Muskrat at Gilmore Metropark

Friday
We had a bit of a late start this morning, after a late night last night, and then were occupied at home until late afternoon when we went to Gilmore Metropark, in the Fairfield area on the west side of town. We visited Gilmore Ponds as it is often referred to last week, but that was the first time in quite a while, and I think when we had visited previously we can’t have explored all of it, and they have developed it recently, turning grassy paths into paved paths. We really enjoyed our last visit, especially from the point of view of bird watching, and today was no different, so I think it will become one of my favourite places for bird watching. I had seen various posts on the Cincinnati Birders Facebook page, about a yellow crowned night heron being seen there on the South Pond. We stopped there on the way out, but didn’t see it, but I did spot a couple of muskrats just disappearing into the bushes at the edge of the pond. A little further, Roger spotted a bald eagle on some cables. You could hear a lot of noise coming from the rookery across the pond, which houses largely cormorants, but also egrets and a few great blue herons. As we were returning to South Pond, we met a fellow birder, who kindly walked back with us to show us where the Yellow crowned night heron was well disguised among all the greenery on the pond. He was a bit far away for me to get a clear picture, but with the binoculars we did see him catch a large crawfish and gulp it down. Our friendly fellow birder also pointed out a juvenile Yellow crowned even more disguised under the bushes at the side of the pond. We stood there quite a while having a good chat with her about places to go birding, and watching the night heron, as well as a great blue heron and an egret which had also flown in, but then we realised the time, and had to thank her and head home. My collage also shows the colourful orange/red Trumpet vine, and a couple of shots of a couple of the ponds. In the lower left photograph, the water you see to the right of the path is the remains of the Miami Erie Canal which also flows through the park. The Miami and Erie Canal was a 274-mile canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845. However, it was to have a very short life, as railroads, began to be built in the area in the 1850s, and the commercial use of the canal gradually declined during the late 19th century. It was permanently abandoned for commercial use after the historic flood of 1913 in Ohio which left it severely damaged.