Trail Shorts: Stories from Kentuckiana Trails

[GonzoJohn]

Mother Instinct

It was rather startling.

I was just strolling along the trail, enjoying the greenery when to my left there was an explosion of feathers and noise.

After flinching, I watched a small brownish bird, no bigger than a child's fist, fly directly down the trail in front of me, and land, all the while screeching and squawking. After it landed, it flopped about helplessly, continuing its alarming cries. At first, I thought it was injured, but as I approached, it gathered itself and continuing its din, flew another twenty feet or so forward. As it landed, it did an encore performance of “bird with a broken wing”.

It was quite something, but I realized it was all an act.

I turned back toward the origin of the feathered eruption and after looking closely at a fern covered bank, I found the nest. 4 spotted eggs lay snuggled inside. It was a perfect example of the mother protection instinct I've seen countless times on nature programs, but this time it was a live performance, for an audience of one.

Concealed nest and eggs

Short Cut

I got out early a few weeks ago on a rainy morning to revisit the Two Lakes Loop Trail in Hoosier National Forest (HNF). My intention was to check out the trail that cuts the 16 mile loop trail neatly in half. The rain was heavy and the trail was muddy, but it was a great day for an 8 mile hike around Lake Celina. The short cut makes an all day hike turn into a relatively easy 3.5 to 4 hour hike that includes great lakeside scenery along with beautiful plants and animals.

I'm still maintaining that this is my favorite trail in HNF, and my short cut try out did nothing to convince me otherwise.

Fishermen on Lake Celina

Wild Rose on the Cut Off

Goose feather in the rain

If you'd like to see all of the photos from this hike, check them out in the photo album 2 Lakes Loop Revisited

2009 Firsts

It's almost the halfway point of 2009, so I thought it would be an excellent time to look back at some the things I've spotted while hiking the last 6 months. It's been a great year of firsts for me, in both the animal and plant categories.

For the fauna category, I've spotted the following this year for the very first time in Kentuckiana:

* Mourning Cloak butterfly
* Red Spotted Newt
* Bald Eagle
* Scarlet Tanager
* Collared Lizard (Kansas)
* Horny Toad (Kansas)
* Mating tortoises
* Sara Orange Tip butterfly

Red Spotted Newt in Jefferson Forest

Unfortunately, I've still not succeeded in getting good pictures of my photographic Moby Dick, the pileated woodpecker.

In the flora category, I've spotted and finally named a few firsts as well including:

* Celandine Poppy
* Red and White Trillium
* Blue Eyed Mary
* Crested Dwarf Iris
* Yellow Lady's Slipper
* Squirrel Corn
* Dutchman's Breeches
* Smooth Solomon's Seal

The biggest trophy plant off the year has to be the Yellow Lady's Slipper I spotted on the Two Lakes Loop trail in Hoosier National Forest. Squirrel Corn, Dutchman's Breeches and a multitude of Trillium all over Kentuckiana were also big surprises as well as delightful finds.

Yellow Lady's Slipper