The beautiful grays of winter…

I normally go for color, and lots of it, but when the skies drain gray for days, weeks, and sometimes months on end, my pallete shifts and I see the calming beauty of winter grays...

Two Northern Shovelers add a pop of color with their bright orange legs and beautiful green heads while an icy gray fog hangs behind them.

…winters in Cincy can get downright bland midwinter. Endless gray days descend with cloud covers so thick you sometimes can't tell the difference between morning, noon and early evening. Add in icy cold fogs--gray and creeping, stealing color wherever they roam, and you really start to long for the greens of spring. But Mother Nature never really abandons us during the gray and leaves subtle loveliness for us to find…

...a dark gray background highlights the creamy beiges and whites in these ripe seeds.

A weathered fence seems to hold back a flurry of faded stalks, beautiful in the silence of a gray winter's day.

...a lone American Coot skims the ice, casting a soft gray shadow, quiet as he fades across the surface of the lake.

American Coots splash and dive in icy water…gray on gray.

Alley-oop! A coot completes that spectacular hop and plunge into the water, diving deep under the surface to nab the green water plants below. He resurfaces with beads of water dripping from his head, neck and back…not sparkling in the sun, but glowing white like tiny polished quartz crystals. (Does his little tail remind you a bit of a much fiercer creature's dorsal fin?)

If the sky were shining blue and sparkling fairydust covered the lake, would I have noticed the tiny seeds and folded beauty in this dead flower head?

Monday was the murkiest of gray days, and it was cold and damp too. A gray fog lingered everywhere, but it carried it's own beauty as well. The kids were off school to celebrate Martin Luther King day, and Matty had a hockey game early in the morning at the Indian Hill Winter Club (which borders the old, abandoned Camp Dennison gravel pits). This made me very happy, because during the hour before the game and during part of the first period, I was able to us my new spotting scope to study the American Coots and Northern Shovelers that always hang out at the open area of ice down the hill from the parking lot.

Yeah!

...seeing those coots up close, close, close diving and resurfacing in the icy water was renewing. (I hate to admit it, but I had grown sort of blase toward the plump little dark gray birds, but not anymore.) I loved studying that hop and plunge that they do, and when they would resurface with a bill full of green water plants, shaking their heads back and forth to swallow their meal down, I was mesmerized. I didn't realize how many tiny details I was missing by not using a spotting scope. Now to learn how to take photographs through it....and videos....

A very sweet Mallard couple…

…we are still stuck on last Saturday at Voice of America Park! It was such a beautiful day and the sun was so bright it made everything look extra nice, which meant I couldn’t stop clicking that camera (since then it's been horribly rainy and cold, so it's a good thing I did). This male Mallard was at the first turn in the lake. I don’t know if he thought he was hiding in the cattails, but with the sun intensifying the beautiful jewel tones in his feathers, he couldn’t have been more conspicuous, however, the lovely female was practically hidden in the reeds, and it wasn’t until she moved out into the open that we noticed her.

The males are such "dudes" with their flashy emerald 

heads, but there is something so sweet and beautiful 

in the female's face and camouflaged plumage.

Also on the lake was a small flock of American Coots swimming around like they owned the place. They were very entertaining and also very good at synchronized swimming. Near them was a cute little Pied-billed Grebe, diving, disappearing and resurfacing over and over. So cute…

I always enjoy scanning an empty pond looking for 

a solitary Pied-billed Grebe doing his diving thing! This 

guy, however, was sharing his space with the coots.

…a little later, a Horned Grebe showed up, just stopping off for a rest on his long journey north. I love it when I catch migrants passing through. It’s so exciting. These birds have so many miles to cover and so much to do when they arrive, I can’t help but marvel at them.

Not the best photo, but you can just make out 

his red eye and almost see his "horned" feathers.

Finally, when we were leaving, I noticed a small 

flock of Blue-winged Teal on the pond next to the 

lake. Not the best photo, but good enough for ID.

…and last but not least, a photo of Rick, the Spotter. I took this photo shortly before he spotted a Bobolink (our first of the year). He didn't know he was being photographed. With camera in hand, I'm slowly turning into a birding paparazzi.

Hi Spotman!

A windy and fun day at the Oxbow

Today Matty and I, Ben (Matty’s friend), and Ken (Ben’s dad), all went to the Oxbow in Lawrenceburg, Indiana hoping to see an eagle or two. The weather was surprisingly mild and the warm temps were welcome. We didn’t find the eagles, but we did see many nice ducks, such as Red-headed Ducks, Northern Pintails, Ring-necked Ducks, American Black Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, American Coots, Ring-billed Gulls, Mallards, and Canada Geese (of course). We also saw many fine birds including most of the usual suspects plus a Hairy Woodpecker, numerous Kildeer, two Great Blue Herons, and Horned Larks that were twittering in the cut cornfield!

Ben and Matty...the cornfield to the right of Matty is 

where we heard the very loud twittering Horned Larks! 

We saw a female further up the road, separated from the flock.

American Goofballs faking an American Bald Eagle sighting...

Along with the surprising warmth today came annoyingly strong sustained winds! As a result, I found out I really, really need a spotting scope. Identifying ducks without one, especially in the wind, is difficult. I have a wonderful pair of Nikon binocs with a motion stabilization button that really works, but when the wind is tossing you all over the place even motion stabilization can’t help. A spotting scope on a tripod would. Because of all that tossing there were a few ducks we couldn’t 100% positively ID. One being what I know from look and feel was a Common Merganser (3 of them, actually), but if I can’t see every ID characteristic clearly through the glass, I don’t count it. Boo! Rick’s birthday is coming up soon (he’s a Pisces too). I think he might like a spotting scope…

Do you have to pick up every stick you come across?

As an aside--Jon just emailed me and reported he saw an immature American Bald Eagle circling around 4:00 p.m. We left at 2:20. One of these days...

About the Oxbow
The Oxbow is a large floodplain at the confluence of the Great Miami River and Ohio River. This floodplain is part of the Mississippi Flyway and the outer edges of the Atlantic Flyway. Thousands of migratory birds rely on this important staging area for resting and refueling on their long annual migrations. Recently, Audubon Ohio recognized the Lower Great Miami River as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Because of its many rare or unusual birds, such as the wintering population of Bald Eagles and Black Vultures, migrating Ospreys, unusually large summer concentrations of wading birds such as Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, and the use of the area as a major migratory path for ducks, the Oxbow area was qualified for membership in the elite club! With over 283 species of birds at the Oxbow, the variety is greater than that of many National Wildlife Refuges.

...the turtle was looking especially cute 

sunning itself on the branch.

Oxbow, Inc. is an all-volunteer citizen's conservation group (www.oxbowinc.org) working to preserve and protect our area's vanishing wetlands. For more information or to become involved, check out their Website.

...the view from one of the fields, crossing over to 

the mudflats and another pond. Preserving wetlands 

from encroaching industry is crucial and can't wait.