Local Topography

During my youth in Cincinnati, we lived near a large creek that led westward and downward through forest and then across open farmlands.  Though we often followed it for miles, I remember wondering where it eventually led.

When I grew older and became a bit more sophisticated regarding our local geography, I realized that the creek was one of many that flow into the Mill Creek Valley from the ridges that border it.  But that early curiosity fed a life-long interest in topography and how our modern landscapes came to be.  Indeed, over time, I became increasingly interested in geology and hydrology and cannot travel anywhere without paying attention to the streams and rivers that I cross.

Understanding the local geography also fuels attention to the varied ecosystems that characterize one's city or town and, of course, to the myriad of wild creatures that inhabit them.

See also: Wonderland

Crossing Glacial Landscapes

Returning to Missouri from Northeast Ohio, we crossed a series of glacial landscapes.  While the term "glacial terrain" brings to mind rivers of ice, carving mountains or calving into the sea, past glacial effects are not as evident to the casual traveler.

Having spent a week atop the glaciated region of the Appalachian Plateau, we initially dropped onto the vast Lake Plain of Northern Ohio, the product of Pleistocene glacial erosion and a post-glacial meltwater lake (Lake Warren, the much larger predecessor of Lake Erie).  Angling southwestward  through Northeast Indiana, we soon passed the site of The Maumee Torrent, which marked the birth of the Wabash River Valley.

The remainder of our journey was across the Glaciated Plain of the Midwest, where the Pleistocene glaciers pushed southward, flattening the terrain.  As they retreated, they enriched the soil with glacial till, setting the stage for prairie ecosystems that have since given way to crop fields and cattle ranches.  Of course, the massive sheets of ice also determined the course of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, which now drain the central U.S., from the Rockies to the Appalachians.

 

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Cuyahoga Valley National Park stretches along the river's lower valley, just south of Metro Cleveland.  The Valley Railroad, established in 1880, carried industrial materials to Akron and Canton until the 1960s.  Taking advantage of its abandoned rails, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad began operation in 1975, offering a unique experience for Park visitors and convenient access for hikers and bikers.

Having visited the Park many times in the past, my wife and I took the train for the first time today.  Currently limited to the stretch between Akron and Peninsula (due to reinforcement construction along the Cuyahoga's banks), the train offers views of the more western sections of the Park, characterized mostly by tracts of forest.  Though some marsh and small lakes are encountered, the river remains unseen until the train approaches Peninsula.  Knowing that more scenic landscapes are found across the Valley (especially along its eastern wall), we were somewhat disappointed by the two-hour round trip.

As a naturalist who supports the exposure of others (especially children) to the sights, sounds and smells of nature, I recommend that the train be converted to open-air cars in which visitors will be more closely exposed to the Park's ecosystems and wildlife.  Transportation should be secondary to education by  immersing riders in the Valley's riparian landscape; of course, stops along the route could be used to offer brief introductions to the natural and historic features of the Cuyahoga Valley.  

West Creek Reservation

This morning, we visited West Creek Reservation, in Parma, Ohio, a relatively new addition to Cleveland's famed Emerald Necklace of parks and preserves.  The creek itself is a tributary of the Cuyahoga River and the Reservation is a combined project of Cleveland Metroparks and the West Creek Conservancy.

Stretching across 278 acres of the creek's upper watershed, the Reservation harbors a pleasing mix of forested hills, a large valley meadow and a long stretch of floodplain woodlands.  It is accessed by a fine network of trails (though the trail to the West Creek Cliffs Scenic Area was unfortunately closed today).  Nevertheless, we managed to complete almost five miles of hiking during our two hour visit and observed a large variety of forest and grassland birds.

In my travels across the country, I have encountered few cities that have protected as much open space as Cleveland has.  Denigrated in the past for its industrial pollution, this city, with its famous river and lakefront, has become a champion of urban conservation.  

Back with the Martins

We have returned to my wife's family cottage on Sandy Lake, a small kettle lake on the Glaciated Plateau of Northeast Ohio.  During the summer months, this peaceful location is dominated by a large flock of purple martins that occupy a collection of apartments near the shore.

Noisy and active, the martins spend most of their day strafing the lake's surface for insects.  There they are often joined by a handful of cormorants, cruising about the calm waters or diving for fish, and by a pair of osprey that soar overhead before plunging into the lake to snare their prey.  Flocks of Canada geese and mallards forage along the marshy shoreline while a belted kingfisher moves among the docks, searching for schools of fingerlings.

This lakeside retreat is a pleasant escape from the summer heat that ravages most of the country.  Indeed, many climatologists believe that the Great Lakes region will be least affected by our warming climate (with the probable exception of heavy, lake-effect snowstorms).  Time will tell but, for now, we'll visit when we can.

Indian Point Park

About 33 miles east of Cleveland, Paine Creek enters the Grand River.  Indian Point Park occupies a narrow ridge that separates the two streams, offering views into and across their valleys.

This morning, we parked at the lower lot, where Paine Creek flows past steep cliffs of Devonian shale.  Hiking eastward and then northward, we crossed Paine Creek and climbed to the upper lot where the Overlook Trail originates.  This trail, 1 mile in length, undulates WNW atop the ridge, eventually yielding views of Paine Creek and the Grand River (see photo) below.  Ancient ceremonial mounds occupy the overlook site and a steep stairway descends to the banks of both streams.

Unfortunately, deciduous trees obscured our views on this summer morning and I recommend a late fall or winter visit to best appreciate the regional topography.  On the positive side, both streams were high and especially turbulent following last evening's storms. 

Primed by the Wind

Early this morning, it was pleasantly cool at the cottage, prompting us to take a walk around Sandy Lake, on which it sits.  Within a few hours of our return, a strong wind had developed, dragging warm, humid air up from the south.

Checking the National radar, the culprit was obvious.  A potent cold front, then producing thunderstorms in the Chicago area, was pressing eastward, about to cross the Great Lakes.  A tornado watch was issued for southern Michigan and northern Ohio; at the very least, we expect strong thunderstorms by late this evening, fueled by the sultry air that is now streaming into our region.

Well before the advent of modern meteorology, humans certainly knew that strong, warm winds often precede thunderstorms.  And exposed to potential injury, they were surely more inclined to heed nature's warning than most of us are today.

Lucia Nash Nature Preserve

Back in Northeast Ohio to check on my wife's family cottage, we visited the Lucia Nash Nature Preserve this morning.  Located in Geauga County, this 648-acre refuge harbors an interesting mix of post-glacial ecosystems; it is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy.

Snow Lake, a kettle lake, is the dominant geographic feature, surrounded by wetlands, wooded swamps and an upland beech-maple forest; the latter harbors scattered vernal pools and the only remaining white pine boreal fen in Ohio.  Among the many avian residents are sandhill cranes; once extirpated from the region, the cranes returned in the 1980s.  Though we did not encounter cranes this morning, we did see ospreys, double-crested cormorants and a wide variety of wetland songbirds.

Stretching across part of the Upper Cuyahoga River watershed, this preserve is also instrumental in protecting the purity of Akron's water supply.  Visitors thus encounter glacial topography, glacial relic vegetation, a rich wetland ecosystem and a valuable hydrologic resource.

Purple Martins Depart

When we arrived at Sandy Lake, southeast of Kent, Ohio, on July 20, fourteen purple martins occupied the  houses at the edge of the lake, joined by an equal number of house sparrows.  Yesterday morning (on July 25), the martins were gone.

After wintering in the Amazon River Basin of South America, purple martins arrive along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. as early as January; those that nest in northeast Ohio generally arrive here in early April.  Nesting within six weeks, these long-distance migrants have fledged their young by early-mid summer and, by late summer, gather in massive roosts, primarily along the Gulf Coast.

Come September, most of the community roosts break up and the purple martins head back to Brazil.  Some will travel through Mexico and Central America, others will island hop across the Caribbean and some will make a nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico, from the U.S. to the northern coast of South America.

Dix Park

On the heels of strong thunderstorms, heavy rain and a brief tornado warning overnight, cooler, drier air has moved across northeast Ohio.  My wife and I thus decided on a hike and we headed for Dix Park in northern Portage County.

Though relatively small (104 acres), the Park is a mosaic of woods, meadows and wetlands, accessed by an old jeep road; three loop trails connect with this wide path and a fourth is under construction, destined to be a nature education trail for young children.  Once again, the pleasant weather proved to be the highlight of our visit though we did encounter a fair variety of wildlife; most conspicuous were a noisy group of catbirds.

Set amidst agricultural fields which, though necessary, have little natural value while producing a host of negative impacts, Dix Park protects an island of vital wildness.  Unfortunately, in our modern age, such islands keep getting smaller and farther apart.

Trail Lake Park

On this mild, sunny morning in northeast Ohio, we visited Trail Lake Park, a refuge in the Portage County Park District.  Centered on a 30-acre, man-made lake, the attractive preserve is accessed by paved and earthen trail loops, leading through meadows and mixed pine-hardwood forest that border the lake and its wetlands.

It is an excellent destination for both exercise and nature study.  We encountered 22 species of birds this morning and were especially impressed with the wildflower displays.  The Park lies in the upper watershed of Tinkers Creek, a major tributary of the Cuyahoga River, and stretches along the southern border of the Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve. 

Having escaped the severe heat that currently plagues much of the country, the pleasant weather was surely the highlight of this morning's hike.  But the varied natural habitats of this scenic refuge will certainly encourage our return on a regular basis.

Crossing the Lake Plain

Heading for my wife's family cabin in northeast Ohio today, we decided on a northern route to avoid urban congestion.  When we reached Ft. Wayne, Indiana, we were in the uppermost watershed of the Wabash River and soon dropped across the vast Lake Plain of northern Ohio, flattened by Pleistocene glaciers and later covered by vast meltwater lakes.

Lake Maumee covered the northwest corner of Ohio and initially spilled to the west, sculpting the Wabash River Valley (see The Maumee Torrent).  The Lake Plain from Toledo to Cleveland was covered by glacial Lake Warren, the larger predecessor of Lake Erie.  Driving eastward across the Plain, we crossed numerous rivers, large and small, all draining toward Lake Erie; indeed, as we left the Wabash River watershed and entered the Lake Plain, we had crossed the Eastern Continental Divide.

As we neared Cleveland on the Ohio Turnpike, a massive ridge of thunderstorms loomed across the eastern horizon.  Adorned with a rainbow, it seemed to promise milder air during our week on the Appalachian Plateau. 

Mallard Moms

Since they are so common and widespread, mallards generally receive little attention from birdwatchers and naturalists.  We prefer to focus on less common and "more interesting" waterfowl when visiting lakes and wetlands.

But this past week, while staying in the family cottage along Sandy Lake in northeast Ohio, I enjoyed observing two female mallards with their broods.  The first group of ducklings were likely a few weeks old when we arrived but still remained close to their mother as she moved across the lake or foraged along the marshy shores.  The second group, more entertaining, were less than a week old and were nearly glued to dear old mom, mimicking her every move.  Both mothers were clearly devoted to the survival of their youngsters, guiding them clear of any perceived threats and ushering them into cover when necessary.

By the end of our stay, the older ducklings were nearly as large as their mom, straying farther from her location.  She, in turn, seemed less concerned, "knowing" that they would soon be independent (primarily in response to her own insistence).  Yes, though foreshortened, the lives of mallards reflect some aspects of our own.

Cicada Golf

As I have mentioned in past posts, I enjoy watching professional golf on TV, partly due to the interesting geography associated with many of the PGA venues.  This weekend's Memorial Tournament, in Dublin, Ohio, is interesting for another reason: the ongoing emergence of the Brood X periodical cicadas.

Among the many 17-year periodical broods, Brood X has emerged in the Mid-Atlantic States, across Western Ohio and most of Indiana and throughout Eastern Tennessee.  The noisy, active adults are solely focused on mating and will not feed during their brief tenure above ground.  Females will lay their eggs on the tender twigs of trees and shrubs before dying; once they hatch, the larvae fall to the ground and enter the soil where they will ingest nutrients from a tree root for the next 17 years.

Those of us who do not live in Brood X territory can get a feel for the event by watching this weekend's golf match.  A background din, provided by the males, waxes and wanes throughout the broadcast while cicadas zoom across the camera shots and swarm about the players and gallery.  Of course, many of us can also look forward to the annual, "dog-day" cicadas that begin to emerge in a few weeks. 

Memories from the Garage

On this warm, sunny day in Littleton, my wife and I decided to clean out the garage.  Amidst all the junk were boxes of "momentos" for each member of our family.  Mine included photos, documents and "appointment books" from grade school through my early practice years, a collection spanning about twenty years of my life.

Of course, this collection brought back many fond (and some not-so-fond) memories of people and events that shaped my formative years.  Most had stayed with me but some had been lost to the march of time.  Nevertheless, it was an unexpected treasure chest of the past that provided a couple hours of entertainment after a morning of steady work.

Among the momentos was a nature diary that I wrote during our years in Glendale, Ohio.  There we lived in a historic neighborhood with large yards; adorned with a broad diversity of plants, they attracted a fascinating variety of wildlife.  The diary, inspired by the books of Hal Borland, Edwin Way Teale and others, was composed of brief entries related to the weather, the resident plants and animals and the seasonal changes on our property.  Written almost exactly twenty years before I initiated this blog, it provides a look back at my early years as a naturalist; now rescued from a dusty box, it will be a welcome source of nostalgia and reflection during the autumn of my life.

Quail Hollow Park

Quail Hollow Park, just northeast of Hartville Ohio, is 703 acres of meadows, swamps and forest, accessed  by hiking, horse and mountain bike trails.  Once a farm, the refuge was later a hunting preserve before becoming a State Park in 1975; Stark County assumed management of the Park in recent years.

In addition to the trail network, Quail Hollow Park offers fishing on Shady Lake and harbors a Nature Center that is open on weekends; historic buildings and a garden also grace the property.  On our visit late this morning, my wife and I hiked through the deciduous-pine forest, circling the course of a meandering stream and its woodland swamp; despite yesterday's heavy rain, the well engineered trails were easily traversed and our 2-mile course through fragrant, shaded terrain was a pleasant and peaceful excursion.

There was nothing special about Quail Hollow Park and both the flora and fauna were common for this region of Ohio's Appalachian Plateau.  But it was new to us and that was more than enough to warrant a visit.

Clash Zone Storms

This morning, low pressure over northern Ontario, Canada, is sweeping cool air southeastward across the Great Lakes.  In concert, clockwise winds around high pressure over the Southeastern U.S. are dragging warm, humid, Gulf of Mexico air northward through the Mississippi Valley and then eastward across northern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

In the clash zone between these air masses, a line of thunderstorms has developed, especially here in northeastern Ohio.  Dropping torrential rain, the storms are "training" across the same areas, triggering a flash-flood watch for this region.

While novice weather watchers often think of storms as isolated cloud banks, unleashing their cargo of rain or snow on the landscape beneath their path, they are actually products of atmospheric pressure zones, often far from the heart of the action.  This morning, the culprits for our storms sit over Hudson Bay and eastern Tennessee.

Treefrog on the Dryer

Before I came down for breakfast this morning, my wife called up to report that there was a frog on the dryer.  While we are getting older, her cognitive function has seemed to be intact (though not as excellent as our Dear Leader's) so I accepted the fact that her assessment was reliable.  Upon reaching the utility room, I did, indeed, find a small green treefrog resting comfortably on the metal surface of the dryer in our Sandy Lake cottage.

Fortunately, I was able to grab the wayward amphibian before he hopped into less-accessible recesses of the small space and carried him outdoors, his moist skin and squirming body almost disrupting my effort.  After a bit of research, I concluded that our visitor was a young eastern gray treefrog, common in this part of Ohio.  How he ended up in the utility room remains a mystery.

Hoping to enjoy the many wild neighbors that share our local environment, we must go outdoors or at least look out the windows.  On occasion, they choose to explore our habitat!

A Loner in the Crowd

On our way back from Berlin Lake, we visited Lake Milton to its NNE.  Also a reservoir on the Mahoning River, Lake Milton is far more developed along its shores and relatively congested on its open waters, making it less appealing to this naturalist.

Nevertheless, we stopped at a beach along its northwest shore, where a flock of ring-billed gulls lounged on the sand.  Joining the gulls was a large tern with a thick, blood-red bill; it was, of course, a Caspian Tern. After breeding in scattered areas across Canada, southern Alaska and the Great Basin, these terns head to southern beaches for the northern winter, from the U.S. to South America.  In my experience, migrant Caspian terns are generally seen alone or in small groups, joining larger flocks of gulls, other terns, skimmers and shorebirds.

Once again, a detour from the direct route turned up an unexpected sighting.  We may see what we plan to observe but also what we allow ourselves to experience. 

Berlin Lake

Berlin Lake, in Northeastern Ohio, is a 5500 acre reservoir on the Mahoning River, a secondary tributary of the Ohio River.  Completed in 1943, it is utilized for flood control, water supply and recreational activities; fishing is especially popular on the reservoir.

Having never visited this lake, my wife and I drove down late this morning and were pleased to find that a large portion of its shoreline remains undeveloped.  In addition, a hike-bike path, accessed from US 224 or Ohio 14, runs across the southwest portion of the reservoir, offering broad views of the open waters.  Ospreys, double-crested cormorants and ring-billed gulls were observed during our brief visit.

It is always a pleasure to visit new landscapes, especially those we have long observed on maps but never had the opportunity to explore.  Sometimes the experience turns out to be disappointing but our journey to Berlin Lake was well worth the effort.