Watershed Nature Center Walking Trail

 Beautiful day today, perfect for an extended wander around the Watershed.  This is a long time favorite spot, with a main loop and several spurs and side loops, etc.  For todays wander, I covered most of the side spots, and ended up totally 3.22 miles. Pretty much a perfect day, I need to savor these before it gets hot and humid and oppressively green...

The birds were out in force, here's a list of what Merlin identified:

American Crow / American Goldfinch / American Robin / Black-capped Chickadee / Blue Jay / Bluebird (seen, not heard) / Brown-headed Cowbird / Canada Goose / Carolina Chickadee / Carolina Wren / Cedar Waxwing / Common Grackle / Eastern Meadowlark / Fish Crow / House Finch / Killdeer / Northern Cardinal / Northern Flicker / Northern Mockingbird / Pileated Woodpecker / Pine Siskin / Red-bellied Woodpecker / Red-shouldered Hawk / Red-winged Blackbird / Song Sparrow / Swamp Sparrow / Tree Swallow / Tufted Titmouse / White-breasted Nuthatch / White-throated Sparrow / Yellow-Rumped Warbler

That's 31 different species identified in less than 90 minutes.  I saw or heard most of them.

And here's a few quick phone photos:

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Township Park Walking Trail

 I guess it's technically Township Park, but it's widely known as Airplane Park, even on the Pacer Ap (see photo below).  Past the plane, and the sports fields and the playgrounds, there's a little trail through the woods.  The actual loop is only 0.40-0.45 miles, from the parking lot to the loop and back clocked out at 0.70 mile.

Not very dramatic, no vistas or such, but a pleasant little wander.

Here's a few photos from today's visit, while the grandkids played...

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Spring Is Sprung!

 

Spring is sprung and the bluebirds have been busy!  

We have 2 bird-boxes in the backyard, I've been busy disrupting the House Sparrows from the "left" box for days, hoping they'll give up.  No luck on that, but it has freed the "right" box for the bluebirds.  I've seen them coming and going, but today was the first time in weeks that I opened it.  And we have eggs!

This'll be the 3rd year we've have bluebirds nesting in the yeard, they have been having 3-4 broods each year.  Always fun.

They'll probably lay 1 or 2 more, then start sitting.  Nothing fancy on the photo, I try to be quick and as non-intrusive as possible.  And this is straight from the phone, no crop or anything....

Stay tuned!

Old Shawneetown Photo Essay

 Been scarce on posting will try and do better.....

I did another Youtube video, after our March trip to Cave-In-Rock and surrounding area.  This is a shortie (1:47), from Old Shawneetown, IL  Check it out, let me know what you think!

Old Shawneetown

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I enjoy putting these together, and will continue as long as that's true.  Check out the channel!

What Holds - February Photos

 Another Youtube video posed yesterday.  I've really been enjoying making these, hope y'all enjoy watching them!  This is a summary of photos from February 2026, a quickie of 11 shots.  These will (probably) feed into the 2026 version of A Good Crop...

What Holds

I'd be thrilled if anybody wants to check out my Youtube channel.  I've posted 13 photo essays since July 2025, I hope to keep posting 1-2 per month.

What Remains

 On the last day of February, we did some wandering, and passed through Washington MO.  I happened to see this scene, and pulled to the side of the road, jumped out of the car, and grabbed a couple of quick phone photos.  Here's the best of the trio:

I'm not thrilled with the final result, didn't quite manage what I was thinking when I took the photo.  But it'll do!

Superior Light Beer

 Every once in a while, I find a photo that slipped through my cracks...   This was taken in mid December, 2025, but was just rediscovered this week.  So here ya go!

Places That Kept Going

 I've been having fun pulling together YouTube Photo Essays.  And also fun experimenting with my Chuzhao "toy" camera.  So naturally, a Chuzhao photo essay was needed.  So, going live at 7pm Central time Wednesday, Feb. 25.:

Places That Kept Going

This is a short one, 14 photos from the Chuzhao, from the past 10 weeks or so.  All the photos are all mine, but I did ask ChatGPT for help culling the herd down to 14, and for suggestions on ordering and formatting.  But I'm okmwith that, hope y'all are too.

The photo above is from my starting powerpoint, where I drop photos as they're taken/processed.  I opted to try a no-title slide for the final presentation, so we'll see how that worked.  Hope you check it out, and let me know your thoughts!

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame?

 So...  the RRHOF announced its list of nominees for 2026 induction:

• The Black Crowes
• Jeff Buckley
• Mariah Carey
• Phil Collins
• Melissa Etheridge
• Lauryn Hill
• Billy Idol
• INXS
• Iron Maiden
• Joy Division/New Order
• New Edition
• Oasis
• P!NK
• Sade
• Shakira
• Luther Vandross
• Wu-Tang Clan.

Heavy sigh.  

Over these 17 artists/bands, I own exactly 1 album (Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker).  There's not a single one of these names that would come close to being deserving, in my (humble) opinion.  Maybe Phil Collins, as a very successful pop singer (with rock roots).

Oh well, I'm getting used to being disappointed, guess I'm getting old.

Meanwhile here's a few artists/bands that I think are deserving:

• Bue Oyster Cult
• Boston
• Emerson Lake and Palmer
• Jethro Tull
• Kansas
• The Monkees
• Stephen Stills (solo)

Now, get off my lawn!

A Good Start - January 2026

 As regular readers (hopefully) know, I've spent several years doing a "Good Crop" project; where I select 12 of my best/favorite photos from the previous year.  I've done this for a while, and there are several examples here.  A few months ago, I started doing photo-essays of those "Good Crops", check out the playlist on YouTube

So here's 10 photos culled from my January 2026 photos.  These will (most likely) go into the 1st cut for the 2026 "Good Crop", What're your favorites?

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Floored

Recently, we had to run to the local laundromat to wash some king-sized bed-pads.  Which meant hanging around for a while.  Which ended up with me taking photos or worn floor tiles.  Sometimes it  

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Ch Ch Ch Chuzhao

 Just a few more photos from the Chuzhao "toy" camera.  It is a fun aside from my other photos.  Just a point and click, no settings for aperture, shutter speed, ISO, anything,  No super sharpness, nothing fancy. I tend to be more observational in my photos with it...  at least I think so.

So what do you think?

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(Still) Waiting for Spring

A bit of a warm spell recently, 60 degrees today...  I managed a short walk before rain rolled in (and afternoon commitments).  These are all from Shon Park / Green Space North.  I especially like the first one.  What you y'all think?

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Shadows

 

From a few days ago, taken at Drost Park.  Shadow on the frozen lake.

Waiting for Spring, A Ways To Go...

 Wandering around Highland, IL, and decided to check out Lindendale Park.  Turns out there's not a lot there except for the county fairgrounds.  But I managed a about 1.25 miles, so that's something.  This area is actually camper parking, I presume for the fair.  But it was all deserted, and this mostly frozen creek.

I feel like this photo captures the mood of the day.

Meanwhile, there was this funky concrete something down along the creek (behind me in the above photo).  Probably 10 feet tall, with no discernable purpose.  Except to inspire a funky photo!

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