If you spend much time along lakes and waterways during the warm-weather months, you will likely see one of my favorite birds: the belted kingfisher. These birds are slightly larger than a robin, and they are an interesting blue-gray color above with a white belly and a white ring around their neck.
You can hear the falls before you see them. On a quiet morning the roar is audible for blocks. And when you can finally see them, the sight takes your breath away. We're talking Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side.
Brown trout are one of the three main species of trout living in Lake Michigan: including brown trout, lake trout and rainbow trout (steelhead). During the winter and early spring months when the weather is cold, brown trout are one of the easiest of the three species to catch out on the big lake.
As we rolled out of Allegany State Park, we had a choice. Should we visit the County Fair in Little Valley, or head directly to our next campsite? The question became moot when we passed the Seneca Iroquois National Museum.
Everyone who has spent any amount of time outside has seen or heard a woodpecker at one time or another. Several species live in the eastern half of the United States, including red-headed woodpeckers, red-bellied, downy, hairy, pileated and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.
Early in the morning we left Leith Run and took the Ohio River Scenic Byway, OH-7, up the river to near the Pennsylvania border. There is a power plant every 30 minutes or so all along that stretch, belching huge amounts of coal exhaust.
Many of us grew up chasing fireflies in our yards during the summertime. They were fun to watch and even more fun to catch. These insects are also called lightning bugs, and both names are appropriate since these creatures have the ability to light up with their amazing internal light source.
Susan and I are on the road, again. It would be easy enough to say, "Summer's here- the road called, and we responded." But Susan was already selling the idea of a road trip this summer, before we got home from our road trip last summer. Just another example of how well I married.
Hummingbirds are amazing little creatures. They are the smallest birds that will visit your back yard this summer, and they are definitely one of the most interesting. Hummingbirds can hover in mid-air, and they are also the only birds that can fly backwards.
Dragonflies were part of my youth. My father was a freshwater fisherman- dragonflies are found around freshwater. I grew up watching their amazing aerial acrobatics.
The Eastern Chipmunk is a common sight in backyards, parks and woodlands throughout the most of eastern United States and southern Canada. They do not live in the coastal areas of southeastern states, as they both prefer forested and colder habitats, but wherever they are found these curious little mammals are fun to watch.
