used for fishing and launching kayaks, and I've seen crew teams training here. Beyond that, the site is just lovely.
One 
The Emily Traphagen Preserve is part of Delaware County's Preservation Park system. There are two short trails in the park:
White Tail Loop (0.6 miles), and
Meadow Trail (0.5 miles)
Both trails are loops. As you might expect, Meadow Trail is a mown path. However the White Tail Loop is an improved dirt trail that passes through the woods and by a marsh area. From White Tail Loop there is a side trail to what's called the Pond Overlook. I spotted the red-shouldered hawk pictured 
Gallant Woods Preserve is part of Delaware County's Preservation Parks system. In contrast to many of the parks that we have discussed which are tourist attractions in their own right, Gallant Woods is more of a local community resource. It consists of 231 acres of mixed habitat including old growth woods, a wetlands woods, a meadow that's being converted into prairie, and glacial moraine. There's now 1.8 miles of developed trail with more trails planned for the future. The existing trails are all 
I took all the above photos from the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk in Galena, Ohio.
Seymour Woods State Nature Preserve is a 115-acre preserve in Delaware County. It is named after James O. Seymour who donated the property to the state in 1972. His family's cabin, though boarded up, remains within the preserve. The preserve also contains the foundation of a settler's home that was built in 1830; it's known as the Avery Powers Homestead. While hiking the loop trail that winds around the property, I also noticed the remains of a concrete silo off in the distance.
When