Lindo Lake Goslings

 We were blessed with the arrival of little Jasper on April 30th.  While his mama and Papa (Fiore and Fritz) has six eggs total, this little fluff ball was the miracle baby:

yes that is a little bit of down on his beak.  He had just left the nest and was trying to find his footing.

he soon got tired and needed a nap

then he was up again.

and as tired as he was, he still needed to see all the wonders around him, what better way to observe than on mama's back?

i don't think Jasper realized he was eating out of my hand, he was just following what his papa did.

                                                          ***  Fresh from the nest***

*** Three Weeks Old ***

Next to arrive on the scene were the quads.  These little beauties are the offspring of Theodore and Lucy.  they are both first time parents and are still in the process of learning.

      Unfortunately in the first week, two of the goslings disappeared.  there are a lot of predators for the parents to deal with and yes it is nature, but it's still sad to one day have four, then three and then two.

These are the little survivors, Kikki (out front) and Archie

Then one day out of nowhere two more babies appeared.  Their parents, Cosmo and Olivia were so well hidden, i didn't even know they were nesting.

This is little Spencer and Gus.

Being a baby is really hard work.

all the families seem to be cohabiting quite well, at certain parts of the day they're all together and that part of the park is considered the "nursery".

These little goslings grow faster than a weed and here are the little babies from this week:

Kikki and Archie

Spencer and Gus

And little Jasper

Sooner rather than later, the babies will look just like their parents.  they won't have their honks yet, just the baby squeaks and it's then that i'll have to find distinguishing marks to be able to tell them apart.  But I may also have to do some name changing, after all they all have boys' names, odds are they aren't all boys.  

Loveland Reservoir

Loveland Reservoir is part of the Cleveland National Forest.  Like Pine Creek Wilderness, i have not been here in almost four years.  To say i was shocked when i arrived, would be an understatement!!

Drought has severely affected this body of water:

Where this picture is taken, is actually the bed of the lake.  It is dry as far as the eye can see.  All the green off in the distance are reeds and cattails. All this area should be under water and not a foot or two, but ten plus feet.  When the lake is full there are times when just getting to the trail is impossible, that was not the issue today.

This too should all be water and this is the route i used to take,  Off to the left, along the ridge and around the lake.  I still could have taken that route, but it just seemed too sad to look at that dry lake bed.

the Lake bed is now a 'trail' to the shore

way off into the distance (where the arrow is) shows where the dock is. Now instead of floating, it's sitting on the ground.

this is the map at the trail head. Everything to the left of the white line is dried up.

But rather than dwell on the dry areas, i carried on and enjoyed nature.  While the area has changed, nature's creatures have persevered. and while the drought has taken a good portion of the lake, the new reeds and cattails have created a habitat and food for many of my winged friends.  The red winged blackbirds serenaded me the whole time while walking through the dry areas (and that's never a bad thing)

a lone Cormorant hanging out.

a squirrel pretending to be invisible.

It was a beautiful day, low 80's, cool breeze and i had this lake all to myself, not a person in sight.  Just me and the flora and fauna.

Pine Creek Wilderness

 This past week i went to Secret Canyon in the Pine Creek Wilderness.  The actual trail is almost 16 miles long.  I haven't been on this trail in almost four years.  In order to hike in this part of the Cleveland National Forest you are required to have a "Adventure Pass" to park.  Since i have not been able to afford said pass, i have not been able to go. However, just recently my dear friend Kathleen surprised me with a yearly pass. i did not wait long to take advantage.

This trail is not a heavily traveled trail, so the trail is rocky and eroded and there is a lot of overgrowth, these things are not a deterrent for me, they are a plus!

As i said before this trail is a rather long hike.  In the past i usually cut across the creek, climb up from the canyon and then catch the fire road to make a nice loop trail.  that was my goal this day, however since four years had passed, there were suddenly trees where there were once none and shrubs and bushes and let's just say i got, "misguided".  NOT lost, just a little turned around.

Since it has been such a dry year, i was not expecting much water (if any) in the creek.

 i was pleasantly surprised!  I could hear the gurgle of the small creek and i was so happy to see some water, i was a little startled to see i wasn't alone.

while this is Federally owned land, there are portions of the Forest that are leased to cattle ranchers.  Seeing cattle always makes me smile!

The creek runs through the entire canyon and in some areas will empty into small pools.  The trail itself is along the ridge, so the constant sight and sound of the water is always relaxing (even when you're going uphill)

i discovered some of the "trails" i encountered were not trails at all.  they were simply the route that cattle would take to get to the water.  this led me to some rather dense and overgrown trails, but in the end, i met up with the fire road i was looking for and managed to make it to my car in one peace (and maybe a few dozen scraps and scratches.

The creek may not look like much, but just look at the difference in the canyon.  Everything is bright green.  There is grass and flowers and while the creek may not be rushing like it has in recent years, that water is still feeding the land. 

Due to the drought this year, the flora was not as plentiful as usual, but when i saw this i couldn't help but smile.  The drought tolerant Monkey Flower was blooming all over.

As you can imagine, the Hummingbirds were quite pleased with these blooms. 

Normally on a hike i really try to concentrate on photographing birds and i must admit, this day, the birds were not cooperating.  They sang their songs!  They shouted their warnings and flew nearby, but not a one would stay still for a second so i could get a photograph.  No matter. While i would love to photograph every bird, animal and landscape i see, sometimes it just isn't possible and in the end that's OK, at least i was there to see it!