27 May 2016 Momma Duck

I was near the office when I spotted a momma duck and her ducklings. They were sitting in the grass when I first spotted them. Eventually, at momma's lead they walked off towards the stream by the woods.

25 May 2016 Almost Missed the Hyacinths

For years I had a great commute to work. A drive through Cleveland Metroparks awaited me each morning when I was at home. It offset the many, many weeks of travel. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to stop for a few minutes on the commute and enjoy the world. Now my commute is twice as long through ugly traffic. Maybe the worst piece of the commute is no visits to Cleveland Metroparks. This evening was one late hope of seeing wild hyacinths along the Chagrin River this spring. I was lucky and happy for the chance.

It was late, but not too late.

22 May 2016 Looking for Orchids

The wood frog above has nothing to do with orchids, but we spotted it on our property in the morning.

We spent part of our afternoon at a local natural area looking for orchids. We usually spot a few here each year along the side of the trail, but today Ali noticed a few off the trail. As we explored we realized there were orchids everywhere along a long stretch of the trail.

21 May 2016 ASP Geobash

The weather at Allegany State Park is usually one of two extremes. Either the day is hot and sunny or there is some precipitation. Today, like last year was a day of rain. It rained enough for the group photo to be taken inside the event tent for the first time. Signal spent most of the time under cover too.

We still enjoyed the day very much. One of my favorite activities as a reviewer is participating in reviewer panels. Today's panel was well attended with lively discussions.

We spent time indoors visiting with friends and hoping for a change in the weather. Eventually we realized the weather was not going to improve greatly so we did what cachers do. We hit the trail in the rain. It wasn't always raining, but it was always. We still enjoyed our time with friends and were happy to be on the trails.

Painted Trilliums were plentiful and at their peak.

I had no idea fairy homes existed in the woods, but someone had placed one off the trail at Allegany State Park.

20 May 2016 Indian Trails Park

We were on our way to Pennsylvania with plans to attend the ASP Geobash the following day. The weather was too nice to pass by a walk at Indian Trails Park in Ashtabula.

Jack-in-the-pulpits grow large here.

A training wheel from a different time at the edge of the trail.

We spotted a few Bessemer Brick Blocks. Most of them were broken pieces, but this one was still mostly intact.

The river is always a pleasant part of a walk at Indian Trails.