I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series. As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day. Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.
Yesterday morning was just perfect. Perfect weather - blue skies, slight breeze, upper 70's, so not too hot. Perfect for exploring with the little babe. We visited a new place - Millbrook Marsh Nature Center. Even though it is centrally located in our town, I have never been there before because I thought it was just a small little marsh area with not much to see or do. Luckily, I was very pleasantly surprised and we were discovering for over an hour! There are boardwalks that go over several creeks and meander through the marsh area, apparently called a fen, which is a low or marshy area that is frequently flooded. I learned something new! We only saw six other people enjoying the glorious morning, which was just fine by me. I'm not a subscriber to the "more the merrier" philosophy. Let's see what we found!
Cattails and marsh grasses.
A barn swallow nest. We were lucky to have the parents come into the bird blind and feed the babies right while we were standing there!
Pretty flowers and shrubs.
On the left is a grapevine tendril and on the right is a mystery plant. Similar to a large allium, but with multiple stems. Its bold structure just called out for a little crazy photo editing!
With all of this nature to entertain her, what does the little babe want? Poop bags. Every dog poop bag stand that we passed, she had to get a new one - 3 total. She does this at every park we visit. She makes me open them and then she collects stuff - mainly gravel from the parking lots and walking paths. Luckily the bags do not go to waste at our house!
We saw two Great Blue Herons fly over head (or the same one twice), being chased by a tiny bird both times. I don't know why the large heron would feel threatened by the bird, but it was definitely flying away. The second time we saw it, I had my head stuck behind my camera and the little babe pointed and made a noise. I looked up just in time to see the heron flying over head. Talk about a smack in the face telling me that sometimes I should just enjoy nature without the camera!
We also saw fish in the streams, Red Winged Black Birds, Mallard ducks, and insects, and then some interesting, but gross things. I am warning you now - the one picture below is particularly disgusting. Feel free to jump ship now if you're eating at the moment. However, if you are intrigued by all that happens in the natural world of life and death, then check out the pictures below.
Scat - I don't know what kind though. Skunk, possum, muskrat? Any scatologists reading this?
And for the really disgusting part...the entrails of something. While I was photographing the scat, the little babe discovered the entrails and I quickly pulled her back. She sat on the edge of the boardwalk when I was taking the picture and I was telling her to be careful. Sure enough, she plopped backwards right into the marsh. Luckily it was only about a two foot drop and she landed in some grasses. Oh well, live and learn. I am normally not interested in this kind of thing (dead animal parts), but I found it really fascinating that it is like the animal just vaporized, leaving its guts on the boardwalk. Where is the rest of the animal - fur, tail, bones, etc? So while gross, I think it was an interesting nature find. If this totally grosses you out, I apologize, but I did warn you.