The Bluebird Sentinels of Serpent Mound...

If you see "Serpent Mound" in the title, you probably have guessed that Matty and I are back at Shawnee State Park doing our week of volunteering at the nature center with the fabulous and awesome naturalist there, Jenny Richards, author of Naturally Speaking from Shawnee State Park. If you want to see some of what Matty and I did last year at Shawnee click here. Rick is back at home working and holding down the fort, so he is missing out on the fun, but Matty and I are having a blast playing with the snakes and helping out at the nature center. If you're in the area, drop by! Tomorrow Matty and I are leading a workshop for the kids to teach them how to paint birds on rocks. It will be fun, and it's free!

Last year, Matty and I visited Serpent Mound the first day we arrived, and this year we did the same. We wondered if the Bluebirds that seemed to patrol the park would still be there, and they were...and there were more of them! Once again, the birds were hard at work, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient serpent effigy...

Serpent Mound is an ancient 3-foot high and 1,330 foot (nearly a quarter-mile) long serpent earthwork effigy built on a ridgetop overlooking Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. The grass-covered serpent effigy is 20-25 feet wide. I was at the top of the viewing tower when I took this shot, but the serpent is way too big to fit into one camera frame. Click here for an article on the Ohio Archeology Blog that details the mound and shows an arial view of the Great Serpent.

Eastern Bluebirds act as sentinels at the Great Serpent Mound, reminding us to stay off the earthwork mounds to preserve the ancient effigy. Papa Bluebird seems to be teaching his baby the ropes...it's a very important job. Not just any bluebird can do it...

...later papa flew down to the eastern coil of the serpent mound for a personal inspection--all's clear to his right!

...all's clear to his left!

...more lessons for junior. The bluebirds at Serpent Mound are ever-vigilent. Afterall, their charge is the largest ancient earthen effigy mound in the world!

...of course, the Bluebird Sentinels were not the only birds guarding the sacred effigy. Here a Chipping Sparrow sings out an alarm from the path. Phoebes were perched all around, and huge American Crows flew regularly overhead to monitor the perimeter. Nuthatches, woodpeckers, and goldfinches were singing too...while Wood Thrushes and Ovenbirds had the steep hillsides that slid down to Brush Creek covered... :-)

...Matty and I are having so much fun volunteering at Shawnee. I will have more to post in the coming days. Today we watched two Timber Rattlesnakes being prepared for release back into the wild. They were fitted with little GPS chips under their skin so they can be monitored. The Timber Rattlesnake is an endangered species in Ohio, and Shawnee may be his last stronghold.