The video below shows a group of Whirligig Beetles that I filmed swimming on the water's surface at Hoover Mudflats. They are called "whirligig" beetles because of the way they whirl around in circles when disturbed as seen near the end of this short video.
Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/xk-B0_VyAX4
When I first saw these, I had no idea what I was looking at. Since then I've learned quite a bit about them, and they are fascinating little critters. Below is a photo one in profile Read more ➜ Whirligig Beetles
The video below shows a group of Whirligig Beetles that I filmed swimming on the water's surface at Hoover Mudflats. They are called "whirligig" beetles because of the way they whirl around in circles when disturbed as seen near the end of this short video.
Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/xk-B0_VyAX4
When I first saw these, I had no idea what I was looking at. Since then I've learned quite a bit about them, and they are fascinating little critters. Below is a photo one in profile Read more ➜ 
While I was at Gahanna Woods, I spotted these partridge peas growing in the meadow. They are native to the eastern United States, growing up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall. Their leaves are compound with each leaf having five to eighteen pairs of leaflets. Although I have heard of flowers that fold up their blossoms at night, the partridge pea is somewhat different in that it folds up its leaves at night. Each of the plant's yellow flowers has five petals with the bottom petal being longer than 
Gahanna Woods is part city park and part state nature preserve. Let's start by looking at the city park.
Gahanna Woods City Park
The city park has trails that pass through meadow and woodlands. The meadow trail is a mown path; The woodland trail is a wide trail with a mulch base that often follows a small creek. The city seems to be expanding their trail system, especially the mown paths. I encountered more trail branches than the map in the kiosk showed. A few branches off the 
Photo courtesy of tanakawho, license: CC BY 2.0
Mosquito
Outbreak of 2012
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as of August 21st, nearly 1118 people have become ill from the West Nile Virus this summer; 41 have died from the most severe form of this illness. This is biggest outbreak since 2004. Since the virus is transmitted by mosquito bites, the high incidence of the disease is attributed to an unusually large number of mosquitoes. More mosquitoes than usual survived over 
Thayer Ridge Park features a picnic area (without restrooms), a frisbee disc golf course, and some multi-use, dirt trails going through woodland and meadows. The trails are open to horseback riders, mountain bikers and hikers. I have hiked there twice (in April and in August); in my opinion the trails are probably best suited for those on horseback.
On each of my two visits it was clear that the trails were being used regularly by riders. Here's why I think the trail conditions are 
I was really surprised when I saw the turtle pictured above. First, this species of turtle, a Red-eared Slider, is not known to occur in the wild in Franklin County. Second, what on earth is wrong with its shell? Let's look at it more closely.
The turtle's shell is subdivided into sections called scutes. In my photo there is a front scute that's a lighter color, almost a light brown, toward the front of the shell. It seems to be raised above the surrounding scutes. Toward 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 
We have bird feeders in our backyard. I like to sit in our breakfast nook reading or working on the computer. Then from time to time I'll lift my head to see what birds are out there now. The feeders are located far enough away from our house to make it unlikely that a bird will strike our windows. But that means that I sometimes resort to using binoculars if I want to get a good look at a particular bird.
My bird watching got a little easier when the goldfinch in the topmost photo 
All the squirrels that I am featuring today are Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). Although my focus is going to be on unusually colored squirrels, lets start by taking a look at some normally colored ones. I believe that these squirrels look gray because their fur includes a random mixture of black and white hairs. There are brown hairs, too, but the amount of brown varies greatly among individuals. Nonetheless you can count on the underside of a gray squirrel being