Nickelback, Squirrels and Birds

This is why I don't post as often as I should, in one 2 week or so period, all this occurred:

• I noticed a dead squirrel in the road by my house. It wound up in our yard(smelled), was buried, 3 days later was unburied(smelled worse), dug a deeper hole, buried,(said a few words) with a birdbath base over it. Still dead.
• We had a raccoon in the house which had to be chased out but not buried.
• The neighbors seem to think it came back but did not enter.
• On Saturday, October 2, we went to see Nickelback, Three Days Grace and Buckcherry! They were all great.
• The concert started at 6 pm and ended at 11 pm. It was raining, cold and windy. We took a wrong turn, went down an alley and found a rock that looked like a bird. It was a bird. 
• Bird rescue! We took it to the car while passing stupid drunk people and not rescuing them. It got loose in the car after warming up and drying out!
• We took the bird home and put it in a box with a little bird blanky and a screen lid from one of our windows. Estimated time of actually going to sleep: 3 o'clock in the morning.
• It turns out that all birds, even injured ones, start their day at around the same time! That would be at about 6 o'clock in the morning! (note: birds in your house are much, much, louder than when they are outside, trust me on this)
• On Sunday morning, starting about 6 o'clock, I started thinking about letting birdy boy go. Mary continued to sleep till, I don't know, later!
• While Mary slept, I tried to come up with options for our new friend. Just let your mind run wild here. We have many cats in the neighborhood so the backyard was not an option for a stunned bird(we later learned that he or she was indeed, concussed).
• Letting it go in the local park. Good idea, but I don't migrate and he does, so, did he miss the migration bus? Heaven forbid, would she be migrating with other species?
• Option C, we(I called, Mary was still snooze la la) called Penitentiary Glen (Wildlife Center Hotline
  (440) 256-2131), a not so local park who I knew does rehabilitate wildlife from reading the local paper.
• We took the "Gray Cheeked Thrush" out to Pen Glen, as the locals call it, and its under good care.
• I ran over a raccoon on the way to work the next Monday. I hit it, but did not kill it, I think it got a bop on the head (I drive a van, it's up higher).
• We took our dog for a walk in the park on Saturday and before long we were confronted by two homeless cats! Two 6 month old kittens came out from nowhere and were meowing at us. Mutzi (my dog) did not approve of this at all. I called some cat rescue people and they were on the way when one of the cats took off like a cat out of hell! 
• I had gloves in my van(I'm allergic to cats and stupid people) and caught the second cat and was able to get it to the cat people.

A Collection of Zapping Stuff!

Rat zappage and such! I don't know why or how I tripped on this stuff, but it's fun, yeah?

This next clip is about ball lightning and the weather guy is wrong about Saint Elmos Fire being similar to ball lightning. Saint Elmos Fire is seen in the ocean and its phosphorous organisms that react to the movement of the ocean created by boats and is related to lightning bugs.


Here's a link to wikipedias info about ball lightning.

Tall Ships Preview: Round Two

Okay, so I'm full of crap! Yesterdays post was erroneous at best and just possibly an outright lie! Neither of the 2 ships I spotted yesterday were the U.S. Brig Niagara (reconstructed, home port: Erie Pa.) because it came in a few hours later. The first 2 names and origins remain unknown. So I was wrong. But, so was the Plain Dealer! On the front page article from the June 15 edition it clearly stated and I quote: "this Wednesday, you won't be able to board the Niagara, who's home port is Erie Pa. - you will have to wait until the festival to do that".  Well, you don't get pictures like the one to the left without being on board the ship, so there! The festival they refer to is the "Cleveland Tall Ships Festival" which runs from July 8 through July 11th, a Sunday at the port of Cleveland.  Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 day of. More info at playhousesquare.org and 216-241-6000 or 866-546-1353. More pictures are here! And you can win tickets to this event here! And the Niagara's page is here!

Tall Ship Preview

The Plain Dealer reported, rather inaccurately, that one of the "Tall Ships" would be visiting Cleveland on Wednesday, the 16th. Actually two just sailed into Cleveland at about 4 o'clock or so. They arrived from the East and were visible from Wildwood State park to the 55th Street Marina area. The last I saw of them, they were holed up at the Lakeside Yacht Club, a "members only" establishment, behind a chain link fence. So, they'll rest there overnight and probably party till dawn and then wake up and proceed to shoot their cannons off in Cleveland Harbor. Follow up links are: Channel 5's story and the home page of these two ships is here.

Carpe Diem!

"You're falling asleep!" or "Shoot low!" are the sounds you here when you're hanging around Nick and Nick. I've run into a loose group of guys at Wildwood who have a interesting habit of shooting carp through the head (or there abouts) with an arrow tethered to a bow. Bowfishing is a sport that may be as obscure as it is controversial. The controversy arose after I showed the pictures to Mary who went all "Don't club the baby seals" on me. The pictures are graphic I admit, but this is a sport with rules and regulations and it's legal. Besides, I'm a spectator here! Besides, these guys are fun to hang around with. They have a loose camaraderie that's easy to join with and they are more than polite while pursuing their prey.  I'll keep posting about these guys and their exploits as the season goes on. For more pictures click here.

North Chagrin

Click here for more piks!

Outdoor Shoot with Dan and Turtle Soup?

Dan and I went shooting today at the North Chagrin Reservation by the nature center. First we saw turtles, yawn! Then we saw what I think is a really big turtle, must be a snapper! We're still not sure about it. I have a picture from last year from June 21 of a turtle I thought was dead by looking at it but now I don't know. Today's pictures aren't definitive, but I'm hoping with Dans pictures we can figure out that it a turtle and not the "Loch Ness Monster". I apologize for the purple fringing and poor lighting and bad angles.

First picture is from last year.
The next, you can see a tail sticking up.
In the third, you can see the shell.

For further viewing:

• My pics
• Dans pics

Ringbill Gull Versus a Crayfish

I caught this sequence on Tuesday at Wildwood. The rest are here.

Leave it to the Beaver

Yesterday, after work I decided to see what was happening at Sunset Pond in the North Chagrin Reservation. I was hoping to see some Wood Ducks but they weren't there.

However, a big beaver was there. I've seen beavers before but not this big and to top it off, he or she came right at me! Good photo op, right? Nope! I mean I got some good shots but the experience unnerved me because he came so close. 

It was like he either didn't see me or didn't care. So, it swam right to me and I sort of moved out of the way and he changed course, you guessed it, right back to me. As he or she, IT came out of the water, I completely forgot what I was doing and blew the shots! Some pictures are okay but others are way over exposed. 

So now I feel like a dork and wondered if I panicked a little or not. Turns out not so much because "The Beave" does attack! Good to know. Yeah I got curious and found some YouTube showing what can happen if you don't respect a beavers space. So, in closing, never under estimate a beaver!

More pictures here.
More videos:
Beaver attacks little girl
Rabid Beaver attacks 2 people

Starting to Thaw

Euclid Creek, Wildwood, Cleveland Lakefront State Park.

Another day at Wildwood

Went down to the lake twice today. I talked to Mark the bird Watcher and a guy named George who's a duck hunter. George wants to duck hunt off the pier in the middle of this picture because it's legal. I'm sorry, but I didn't know. In order to hunt ducks, you have to be off the shoreline. George said he can't hunt off the connected piers, but if he pulls a boat up to a freestanding pier its okay.

Cat People

Earlier in the week I received an email from Ginger and agreed to meet her at Wildwood State Park to give her and Brian back their cat trap. This is the trap I retro fitted with a remote so as to trap the right cat at the right time. Whether or not they use this new feature is up to them as its optional and I would not accept payment for the service rendered because to me, I just wanted proof of concept.

While down there I did run into Mark, an avid bird watcher, who helped me sort out a bird identification problem.

After that, I talked to a cat feeder, as opposed to a cat trapper and sometimes their opinions weirdly, differ. The feeder didn't seem to mind the trappers as long as no harm was done and seemed more concerned with the loss of past pets than anything else.

Of course, I introduced them, not by name, and watched the interaction. Nothing much happened except  the exchange of trade data about the best prices for cat food. Pet Supplies Plus (I always thought this chain catered to the over weight pet) turns out to have the best prices for food according to Ginger.

Now, here's what's interesting. I'm a photographer. One or many of my subjects were The Wild Cats of Wildwood. By abetting the trappers, I lose source, but I'm neutral on this subject..

The birder, Mark, after talking to him, doesn't seem to mind the cats. Birds gotta fly, cats gotta eat I guess.

The feeder, don't know his name, doesn't seem to care as long as no cats were harmed.

So you have:

• The feeder
• The trappers
• The birders
• The picture taker

This dynamic fascinates me because they co exist without problems. Further, there is a large population of sport fisherman who have their own opinion about these circumstances and will care one way or the other. My problem is I'm losing subjects to photograph, as I liked the cats for their lens appeal. The trappers are doing a good thing, practicing TNR, Trap, Neuter, Release. The birder doesn't mind. I think the feeders as a group just want to feed to feel they are helping, but some of them don't like what DNR is all about.

Chagrin River Park and Wildwood State Park

We went to two parks today, walking about 3 miles between the two.
This picture is from Wildwood.

Euclid Beach is closed for the season 1969.

Lunch Time!

Good day for kayaking I guess!

And this last one is from Chagrin River park.

Euclid Creek

This morning we went for a walk in the Euclid Creek Reservation. A little chilly but a good day for a walk.

Lakeview Cemetery and Wade Park Lagoon

Sounds like a broken record. We went to Lakeview Cemetery this morning and then afterwords visited the Wade Park Lagoon, the proper name for the waterspace behind the Cleveland Museum of Art next to Severance.

The West Woods at The Geauga Park District

Went for about a three mile walk this morning at The West Woods, a new park(for us anyway). This park has around seven miles of trails and we loved it. We'll be going back.

The Wild Cats of Wildwood: Cat Trap Fever

After work today I went down by Wildwood State Park and there wasn't much going on. I was about to leave when I noticed some people setting out what turned out to be live traps. I met them and ended up helping them, more with information than anything else because I've been observing the cats down here by taking pictures of them.

I've noticed a change in their behavior because they are much more noticeable now and seem to be branching out. I thought maybe there was an interruption in their food supply (which seems to be a shadowy network of 2 to 6 individuals who come at all times of day and night to care for the cats, besides, you know, the natural method of feeding)

because there was less evidence like empty food containers and such.

Ginger and Brian have been rescuing wild cats for at least 2 years. They trap them and take them to the APL where they are assessed and spayed/neutered and then put up for adoption or possibly euthanized or released back into the environment at Wildwood. Sort of a catch and release program. They currently support feeding the cats at least as winter is coming and the cats caloric intake roughly doubles during cold temperatures.

The fishermen we talked to estimate about a hundred cats in the area, and Ginger and Brian caught 4, just a dent, but their best outing yet. I modestly attributed their good luck to my presence. Together, they not only work on the situation at Wildwood, but the Euclid Beach area to the west and also where East 156 Street dead ends at the lake a little more west. Also, there seems to be a community of feral felines at the intersection of East 156 Street and Grovewood that they are involved with.

Out of four cats caught, two seemed recoverable and two, one feral with bad paws and a red nose and the other with three good legs, did not look like they would be re-introduced or adopted. Obviously, Brian and Ginger are doing a hands on service to our community that many people would not want to undertake. My hats off to them, and I'll continue to follow this story. For additional pictures from this story, please click here.

Lakeshore Reservation, Lake Metroparks

This morning, Mutzi and I took Mary to a new park, the Lakeshore Reservation in Lake Metroparks. It was definitely "new sniffs" for Mary and I and also Mutzi.

The park is dog friendly and has a nice variety of trails and habitat that should keep bird and wildlife watchers happy. We liked the sculptures and steep steps leading down to the rather primitive beach.

Weirdly, right in the middle of this park, there seems to be a residence, which is off limits, obviously, but isn't mentioned outright on the parks website, but is shown on the trail map as a "restricted area". Now, this is lake county, and we're from Cleveland, slightly unfamiliar with the local trails and customs, did not wander onto the "restricted area", only because We researched our visit, but the unfamiliar visitor may just go "off trail".

We did appreciate the many weird sculptures that gave it a "Stonehenge" of Lake County feel, but to me, it seemed kind of haphazard and not well planned. This is a newer park and maybe it needs to "age". Mutzi liked it, it was a 3 bagger.

Euclid Creek photo shoot

After work I went to to Euclid Creek with Dan to take some pictures. While we were there, we saw a woman I've seen in the past who feeds the chipmunks that seem to be concentrated at the east end of the the park. We talked to her for awhile and she said she feeds them peanuts in the shell and sunflower seeds.

I looked through my pictures and found some from 2008 that I took of her and her Friends.

The Wild Cats of Wildwood

I saw a kitten today and maybe the people that used to feed the cats, but it does seem sporadic at best. The system may have broken down. In years past, the cats seemed to stay around the Euclid Creek area but seem to be branching out.