ONWR visit - Oct 25, 2014

I visited Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge late on Saturday afternoon, October 25, 2014. The weather was sunny, windy, and warmish with temps near 70 degrees. The fall foliage looked nice.

I walked around ONWR from approximately 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. I prowled the area at the north side of the visitor's center.

I observed some birds, but I mainly wanted to take a walk to enjoy the scenery and the weather.

I observed Golden-crowned Kinglet, Myrtle Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, and Greater Yellowlegs.

I heard the Greater Anglewing clicking. I watched several Autumn Meadowhawks soak in the sunshine on a log. I stepped around numerous, sluggish Northern Green Frogs that rested on the gravel pathways, probably absorbing some sunshine too.

I saw a flock of a few dozen juncos along one semi-open pathway.

At least six Greater Yellowlegs foraged in a small water area, along the road path by the big woodlot, near the old parking lot. It was nice to watch yellowlegs on October 25.

This area could probably be the best shorebird spot in the Midwest if year-round habitat existed. Killdeer will still be moving through northwest Ohio in November. Killdeer will arrive in the first half of March and maybe late February if the weather is decent.

Purple Sandpipers use different habitat, preferring to forage on rocky, wave-battered shores. This bird moves through our area in small numbers in the first half of December.

Wetland habitat probably would not attract Purple Sandpipers, but still, we would have some shorebirds from March to November. Only two to three months out of the year would be without shorebirds.

We would also have more interesting shorebird nesting activity if the habitat existed. Oh, well. That's in issue or another time.

ONWR photos from Oct 25, 2014.

A seemingly taller-than-normal muskrat hut.

ONWR visitor's center

ONWR ranger station, built around 2012.

Numerous Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies were soaking up the warm sunshine. Toledo area temps this afternoon reached the upper 60s.

I got my iPhone in June 2014. The 32 GB 5C was a free upgrade for me, so it seemed like a good deal. It was my first smartphone. I started using Instragram soon after. Excluding the web browsers, Instagram is probably my favorite app and my most used app. But I had not played around with the Instragram filters much yet, so I'm going to have more fun with this app.

I used the Rise filter on this photo.

I used the Kelvin filter on this photo.

A trail of moss and not grass. This would be an ideal running path. Soft but firm enough to support running.

Numerous Northern Green Frogs rested on the gravel paths.

While driving home across the I-280 Veterans Memorial Skyway Bridge, I snagged this lucky shot of the sun behind downtown Toledo buildings. Looks like a nuclear explosion in a movie.

#park - #onwr - #nature - #blog_jr