Too much fun at work

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job? Today, Tim and I went out in the boat to replace one of the lids on the wood duck boxes, and while we were out there, we checked on a few other things. There indeed two Wood Ducks nesting in the boxes. I hope they each have a lot of eggs.

Additionally, we saw several northern water snakes. There is a very common myth that water moccasins live in Ohio, but that is simply not true. Any snake can go in the water, but the northern water snake really likes water-y habitats. They are somewhat variable in color and can be seen with or without their pattern. Here is a pic of one Snapper John caught during his internship here.


We also saw some bluebirds hanging out at a snag. From our perspective, we could not determine whether or not there was a cavity. Once we were back on land, Tim walked over and sure enough there is a perfect sized hole for bluebirds. We'll be keeping our eye on it.

Now, the really exciting thing is that we found where the mallard is nesting!! There is just a small hummock of "land" rising up out of the water, and hunkered down on her eggs is the female mallard. She is very well camouflaged on her nest. Here is a picture taken from the shore, can you see her?


Okay, on to the all important list of flowers:

Wood Betony
Blackhaw
Blue Cohosh (see one of us naturalists if you want to see this one - we'll give you directions)
Mayapple
Lilly of the Valley (cultivated)
Sweet Woodruff (cultivated)
Sweet Cicely and Aniseroot
Solomon's Seal
Solomon's Plume
Mountain Azalea
Azalea (cultivated)

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