For some time I had been wanting to learn more about ferns, so I took advantage of a workshop on fern identification being held at the Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Fairfield County, Ohio. Wahkeena is a great place to learn about ferns since 29 species of fern grow there (Wahkeena's official blog publishes a list of their local fern species). Naturalist Tom Shisler led the workshop which is called Focus on Ferns. In this post I'm going to introduce you to a number of common ferns found in Ohio by Read more ➜ Basic Fern Identification
For some time I had been wanting to learn more about ferns, so I took advantage of a workshop on fern identification being held at the Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Fairfield County, Ohio. Wahkeena is a great place to learn about ferns since 29 species of fern grow there (Wahkeena's official blog publishes a list of their local fern species). Naturalist Tom Shisler led the workshop which is called Focus on Ferns. In this post I'm going to introduce you to a number of common ferns found in Ohio by Read more ➜ 
Headlands Dunes is a 25-acre preserve just to the east of Headlands Beach State Park. When I'm here I can hardly believe that I'm in Ohio... it's such a unique place. The sand dunes just off shore of Lake Erie are rare in Ohio because most of the area adjacent to the lake has been developed. Surprisingly a number of plants that originated on the Atlantic coast grow in this small nature preserve. It is thought that they reached this far into the continent thousands of years ago when the immense weight 
Before the trees leaf out in the spring, tiny wildflowers emerge taking advantage of the extra sunlight that reaches the forest floor. This past April we searched for wildflowers at four Ohio State Nature Preserves. Two were in Champaign County (Cedar Bog and Davey Woods) and two were in Fairfield County (Wahkeena and Shallenberger). Below are some of the flowers that we saw.
Cedar Bog
The marsh marigold pictured above are beautiful, yellow flowers, but the picture does not convey 
Last month in Delaware County, naturalist Kim Banks held a special program on great blue herons. Mated pairs of these herons nest very close to one another in what's called a heronry. Participants then drove from Deer Haven Preserve (one of the county parks) to a nearby Liberty Township preserve known as Smith Preserve at Olentangy Falls. It turns out that there is a sizable heronry there. I returned just last week to see how things were developing.
Smith Preserve offers no trails 
Bob and I visited Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in early April. Since the foliage isn't out yet, visitors can get a clearer view of the Little Miami River than would be available in summer, plus the river is swollen from all of the spring showers.
The bare branches that are extending over the falls in the above photo will block part of the view after the leaves have emerged.
After observing the falls from above, we moved upstream and looked back at it.
Then we started 
A.W. Marion State Park is a 309-acre park with a 145-acre lake within its borders. The lake, known as Hargus Lake, has been stocked with largemouth bass, muskellunge, bluegill and channel catfish. Currently the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) only permits boats to use electric motors. Although the lake doesn't have a beach, boaters are allowed to swim from their boats in one corner of the lake (the swimming area is marked on the park's map).
I visited the park twice in late April of last 
Estel Wenrick Wetlands is a 255-acre preserve that's part of the Clark County Park District in southwest Ohio. Bob and I visited the preserve in late June of last year. As the park district makes clear, recreational use takes a back seat to preserving this high-quality wetland. Although there is a trail and even a boardwalk for the benefit of hikers and birdwatchers, portions of the trail are overgrown, and we encountered a couple downed trees stretching across the trail. But as you can see from 
We participated in the 49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike yesterday. This was our fifth time participating in this winter hike that runs from Old Man's Cave to Rose Lake, Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave for a total distance of 6 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.
The weather for this hike was grey skies with snow flurries in the morning. Temperatures for nearby Logan, OH were as follows:
7 AM
10 AM
1 PM
11° F (-12° C)
15° F (-9° C)
19° 
Duck species are typically divided into dabblers and divers. Dabblers feed on vegetation and invertebrates that are on or near the surface of the water, while divers swim beneath the water in pursuit of invertebrates and fish.
Photo courtesy of Joanna Lee Osborn, license: CC BY 2.0
This male mallard is dabbling bottoms up.
Dabblers also differ from divers with respect to the location of their legs. A dabbler's legs are positioned in the middle of the duck's underside.