Spring 2010 At Home and On Peru Trails

Last year, I posted some Spring in Peru photographs and do pretty much the same now before my departure tomorrow morning for Ripon, WI.

I got out on the Trace Trail more frequently this spring and so managed more photographs of the sculptures, including the one of the right of what looks like a face--I joke with folks that I am become the Cliff Claven of the Trace Trail.


While checking out the "Old Ogre of the Trail," I once again found right below the "face" what looks like a very old sculpture, perhaps something Roland Sherman created years prior to the ones along the memorial.

Who knows.

Deb Clopton joined me a number of times. Increasingly beautiful flowers adorned the tails, from the Columbine and Purple Phlox in the photographs to the Daisy Fleabane White Aster, pictured on the right.

I begin a collection--to which I will add over the summer--of Wild Flowers from Wisconsin and Nebraska.


Insects and Snakes also greeted the walks, including the agitated Rat Snake and the attractive butterfly pictured here:



This spring on the Trace Trail also featured familiar face, the baby Great-horned Owl I see pretty much every year and the young Barn Owl that flew out of a small cave in the sandstone cliffs close to the Great-horned Owl's nest.

Anyway, as the following image indicates, my awakening the rapidly-maturing owl did not win any approval, for the bird elevated its wing and made all manner of warning sounds. After taking the photograph, I walked away, much to the youngster's approval.
Activity in my backyard included Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Orioles, Red-breasted Grosbeak, and others, including the beautiful Yellow Warbler featured at the conclusion of this posting.

All told, an excellent spring.

I wish everyone a grand and wonderful summer.