Blue Goose ~ Day 125

October 2, 2014 ~ Seymour, IN to Columbus, IN

Muscatatuck NWR was five miles away and I wanted to finally get to a refuge early in the morning for once instead of mid afternoon, the hottest part of the day, the quietest for birds. 

First though, I had an early pre-sunrise breakfast at Burger King and watched CNN, a nice change from FOX which is usually the choice in public places in the Midwest (or sports). I listened to the latest on Ebola in Texas, wondering how a nurse (or anyone in that first ER visit) could have neglected to recognize that a sick person, recently from Liberia, might not warrant suspicion of Ebola. Like not rocket science here....

I loved Muscatatuck. It will be on my list of top ten favorite refuge, for now at least. I did get there early and spent four hours on an auto route, working hard for, but eventually seeing, 26 species of birds. There was no wind, it was just warm enough and the road went through a variety of habitats.

Muscatatuck NWR - IN

A few other cars came by; one couple was out with a long-lens camera, photographing Red-headed Woodpeckers and whatever else showed up. I stopped also, and it turned out to be a very birdy spot as all sorts of passerines showed up, which are birds with the following characteristics: 

BIRDING.ABOUT.COM

• Small to medium body size.
• Relatively vocal, including different calls and often elaborate songs.
• Altricial chicks that need extensive parent care after hatching.
• Relatively bright colors or distinct markings.
• Unwebbed toes and feet.
• The most prominent characteristic of passerine birds, however, is the anisodactyl arrangement of toes. These birds have four toes, three facing forward and one backward, which allows the bird to easily cling to both horizontal and nearly vertical perches, including branches and tree trunks. These birds also have an adaptation in their legs that gives them extra strength for perching, and in fact, the relaxed position of their feet and talons is to be clenched securely, so the birds are able to perch easily even when sleeping.

Cool word, altricial: Humans are considered secondarily altricial...

I walked the mile-long Turkey Trail through the woods, saw a Wood Thrush and twice just missed getting hit on the head by falling black walnuts, which are greenish and nearly the size of a baseball and which were dropping constantly all through these woods.  As were leaves...gently wafting down, often getting caught on branches on their way, and teasing as the movement mimicked a bird flit.

Cardinal at Muscatatuck NWR - IN

A small group of Killdeer on a mud flat with two Canada geese; several Eastern Phoebes, with yellowish bellies this time of year; many Carolina Chickadees....warblers and woodpeckers...ducks in the distance on the bright-green algae-covered impoundments.

Muscatatuck NWR - IN

The Visitor Center had hundreds of nature books, several very active bird-feeders, and interesting, informative, modern exhibits. Muscatatuck was all a refuge can be for visitors, and I appreciated the work that is required to create and maintain the roads, trails, lookouts and boardwalks.

By mid afternoon, I headed north on I65 to Columbus, not far from Indianapolis, and found a Starbucks...and here I am, ready to read for awhile, find the nearby Walmart and then (maybe) organize the inside of my van.

There were ponds behind the usual businesses (Menards, Walmart, several fast food restaurants, gas stations) and beyond those were fields of dried corn stalks. It was peaceful except for nearly constant skeins of Canada geese flying very low and loudly just over my head, but the sound of birds is welcome when the auditory alternative is traffic. And the skies of autumn are often pearly grey with subtle pastel colors in the early evenings on warm days.

I went to about four fast food restaurants, eating something at each one, trying to find something satisfying...and failed. The last one was a Culver's where I wanted an old-fashioned chocolate malted which they assured me they made...but it was totally not....

I think this particular stretch of Indian Summer is about to end but it's been wonderful!

Muscatatuck NWR - IN

Blue Goose ~ Day 124

October 1, 2014 ~ Jasper, IN to Seymour, IN

The first of October and the beginning of the second trimester of this adventure. There is an end in sight, which is how I've been feeling lately. However, it is actually OK for several reasons. I now know that a car is no substitute for a home. I am learning again the importance of social connections - friends and family. I am really missing western Michigan and life near the Lake.

I woke up feeing like I was in a corral of white semis because I sort of was.

A McDonald's across the parking lot was open although in the midst of major remodeling. Still, their WiFi worked. (This apparently is not a part of the country where coffee shops of any kind are felt to be necessary.) A large table of locals sat around most of the time I was there, retired men and women, getting a social fix, giving me surreptitious glances.

It was an uneventful day. I drove north and east to Seymour, passing through the Indiana city of West Baden / French Lick. I would occasionally hear the name, so when I saw it on the map, I headed there as it was on my general route. Once in town, I drove by a gigantic hotel/spa/casino, the French Lick Springs Hotel with 443 rooms and then the adjacent West Baden Springs Hotel with 243 rooms. People are drawn to the area for the mineral / medicinal waters, to play golf or gamble, eat and shop, horseback ride, attend conferences..... Rooms begin at about $200 (with taxes) for one king bed. This venue is an interesting phenomenon, given its location, with its European opulence.

At one time, there was a French fur trading post and a salt lick here; thus, the name.

What I did in French Lick was get a smoothie and chili dog at Dairy Queen before driving on through the corn fields and small towns and over parts of a large reservoir, Patoka Lake, but a lake with dead trees poking through the water in the far reaches. For me, these are not real lakes.

Pumpkins, tied-up corn stalks and Halloween decorations on many lawns, in the warm sun on this first afternoon in October.

Patoka Lake - IN

Blue Goose ~ Day 123

September 30, 2014 ~ Miamisburg, OH to Jasper, IN

This incredible Indian Summer is following me wherever I go! Today was again like a summer day with the visuals of autumn: corn and the other field crops drying, leaves changing from greens and browns to the colors of fruit (persimmon, citrus, pomegranate, apples, pears, cranberry, grape), farm stands, school buses....

There is usually dew on my van windows now since the sun rises later every morning.

I was in three states today while I traveled to Patoka River NWR in SW Indiana: Ohio, over the river into Kentucky and then back over the river into Indiana, the river being the great Ohio. I am continually amazed by the engineering and construction of the often elegant and impressive bridges, not only over rivers but also over basins, sounds, swamps, marshes, canyons and lakes wherever I  go.

What an adventure for those who travel by water, for pleasure or for work. Remember, Dave, that guy we heard at Herrick who went down the Yellowstone and Missouri in a canoe? or William Least Heat Moon's River Horse or Jonathan Raban's Old Glory? People do this, and while I won't, I can at least imagine it. Look at a map of the rivers in the US, many of which are no longer wild and freely flowing but are manipulated and controlled by dams and locks, which surely complicates these river trips.

The Grand River is the largest river in Michigan at 252 miles and some of the cities along its route have removed dams; others are considering it, but there is controversy about the removal of the Sixth Street Dam in Grand Rapids with concerns for an endangered mussel, for further invasion of the lamprey eel and for possible loss of a prime fishery. This dam is one of over 2500 dams on Michigan rivers alone.

It's all about the water....

I traveled on interstates for several hours until the last 50 miles when I needed a break from the monotony and took lesser roads to Patoka, passing through small towns, the Hoosier National Forest, winding over hill and dale. It's a pleasant, very Midwestern landscape, a la Garrison Keillor, not ethnically diverse, with tidy homes and large, neatly mowed lawns and farms and churches and small towns, and polite people, gregarious with their own kind.

Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area is an interesting and unique refuge due to a complicated policy in place which allows coal mining within its "acquisition boundary," meaning all the land designated for eventual inclusion in the refuge. Since surface mining is not allowed on a NWR, much of the proposed refuge is currently the Wildlife Management (WM) part of the refuge because surface mining IS allowed on this type of land. Perhaps that is why it was not as easy to find, or why the woman in the refuge office in the town of Oakland City was monosyllabic and not as forthcoming as I've come to expect from most employees / volunteers. She had a surgical mask hanging around her neck; perhaps she had a cold. The front reception area was cramped, but I heard guys laughing and talking in the back offices. In fairness, a variety of rather generic printed free material was available for visitors, including one on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker from 2009.

I took a map which showed a complex mix of private land, WM land, NWR, the Patoka River, oxbows, swamps, marshes, woods and fields criss-crossed by county and state roads. I came upon trailheads but only by accident. The map was marginal and not easy to read. I could have asked more questions but usually can usually figure out what I need to know on my own or from explicit maps.

Patoka is a work in progress. All of the refuges are, but this one has the added sensitive issues of prospective private sellers' surface mining "rights" and the fact that strip mining coal is the epitome of an extractive activity...not exactly in the same class as fishing or hunting. On the other hand, by having a refuge here, the coal mining activity is, no doubt, closely watched and deleterious environmental effects mitigated.

I spent two hours, moving slowly on gravel roads in and out of the refuge, as the parts are not contiguous, through a riverine habitat of oxbows, swamps, marshes and hardwoods. Leaves slowly drifted down in the afternoon sun. I would hear trains (presumably carrying coal) and crossed double tracks at least five times but didn't see any strip mining activity.

Patoka River NWR - IN

I stayed in Jasper in a Walmart lot situated above the highway under a nice maple tree, along with half a dozen semis. The noise as they come and go awakens me slightly but doesn't keep me awake. I do admit, though, this nightly ritual is losing its initial feeling of adventure.

I ate at an Applebee's and have been doing that only because I am finding it more and more difficult to even go into a Walmart lately. The restaurant bathrooms allow me to brush my teeth in relative privacy. I need two minutes of not sharing a bathroom to do this, which almost never happens in Walmart but almost always does in one of these generic restaurants. So, I can maintain dental hygiene for only $20-$25.

Finished reading The Boys in the Boat....a good story by a gifted writer.

Close up of waders in the swamp from photo above in Patoka River NWR - IN

Blue Goose ~ Day 122

September 29, 2014 ~ Jeffersonville, OH to Miamisburg, OH

In my map box, I had an Ohio Prairie pamphlet. These are the tallgrass prairies here in the Midwest with several areas in southwestern Ohio. I used to think of prairies as mostly a monoculture of waving grasses but:

WWW.NPS.GOV

Tallgrass prairies are an extremely complicated web of life. At first sight, one sees a landscape dominated by grasses. Eighty percent of the foliage is indeed made up of grasses, from 40 to 60 different species. The other 20% of the primary vegetation is made up of over 300 species of forbs or flowers. The prairie also has over 100 species of lichens and liverworts as well as numerous species of woody trees and shrubs along creeks and protected areas. 

Historically, periodic fires and grazing (buffalo) helped maintain these landscapes, but the plow changed that. Wikipedia states that "99% of the original tallgrass prairie is now farmland." Of course the birds and mammals dependent on them disappeared also. Today, remnants are found in old cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, on high bluffs above rivers. And there are the restoration projects.

Possum Creek MetroPark is one of the places where tallgrass prairies are being restored. I wandered about several habitats in this peaceful park, trying to imagine a tallgrass prairie to the horizon. This time of year, it is a melange of drying flora, including autumn wildflowers, not brushy or woodsy or impenetrable but still dense with plants 6-8 feet in height and home for an insect orchestra. The bugs were much fewer in the woods. Instead, dry and crinkled leaves dropped continuously - a leaf rain - making a crackling sound as they landed. I stood with my eyes closed and that was all I heard, other than an occasional buzz or a very sporadic bird call...a relatively uncommon wood-music.

It was 85 degrees, not humid, sunny, with few other park visitors. Many of these preserved places have educational and/or historical information at the trailheads. I came on two old rusted streetcar frames back in the woods, leftover from the days when a WWI veteran bought the land and created a grand park for the people.

WWW.METROPARKS.ORG

Argonne Forest Park was founded in 1930 by Daytonian Null Hodapp, who returned from WWI and had a successful career as a judge in the area. Null purchased nearly 400 acres of wooded land along Germantown Pike and named the property Argonne Forest Park in honor of the Unit he served in during the war. Development of the park began with the construction of a veteran’s clubhouse. Behind the clubhouse, to the south, was a carnival-like midway. Development of the clubhouse area was followed by other additions. These included a swimming hole and diving platform, baseball diamond, shooting range, dance hall, pony and horse tracks, and a figure-eight auto race track.

Possum Creek MetroPark - OH (near Dayton) 

I am a reluctant historian but keep coming on fascinating vignettes, like this one but go right on by thousands of others. Wherever I travel in this country, here are the back stories...

Indecisive about my immediate next NWR, I found a Starbucks, then very unexceptional Mexican food and finally a Walmart.

Blue Goose ~ Day 121

September 28, 2014 ~ Marietta, OH to Jeffersonville, OH

I had the idea I would go to Athens, OH, home of Ohio University. I have a vague memory of driving through an Ohio college town years and years ago and thought maybe it was Athens, although now I think it was Bowling Green. Anyway, I was up early, drove to Athens, found a coffee shop in the campus area, parked right in front on an old brick street and settled in. The place was almost empty...for about 15 minutes and then it filled up, first with a girls' soccer team and then with parents and other students. As it turned out, it was Parents Weekend. Definite nostalgia and mild envy... the girls were lovely, the boys handsome, and the parents proud (maybe).

I couldn't resist one of many nearby bookstores and bought two by Philipp Meyer: American Rust and The Son. I have read The Son; it is historical fiction and one of my favorite recently read books. I gave it to Richard who also liked it and passed it on. So this is a recommendation. The setting is Texas.

I decided to work another several hours so made a Priceline reservation for Athens and, too late, discovered it was for Athens, Georgia. Damn! as it was non-refundale, or so their web site said, but I spent an hour dealing with customer service and finally, finally got half of my money back IF I made another reservation ("Due to the extraordinary circumstance....we will refund....."). I then reserved a nice Marriott in Jeffersonville at a very reasonable price, it being Sunday. I cannot be the only person who has made this mistake. A simple warning ("Are you sure you mean Athens, GA?" or any of the hundreds of towns carrying the same names) is definitely within Priceline's capability, but then they wouldn't get their fee for stupidity.

The motel was in my favorite venue...out in the country along a major road but with windows overlooking fields. DHC, it was like Falfurrias, with a nice sunset, which is happening earlier every day. This I do not like...the shorter daylight hours.

On the road to Athens, OH

Blue Goose ~ Day 120

September 27, 2014 ~ Canaan Valley, WV to Marietta, OH

When I asked the proprietress of the motel if there were laundry facilities, she first said no, that they were too small, but then reconsidered and said that if the people in the rooms above their washer and dryer were up by 0830 (I needed to leave by 0945 for the bird walk and the dryer makes a lot of noise), she would knock on my door and I could wash and dry my clothes...which she did and I did and it all worked out perfectly. Another generous gesture on the road. I was glad I stopped and spent the night as I almost went on by.

The bird walk also was good. An extended Asian family with a young boy (probably grandparents, parents and this kid) were present, along with two other women and the volunteer guide, Steve. We drove to a small boardwalk trail and took our time moving on a loop through rather open fields and by an area of tiny springs with open water all year. Watching closely, I could see the mud consistently bubble. It was such a perfect morning...with warm sunshine and blue skies...again. We saw a few birds...not many, moving slowly and stopping frequently. We had a good look at a Swamp Sparrow and Solitary Sandpiper probing in the mud, saw a flicker, goldfinches, a Cedar  Waxwing, a meadowlark....but mostly I felt blessed to be in this place, on this incredible fall morning, chatting quietly with the others, and feeling I was more than holding my own as a birder.  Note the resourceful book-reading, never-bored kid.....

I get it! Canaan Valley NWR bird walk - WV

I went back to the trail from yesterday for an hour, walking down to the Blackwater River, through sunny hardwoods where warblers and chickadees and phoebes were rummaging. I spent at least an hour, half the time just standing, looking and listening, which is getting easier to do all the time. I usually see at least one Nashville Warbler as I did today, along with a female Black-throated Blue and always a mystery bird or two, usually too flitty to see well.

Canaan Valley NWR - WV

All afternoon, I drove US 50 west up and down mountains with warnings for the 9% down-grades posted for trucks. It was a beautiful and scenic drive, with 500 curves. The side roads are often named "Runs" and go up into the hills  along the creeks.

The only other NWR in West Virginia is Middle Island, part of the Ohio River Island complex. Access to Middle Island is from the river town of St. Mary's, over an old steel bridge with a 90-degree turn at the top onto a steep road down to the island. I only drove the auto route here. There were trails through the trees and brush, although some were closed to the public to allow bow hunting. The island is one of 22 protected islands along 362 miles of the Ohio River in this complex. It had that lonely feel, although I did see a few other people. A Huck Finn hideout sort of place.

The first Walmart had a huge parking lot but with not one tree so I moved on to Marietta, OH. There is usually at least one large RV nowadays (one from Utah a few days back) and I park sort of close, feeling an unacknowledged road-trip affinity. It is hard to tell who else is "car-camping/sleeping" as there are always other possibles nearby.

I bought two more packages of the delicious new favorite Almondina cookies and some deli potato salad, read more of The Boys in the Boat and slept fitfully. It is getting colder at night. I have more blankets so will get them out soon.

Middle Island (Ohio River Islands) NWR from the WV side

Blue Goose ~ Day 119

September 26, 2014 ~ Frederick, MD to Canaan Valley, WV

Finally, finally I got out of traffic. I felt that since early August (for nearly 2 months) wherever I went, so did everyone else. Yes, there were a few exceptions, like in parts of New England, but too few.

I drove in thick fog to a nearby Starbucks, left in bright warm sunshine and spent several hours riding into increasing fall loveliness as I went into West Virginia and specifically to Canaan Valley NWR at an elevation of 3200 feet. Of course, as WV is mountainous, the road constantly meandered up and down and around but the leaves were stunning. Every single fall I am awestruck by this spectacle, and today was a surprise since it was unexpected. It was warm but not hot, with no insects except a few grasshoppers.

West Virginia

I passed through Davis, WV, as they were setting up for an annual Leaf Peepers Festival, a typical small town celebration with inflatables, tents, yard sales, a police presence for crowd control, music - all colorful and very different from an urban event. Kids, a horse carriage, people in lawn chairs or moving slowly up and down the 2-3 blocks of the main street, ice cream, hot dogs, the enticing aroma of barbecues grills and smokers, pickup trucks, families pushing strollers....

It took some to actually FIND Canaan NWR. At one trailhead, I met a gentleman who was also looking for it, a professor scouting out venues for birding trips next spring. He taught Recreation  and Ecotourism at West Virginia State University, and we began talking. He had visited many refuges and could speak my language...St. Marks, Necedah, Santa Ana, Bosque del Apache, Bombay.... Between us, we figured the headquarters was only a bit farther down the main road, so off we went, and he talked with a helpful volunteer about contacts and got more information, and I wandered about hoping I could resist buying another book...or anything...successfully.

He told me (the refuge-visiting guy) that he would never forget the time he was visiting St. Marks NWR in Florida. There is a lighthouse here and he arrived the morning after a foggy night in which hundreds of birds got disoriented, were attracted to the light, crashed into the lighthouse and died. He saw bird bodies (all types...big and small) lying on the ground that day. For further information about this hazard, google Lights Out. Many large cities are now at least aware of this problem and are educating the public and industry to take measures to mitigate lethal lighting. Hundreds of thousands birds are killed this way every year.

I learned that there was a guided bird tour the next morning. Since it was one of the loveliest of days and now well into the afternoon, I stopped at the only motel, a quarter mile away. I was wary as it looked a bit marginal so asked to see the room and emphasized that I needed a good Internet connection.  The room was OK, about what I've come to expect from a 1 or 2 star motel, and I was assured re the Internet. I reserved it and went back to the trailhead where I sat there for an hour, in the sunshine in almost total silence at the edge of a woods. Actually, the last 15 minutes I did walk a very short distance on the beginning of a trail leading to the Blackwater River and watched Carolina Chickadees repeatedly return to pick at some weed that emitted white fluffy stuff when they poked at it. Back and forth...back and forth. It was such a perfect day, so evocative (as fall always is for me) of a sense of goodness and well being.

Carolina Chickadee at Canaan Valley NWR - WV

I remembered the last fall Maria was alive, and how we went to the UP for a color tour, which exceeded anything we had ever seen before...or so we told ourselves. We were in cabins on Trout Lake. We collected rocks at the mouth of the Two-Hearted River...a very poignant memory, but I love to remember how she was able to do this and still fully revel in nature. The sun shone that whole weekend. We also went to Whitefish Point and saw a Harris' Sparrow and unsuccessfully looked for Black-backed Woodpeckers on old logging roads in the burned areas. And had completely unmemorable meals, although that was mitigated at one restaurant because it was situated high on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

Back in Canaan Valley, there were two restaurants next to the motel, though this was not even a town and, if not ON the refuge, then directly adjacent. Almost all of the refuges have irregular borders which change as more land is acquired, by purchase or donation, so things are dynamic regarding pre-existing properties.

In the first place, a kid that looked like Matthew told me they didn't serve alcohol but "right across the pawnd" was another restaurant that did. I looked around the room since it almost seemed there were two adjoining places wondering what he actually and said, but he repeated himself and I realized he was saying "pond."

And yes, across the pawnd was a small pizza/Italian place, the door was open to the air, the customers a mix of locals and tourists. I learned about the Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend event nearby in the state park which I googled when back a the motel. I learned mostly how ambient light is the enemy at a"star party," and all participants (this was mainly a free event, scheduled when the skies were dark) were asked to observe rules concerning whatever light sources they might potentially bring. It takes at least 15 minutes for eyes to adjust again to the skies after exposure to ambient light.  A group at the table next to me were visiting for this, which I learned when I left (paying with a check requiring no ID since credit/debit cards were not accepted) and a gentleman was smoking outside. We got to talking when he told me about the astronomy deal and that one of his party was from Michigan - "the part just below Canada..." And he told me something that still amazes me: the pronunciation of Canaan hereabouts as Ka-nane' - rhyming with sane, the accent on the second syllable. I keep thinking on this and, in fact, asked two other people, thinking maybe he was kidding as it seemed so unlikely to me.

There were tall pines, the pond and surrounding hills all with flaming fall foliage. The people in the house next to the motel were playing bean bag toss. The ambiance worked on me; the motel was modest but not marginal. It was the kind of place that left a key on the desk for a late-arriving guest. The Internet service was fine, the sheets actually kind of silky and the tub/shower worked well.

Canaan Valley NWR - WV