More Buzzard

   Fished at this isolated pond in Buzzard Swamp yesterday, located 2 miles from the parking lot along the gated gravel access road. The road passes through woods and fields and near swampy ground with small vernal pools, and likely that is where this large crayfish came from... Why it was walking along the middle of one tire track was less obvious, but it seemed to be unconcerned until I approached, when it turned and assumed this defensive posture. I picked it up and dropped it into a small stream then continued on my way.
   

      After catching and releasing one large mouth bass I started back along the road and heard an ominous hiss from abut two feet into the grass-not a rattle, but a low hiss-and that was all the warning I had from this four foot Timber rattlesnake lounging near the road. I never felt threatened because it seemed a little lethargic, so I suspect it had recently eaten and was simply resting while digesting. The day was mid 80's F so no doubt it was a bit overheated in the sun. I took some pics as we watched one another for a few minutes, until finally it slowly crawled off into nearby bushes. This was only the second rattlesnake I have seen in my life, and I would have expected a  Timber rattlesnake to be in the woods or near rocks, not in the middle of a field-seemingly as out of place as the crayfish walking along the road. (as always, click on pics to enlarge them)

 

17 year Cicada

    I visited the east briefly to witness the cicada emergence there, and found these at the home of my kids near Reading, PA. There have been other broods-most notably to me a 13 year generation that I have witnessed since the 1970's- but it was still a wonder to hold an insect in my hands and think that this individual was born in 2004. My life has changed tremendously since that year in many ways, yet for all that time this fragile insect was underground sucking root juices, only to emerge for a few weeks on cue to mate and start the cycle over again. 

 Science is not sure what mechanism synchronizes their inner clock                                                           but to see them flying clumsily around the woods and

hear their mating calls is a rare experience. I anticipate being able to experience one more emergence in 2038 if I survive to my mid 80's, and will see other broods in between, but it is still a remarkable sight.

    The hiker is a man and his dog whom I met while at the Appalachian trail near New Tripoli.  If you Google 'Cloud Culpepper' or his dog 'Raindrop Hound Dog' you'll find their websites with lots of nice pics and info about their travels. He told me he has been

walking around the country for 3 years, thoroughly embraced in the freedom of the lifestyle, with a home base in North Carolina. I could relate to the minimalist in him, and gave him a couple power bars and some information about the trail ahead. As he remarked, he found most people in this nation to be kind and helpful and lamented the negative image so prevalent in the news. If we stop talking about politics and religion ( easier said than done), suddenly we are much more agreeable to one another!   (..click on the pics to enlarge)
 

Kayaking

  Beth and I tried out our new kayaks with friends at Chapman State Park yesterday, a small reservoir type park a few miles from the house. 

    They are 8 foot 'Old Townes' which replaced larger kayaks after we decided we were tired of lifting heavier boats onto the car roof. These only weigh 35 pounds each so are more manageable and tracked well and felt stable. Larger kayaks, such as our friends 10 foot sit-on Perceptions, generally move through the water a little easier, so you sacrifice some things with smaller crafts, but because we often travel downstream on the Allegheny or Conewango rivers that is not much of an issue. The maneuverability and ease of transport are preferable to us right now.  This particular section of the park is the feeder stream that fills the lake and passes a massive beaver hut and through slow water that reminds me of the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia-minus the alligators and moccasins of course. 

     While on the lake an osprey was circling overhead and Beth watched a bald eagle dive for a fish, although she did not think that it had been successful. Some people fish from their kayaks, something I have never tried, although they seem to enjoy it and it would definitively allow me to cover a lot more water than wading as I usually do. I am a casual catch and release fisherman so enjoy being outside either way-but I still feel a bit guilty for the 'trauma' of hooking and throwing back fish, so I really only fish occasionally.  (as always... click on pic to enlarge...)

Ohiopyle Sate Park

    Beth and I camped at Ohiopyle State Park over the weekend, a popular whitewater destination on the Youghiogheny river in southwest PA.  The park is beautiful but very crowded on weekends, so we did most of our exploration on Monday. A bike trail from Pittsburgh to Washington DC passes through the park, and in between showers we pedaled that for a few miles then explored the small town of Ohiopyle. I happened to see a foot long trout jump up and out of that churning water behind us towards the falls, like a salmon, something I never would have expected had I not witnessed it. ( Beth took the pics with her new Motorola phone, and as usual click on them to enlarge! )

 

Pooh Sticks

    Spent some time playing 'Pooh Sticks' with the granddaughter a couple weeks ago as she visited for a week while mom recovered from back surgery. I used to play this game with my son -now her uncle- when he was small, dropping sticks into a creek and watching them pass under the bridge before disappearing downstream. The name was derived from a Winnie the Pooh video my son loved, and naturally this is something kids have been doing for ages. At one point Renley walked over to a huge log with the expectation that we could somehow lift it into the water, but eventually she settled on this large stick. I guess she became bored with the small stuff and wanted

a bigger thrill, but in the end it got stuck in shallow water near the shore. She also passed a half hour climbing onto boulders to see which was the best in her 4 year old mind. 

       The energy of kids always reminds me of how far we all come in learning about life, and how sluggish we become...There would be no need for diets if adults moved so much...(and as always, click on pics to enlarge )

Texas

 We returned from two weeks in Texas two days ago, visiting the grandson and family in Dallas/Fort Worth area, and took a day trip to this state park an hour southwest of the city. The Tyrannosaurus model is not accurate in that that species never lived in the area nor at the same time as the species that did live there, but it was obtained after the 1964 NY State fair from an exhibit that the Sinclair Oil Company had produced. Despite its inaccuracy it's still a hit with ‘kids’ of all ages. The Paluxy River runs through the park in which the old rock that contains the footprints has been exposed by erosion. The Acrocanthosaurus that made the tracks in the picture was a resident carnivore that weighed about 13,000 to 14,000 pounds and lived 123 to 113 million years ago. When the water level is very low one can literally walk the same path, although the local people also use deep pools in the river for swimming and there are picnic tables and playgrounds for family use.  About ½ mile from the park entrance, religionists have erected what they call a ‘creation museum’, apparently to offer a counter message to the scientific reality of the geological history of the area.  According to Wikipedia, certain people mistook some tracks to be human, and so:

 “ young-Earth creationists continue to believe that humans and non-avian dinosaurs lived at the same time, a notion that is contrary to the standard view of the geological time scale. Biologist Massimo Pigliucci has noted that geologists in the 1980s "clearly demonstrated that no human being left those prints," but rather "they were in fact metatarsal dinosaur tracks, together with a few pure and simple fakes."^[6]

^{AS always...click on pictures to enlarge them...}

  

 

Beaver Meadows

Took a walk at Beaver Meadows yesterday, another small  CCC area in the forest with some trails that circle a beautiful reservoir. I had to walk from the macadam road along the access road which was a sheet of ice in some places and had snow that was too deep for the car in others.  A few people had managed to drive in with four wheel drive and I found their footprints in elevated impressions where the deep snow they had walked through had been compressed and then the softer snow around the prints had melted. Because sunshine has been rare this winter a blue sky day such as this was a blessing, with warmth to the sun that hinted of spring.

Postscript: 3/3/21- Despite the snow at the CCC site, most of it has melted in town and I saw the first Grackle in a tree today. The return of the migrators is always a welcome sign of spring!