What I love about Sundays: Early morning coffee and conversation with my kids. Reading a book before doing any chores. Cooking a finger licking good meal we can all sit and share.
The moment I can change out of my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes so I can play outside.
I’m a big kid at heart and every time the sun is shining or the temperatures aren’t cold, I find myself wishing the minutes away until I break outside.
We have had two Sundays of summer so far this year and both have turned out to be days of interesting outdoors sights and sounds. And as the third Sunday is approaching, I am hoping to be able to add more entries into the 2022 summer diary.
Last Sunday, July 3, we took off down the Muskingum River from the Marietta boat ramp, with intentions of landing another (and larger) needle-nose gar fish or flathead catfish. Unfortunately it was not to be a fishing night for the record books, but it sure made quite an entry to our sightings log book.
We had been anchored up for a while, without much action aside from the moss covered large shell that I hooked. The sun was starting to sink and wisps of neon pink peachy clouds merged with the purple shadows touching the treetops.
In the faint distance we could hear muffled pops from fireworks beginning. Then there was a loud “bloop” like a large rock plopping into the water.
First reaction was to look for a fish jumping but there were no ripples in the water. Then our eyes went to the shore only 50 feet off. Nothing.
A little while later we heard the same noise. Nothing to be seen.
Then almost immediately following, we heard three short plopping sounds one right after the other.
Suddenly we saw beavers. Two of them at the water’s edge slapping their tails. They were sounding their warning signal to hurry off whatever was near. We started scoping the river bank again and noticed movement among the brush, but it wasn’t the beavers.
For what seemed to be 10 minutes, we kept our eyes moving along the river bank looking for the creature, when a golden sleek yellow leg appeared from behind the trees.
The animal quickly moved to more cover but soon enough he was exposed among the bleached driftwood. It was a bobcat.
Wet, no doubt from stalking the beavers, this bobcat was beautiful! He paced the bank near the tree then walked the length of the tree limb hanging over the water. He saw us and paused, never breaking his stare at us.
By this time darkness was closing in and we were losing sight of him. In the meantime, the beavers had scurried off in the other direction, dipping into the river and dashing for cover under embankments.
We did see the bobcat one last time briefly before he faded into the darkness. His glowing yellow eyes near the bank where the beavers once were.
We shined the spotlight across the bank and watched him move about behind the tree debris for a few minutes before he tired of us.
Although we stayed on the water an hour or so longer, we never caught any fish worth keeping, but seeing the bobcat most definitely made up for it. According to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, happening upon a bobcat in its own habitat is, by and large, a rare thing.
That’s what I love about outdoor Sundays.
Did you know that bobcats were once fairly widespread across Ohio?
When agriculture boomed in the state and landscape was deforested, the bobcats were pretty much eliminated. In very recent years, however, bobcats are considered “common” in southern and southeastern Ohio.
ODNR states they anticipate a growth in sightings over the coming years because large amounts of unoccupied, suitable forested habitat remains in Northeast Ohio for them.
In 2020, The Division of Wildlife reported receiving 521 confirmed sightings of bobcats across the state, most by trail camera or road kill. It is illegal to hunt or trap them.
Mother Earth has so many strangely beautiful creatures that can be found in the great outdoors, and to each season specific ones thrive.
Summertime in Ohio brings out some interesting insects.
Ohio is home to 140 different butterflies and roughly 24 can be found easily during the summer. ODNR has a great booklet titled Backyards for Butterflies that is the perfect go-to guide about Ohio butterflies and how you can invite them into your yard and create a habitat for them with indigenous host and nectar plants, such as the pink swamp milkweed or brilliant purple ironweed.
After I happened to capture some good photographs of butterflies, I began the endeavor of trying to capture them, and in their caterpillar stage as well. Often now on our summer outings, Jon knows he can lose me at any given moment if I find a butterfly I haven’t photographed yet.
But who could blame me? There are so many critters flying and hopping about near the waters and fields we explore.
For example, damselflies and dragonflies also begin making appearances as the hotter days arrive. These are both fun to observe and their vivid colors make them easy to track even though they are fast movers. And in case you were unaware, damselflies and dragonflies are in fact two different species. Not only do they look different, they have different behaviors.
Damselflies are smaller than dragonflies for starters. They are the more neon colored ones with bodies that typically range between 1 1/2 inches and 2 inches long.
Their bodies are also thin like a twig, with four wings that are almost identical in size and shape and vein pattern. Damselflies usually hold their wings vertically and together making it appear they only have two wings, whereas the dragonflies’ different sized wings are typically held spread apart when they are not flying.
The eyes of each are also different. Damselflies have widely separated eyes while the dragonflies have eyes that are close together or touching.
Dragonflies can fly in any direction, including sideways and backward, and can hover in a single spot for a minute or more. They’re fast, as well, with some species reaching a top speed of 18 mph.
These guys also are huge helpers to humans because they control populations of pest insects, especially mosquitoes and biting flies. Reports show that one dragonfly can eat up to a couple hundreds of mosquitoes per day.
Funny it may seem, but the dragonfly also has more personality, if you will. Unlike the skinny damselfly that zips about, what seems to be aimlessly, the dragonfly behaves with more thought. It will continue to return back or near to a spot if there seems to be something of interest to them.
They also don’t seem to shy away from other insects or movements. For me, this lends to some great observation opportunities.
In fact, I was following a dark maroon dragonfly (Red Saddlebag Dragonfly) so as to capture it with its wings spread apart, for the pattern was quite striking. I had been wandering along the river bank with the insect and had stopped to photograph several plants it landed on. I even saw a few other insects of interest.
The dragonfly always seemed willing to wait on me and would then fly on ahead. We had played this game back and forth and although I had a few good shots, I was not satisfied. Finally, I snapped the photo I wanted and went to turn back, I heard a splash across the water.
Long, thin and dark, I caught a glimpse of the animal who was wiggling its way in the water. Although I can’t be certain, it was either a muskrat or mink. However, I can confirm a sighting of muskrats on the upper Black Fork River on June 26, 2022, the first Sunday of Summer.
There were two of them who would stealthily run along the banks, then slink in and out and over the water and log jams along the shady banks of the river.
Jon and I took a gamble, along with rain gear since the forecast was foreboding, and spent the day lazily traversing the upper Black Fork River. It was perfectly muggy and still, allowing for the sounds of the summer outdoors to travel farther and be more amplified than when there’s a light breeze about.
We heard several feathered friends singing their praises and complaints. There was the cooing of the doves and the “who – whooing” of an owl. The cries of the catbirds and faint humming of crickets. The yellow warblers darted about us throughout the trip, letting us enjoy their light chirping songs.
There are 35 species of the warblers. The top three common species in Ohio all darn bright yellow colors: the Myrtle Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler and the American Yellow Warbler. Each has different patterns and songs.
The Myrtle Warbler is a subspecies of Yellow Rumped warblers and it can only be found in Ohio. It is the most versatile foragers of the warblers in Ohio and they are known for catching insects in midair.
Herons, another Ohio feathered friend, we love to see, are plentiful when floating down the river. One of my favorites to spot is the Green Heron.
Short, squatty and set on stick-like legs, these birds take a little more searching to distinguish in the wild than the large common blue heron.
Shaped more like a duck than a heron most envision, the Green Heron has a thick neck that is often drawn up against its body. They have broad, rounded wings and a long, dagger-like bill. They sometimes raise their crown feathers into a short crest.
From a distance Green Herons look all dark. In better light they are deep green on the back with a rich chestnut breast and neck. The wings are dark gray. Juveniles are browner, with pale streaking on the neck and spots on the wings.
Green Herons have a distinctive sound of the wetlands when you learn it, for it is a harsh, explosive “skeow” call. When disturbed at the nest, they use a series of raspy clucks, “kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk” and they also give grating screams.
We were following one of these green herons down the river when it landed near what was most likely it’s nest because we had seen it there before. It was a thicket of downed tree branches along the bank.
The heron would hop around the branches, fly off and return. We decided to anchor up nearby and cast a while in the spot, so I kept an eye on the branches, waiting to see if the heron would give me a good photo op.
Off to my side I caught a glimpse of dark mass drop from a tree, just as Jon shouted to look in that direction.
Low and behold, a masked bandit had fallen from the tree hovering above the branches where the heron had been. The raccoon landed in the water, going under just as the clucks and screams could be heard from the heron who was looking as if it would dive in after it.
Moments later we saw the raccoon scramble up the opposite bank, shake himself and scramble off into the woods. Jon turned to me and said I should be sure to add that to our sightings log book.
The day continued on and the rains did come, but only in short downpours for about an hour. We anchored up under the bridge and fished. I reeled in a nice size saugeye and he pulled in a channel cat.
While waiting out the rain, we had a visit by a momma duck and her little ducklings who were dodging the rain drops by weaving in and out of the log jams and hanging branches around the bridge.
As the sun returned and we began heading back toward the sandbar so we could get out and fish from shore, I noticed a long black water snake slink out into the sun. I didn’t bother getting too close to view him personally!
The sandbar is where we have caught some nice-sized flatheads and one of our favorite spots to jump out and kick back for a while. There’s a trail up the embankment that is fun to walk (as long as you have plenty of bug spray and tall boots on) and a stream that trickles into the river. It is also a fun place to look for things washed down in the river, such as rocks and fossils.
That day I found a fossil rock with an imprint of a leaf.
It was here we also saw a soft shell or leatherback turtle basking in the sun and two deer who came quietly to the stream to quench their thirst. Leaving the river with the sun going down, one last gem of this Sunday outing was the sighting of a loon.
He had landed nearby and was fishing for his supper. We were also able to hear his signature “lonesome cry.”
As I finished the entries into our summer sightings log book, I thought about summer in general and how we have already celebrated July 4th and the hotter days have arrived. Pools are open, baseball games are everywhere, vacations are being taken and all our favorite dairy stands are open. But there will only be eight more Sundays until Labor Day is here.
So, whether by land or water, the sounds and sights of summer won’t be here forever. Try to get out to the
great outdoors and make an ordinary summer stroll something special by looking and listening for the nifty sights and sounds Ohio summer’s have to offer.
