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| Best Hummingbird attempt |
In two days, September begins, and our Towpath year is 2/3 complete. It is hard to believe; it is going fast. Interestingly, I have done the vast majority of hiking in my life during the autumn season. And that is the only season during which we have not yet hiked this year. I have to say that summer will probably never be my favorite hiking season - too hot!
With just about 3 weeks of summer left, it seems to be a good time to reflect on what we have done so far, and what our goals are for the rest of 2010. This year has been full of
surprises! First of all, who knew that winter hiking would be so wonderful? Other that at times being unable to cross the trails because of very deep snow, we found the winter to be very hiker-friendly. The snow and frost are beautiful, we were often the first and only people on the trails on any given day, and no leaves on the trees means better bird visibility. So right off the bat, in January, we were already delighted to have undertaken this project.
As winter wore on, we grew excited about the chance to go deeper onto many trails and to start seeing some signs of life. Spring came and we got our wishes. We could walk anywhere we wanted once the snow melted for good. The wonder of discovering where the trail went, how beautiful it was, how close to home in some cases. How is it we never knew it was here all this time? I remember seeing the first green buds on the trees, the first bee, the first flower of the spring. Things I had never noticed before were suddenly major events!
Kay and I became instant naturalists. Kay, who knew robin, cardinal, blue jay and a few others, can now say with great excitement, "Oh, I think that's an Indigo Bunting over there," or "Look a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak." And she is almost always RIGHT. We are seeing and learning to identify species of birds, butterflies, plants, reptiles, mammals, etc. that we never even knew existed. I had logged many miles on the Towpath prior to this year, but I had never really stopped to listen or look or smell, to appreciate the life that covered every square inch of the trail and its surroundings. How many times had I seen a brown bird and thought it was a Robin? Well, now I know that it may have been something much more unusual, but I never looked closely enough to see the difference.
As summer winds down, we still have a few unrealized goals: we want a good photo of a hummingbird, and we want to get photos of as many species of all types of animals that won't be around when the weather starts to cool. Overall we've done quite well, much better than expected, with photographing different species.
We look forward to fall for the cooler weather, but for other reasons too: Fall is a time for many birds to migrate south, so we will be on the lookout for flocks. Fall is, of course, also a beautiful and legendary time in the part of the country because of the colorful foliage. And as the leaves fall from the trees, we will look forward to seeing more birds and small mammals, who will no longer be hidden by the greenery.
We hope that our additional small portion of early winter at the end of December will bring some snow before we wind up the photography part of the project.
Two things that have really surprised me are long-held beliefs about Northeast Ohio that I no longer believe: First, the myth that the area is riddled with White-tailed Deer is debatable. We have seen very few deer over the past eight months. The second, and even more shocking myth I will bust is that it rains all the time in Northeast Ohio. I can literally count on one hand the numbers of days that we were unable to go out on the trail, or were even delayed, because of rain.
About a week and a half ago, we sent a book proposal to The Kent State University press. It is the first and only proposal we have sent out. Kent State is our first choice because of the stunning books they have published about the area, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park Handbook by Carolyn V. Platt, and Wild Ohio: The Best of Our Natural Heritage by James S. McCormac and Gary Meszaros. In addition, Kent State Press has published two of our favorite books about the canal and towpath: Canal Fever: The Ohio & Erie Canal, from Waterway to Canalway by Lynn Metzger and Peg Bobel and The Nature of the Towpath: A Natural History Guide to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail by Peg and Rob Bobel.
In addition, we have a soft spot in our hearts for Kent State, since my youngest son, Tim and I are both alums!
So stay tuned, there is still much wonder to experience in 2010 on the Towpath Trail!
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