Mussel Survey on the Scioto River

Today we went to Scioto Grove Metro Park to assist with a freshwater mussel survey on a stretch of the Scioto River south of downtown Columbus and the wastewater treatment plant.  Freshwater mussels can found in most of the major rivers systems in Ohio and they an important organism in aquatic habitats because they are filter feeders and are an indicator of clean water.  Read more about freshwater mussels of Ohio here. Andrew and I and a colleague of Andrew's from the Nature Conservancy along with the Assistant Curator of the Freshwater Mussel collection at OSU and a doctoral candidate also at Ohio State comprised the group.  The objective was to find as many species as possible, the fresher the better with live specimens being the most desirable. We found about 11 species of mussels in an hour.  These specimens indicate what species have been in the river in the past and we don't know if they remain because we did not find live specimens.  It was a nice day to be outside. I was dismayed by the concentration of litter along the banks of the creek.  It amazes me that people don't seem to care where they throw their trash. 

 Antique Coke bottle remains

 Sorting mussels

 A fragment of china

 Consulting the mussel bible

Me, Andrew, Kaitlin and Tony (not pictured: Dan)

Prairies in Full Bloom

A couple of my prairie photos were used for this Metro Parks article.

The Central Ohio prairies are spectacular. Andrew did a good bit of the restoration work on most of them in the parks.

A Sea of Color

               

                We are so enjoying our yard. It seems like everyday it gets more beautiful.

Bichon Antics

It poured down rain this morning and carried on with lightening and thunder for about 2 hours.  We really needed the rain. Lacy threw up on the bedspread this morning, probably from eating Skittles, and so I washed it and at lunch time took it out of the washer and hung it to dry. I let the pups out to potty and Nolan decided he needed to "ant" himself in the dirt and then they both came in, posed for a photo and then ran and jumped on the bed sans spread and decided to look as cute as possible to avoid my wrath.  Its like camping around here with all the dirt. Thankfully they are both getting groomed later in the week which, in addition to cleaning them up, will be a relief from the heat.

Lazy Sunday

Today we went to a book release signing party. The much awaited, Birds of Hocking County, Ohio was written by a colleagues/friends and we were excited to support their endeavor. We then came home to get the pups out for their nightly exercise and played in the yard.  You can most likely find us in the yard anytime the weather is decent and we are free.

Buttons

Sat night around 9:30 the neighbor knocks on the door and asks if all our rabbits are accounted for b/c there is a big lop earred rabbit on his front lawn. (So right off the bat I know it's not ours). Andrew goes down and gets the rabbit. Poor thing was on the neighbor's porch looking in his storm window for someone to help him. We named him Roamin' and suspected that he had been dumped. He stayed with us for 4 days. Very friendly little guy. On Tuesday the same neighbor hands us a slip of paper with a phone number on it and says Roamin' is Button and his family is looking for him. Happy reunion for (cute as a) Button and his family last night. They live diagonally across from us. They are new to the neighborhood and since we are holed up in our back yard most of the time we only know the neighbors that are out and about while we are walking our dogs. Wife is Korean and was making Mongolian beef and rice. She sent us home with a big to go container of it. Best I have ever eaten. Glad too that the rabbit went home b/c we do not want any more rabbits. Taking them a sturdier cage this evening. One that we aren't using...

The Darby Accord-10 year Anniversary

Andrew doing a program for the Darby Accord.

On the Darby, celebrating 10 years of the Darby Accord. Small River Sucker here, which demonstrates good water quality.           

                            

Photos from Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy and The Nature Conservancy.

Billy Jacobs

I had wonderful day today roaming the back roads of north eastern Ohio with my friend Lisa. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant and visited the Billy Jacobs gallery in Navarre, saw a bunch of cool historical buildings, stopped at a cheese shop and a winery and even saw sasquatch and got a baby bunny fix!

Bracing for the Storm

...that never happened...HYPE

Batten down the hatches and bring in your lawn decor!  http://tinyurl.com/z72nwgy

Summer Skies

Heated up and trying to storm.  It missed...

Twayblade

Andrew photographed this uncommon orchid at one of the parks today.

Rainy Monday

It's been raining off and on for awhile. The pups needed a walk. Good thing they have rain gear that they don't mind wearing.

Happy Mother's Day

Me and my mom on Mother's Day.

Foxy

We had a visitor to campus yesterday. He/she was seen on the track at the stadium, behind one of the dorms, and I found it behind the rec center sunning on a pile of lava rocks.  It has also been seen in the neighborhood around campus recently and seems to be accustomed to people and noise as most urban critters are.

Black Throated Green Warbler

Black-throated green warbler in our yard. All the time that Andrew has spent on NWF certified wildlife habitat is paying off.

5K for K9 Cancer

Great time photographing the 5K for K9 Cancer at Otterbein. The pups had fun too. @800 run/walk; @400 dogs and 1 pig.

Meanwhile in Ohio...

Meanwhile in Ohio: pansies blooming, still wearing winter coat, neighbor mowing lawn, other neighbor having lawn treated, heater on in my office, students in shorts, snow falling in April...

Incoming Storm

I've been at mom and dad's since Tuesday evening helping out while mom was having surgery. Tonight the sky looked furious but it blew right over their house without a drop of rain.

New Blooms

A Turkey Vulture and a Hawk

I came home from lunch to find a couple of these guys dining on a dead squirrel in our front yard and literally stopping traffic. This is a new species for our wildlife wonderland. I know that most people hate turkey vultures and think they are ugly but without them who would do carcass cleanup duty? I think they are another one of natures marvels. The one in this photo actually responded to my conversation with him by sitting nicely to have his portrait taken.

I figured the squirrel was killed a hawk and then dropped due to some interruption and later in the week my suspicion was pretty much confirmed when we saw the hawk (pictured below), probably the juvenile I blogged about earlier this summer, hunting in our back yard. This is the first time we have seen him since he about took Andrew's head off while robbing our cardinal nest.