20 April 2019 Trout Lily

We had a nice long hike planned for a spring day in the Allegheny National Forest.  We found a couple caches before the clouds began to really darken.  Our short hike became a spirited run back to our vehicle before the un-forecasted downpours started.  At least I spent the morning on outdoor chores and was able to enjoy trout lilies in bloom.

18 April 2019 Ischua Feeder Lock

I was driving home from Cortland and stopped for a few caches.  The mosting interesting of the evening was a hide located at an old lock from the Ischua Feeder Canal.  The canal opened in 1840 and was closed in 1877.  The stonework on this lock near Hinsdale is still in very good shape.  It was an interesting find.

The wet areas near the lock were filled with skunk cabbage including the one in blossom below.

17 April 2019 Lime Hollow and the Finger Lakes Trail

I took a short walk at Lime Hollow Nature Preserve at lunch. I've spent a number of lunches and evenings here. It was good to see it again.

On my walk back to parking I spotted the remants of this old vehicle slowly rusting away in the woods.  I probably walked by this numerous times once the annual growth had arrived.

In the evening, I made my way to a section of the Finger Lakes Trail for a short hike.

A road sign to nearby Virgil seemed a little strange in these woods.  The roads were bad enough for me to not take the sport ute back.  Maybe this serves a purpose during snowmobile season.

I spotted these two items on a tree as I was ending my hike.  They were items noting the crew that had completed this section of the Finger Lakes Trail in May 1980.

16 April 2019 Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve

I was on my way to Cortland for work and wanted to stop for a walk in the woods.  Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve was a new walk for me.

I was hoping for spring wildflowers, but the southern tier seems to follow after our usual areas for spring warm-up.  The trail was still inviting.

Once the trail register was signed.

Laminated trail books have been around for some years, but they seem to be gaining popularity.

These trail had a book of tree poems.

I headed out on the trail for the first cache.  I quickly made a mistake deciding to cross this fast stream.  I made the unwise decision after seeing a runner coming from the other direction cross the stream and pass by me.  I should have remembered that many runners are lousy at using trails.

The trail markers eventually led me to the correct stream crossing and the nearby geocache.

There were more stream crossings ahead on this super walk.  Eventually rain arrived and I decided to get on with my drive.  It was a super place to explore and cache even if I was a little early for the spring wildflowers.

15 April 2019 Birding Along Lake Erie's Shore

It was time for our annual birding outing to Lake Erie's shore.  We stopped at Old Woman Creek, Nickel Plate Beach, Sheldon Marsh, and the creatively named East Sandusky Bay MetroPark.  Enjoy the images.

Old Woman Creek was all quiet on the waterfront today.  Our usual often include ducks and egrets with maybe an eagle.  Today there were multiple blue birds in the field by parking.

Nickel Plate Beach offered no sightings.  We stopped briefly before moving on to Sheldon Marsh.  Our first stop at the pond gave us a sighting of turtles plus a kingfisher.

It was a good day for ducks on the marsh.

Turtles doing what turtles do.

Egrets were on the marsh in breeding plumage.

On the Lake Erie side of the trail, it was odd to see the Kraig K, a commercial fishing boat riding close to the shore with nets out.

Our trip to Sheldon Marsh usually includes one or more eagle sightings.  We were both wondering if we would be shut out until we made our last stop at Erie Metroparks' East Sandusky Bay Park.  We spotted three.  I captured a weak image of one.

13 April 2019 Kinzua Country Spring

For a number of years, we have had phoebe's nest in the downspout of our home.  This morning, a pair was spending time on the patio as we had breakfast.

Once we were outside, the we saw a nest was back in a familiar location.

We took a walk in our woods and spotted a garter snake and hepatica in bloom.

Our afternoon was a hike in Chapman State Park with the dogs.  We started our journey spotting a bluebird on a power line at the parking area.

Eggs in a vernal pool

We stopped at the reservoir to see the progress of refilling the water after the dam was rebuilt.  The water was still quite low, but hopefully on the way to bringing the park back to normal.

Uh oh, somone spotted this turkey nest.

Our longer walk in the woods yielded a few more cache finds including a very clever one.

12 April 2019 Southern Tier

My work was done, and I was headed back to Pennsylvania for the weekend.  Spring seemed to have taken a brief break from its arrival, but I was determined to find a few old caches on my way through an old familiar route.

No matter how many back roads of the southern tier I have explored there always seems to be another old cemetery to visit on an old dirt road.

Many of these old country cemeteries have graves dating back to the earliest days of our country.  This one is the final resting point of Revolutionary War veteran Silas Nash.

My drive home took me to the familiar town of South Dayton.  South Dayton looks even more tired since the days when I passed through regularily over a decade ago.  On this Friday evening the town's restaurant was busy with a dinner crowd while the rest of the storefronts seem to be long ago closed.

The old bank was once a grand building.

With a cache find by the volunteer fire department my caching day was over.  It was time to finish my drive home.