Groundhog Vs Computer

Who wins a race between a Groundhog and a Computer? I am sure this is a question you have been asking yourself for many years and I am delighted to finally be able to put you out of your misery.....

I have literally seen a Sloth move faster than this!

Look Under The Car!

The Groundhog wins! Hands Down! In the time it took the computer to install the days 'essential updates' this morning I am quite sure the Groundhog managed to wolf it's way through 17 hamburgers, 8 Tikka Massala's and a piece of birthday cake for pudding! In fact in the time since this picture was taken yesterday (I am sure you all spotted him and managed to identify him creeping out from under the car in the picture above!) the Groundhog has swelled to the size and shape of a beachball with 4 little legs protruding out the bottom, he is getting ready for his hibernation you see! He is also a creature with a incredible turn of pace, once he noticed me noticing him, he shot out from under our car and performed a quite spectacular disappearing act with such speed that by the time I had hit the shoot button on the camera for a second time he had completely gone! Harry Houdini would have been most proud of him! If only our computer would possess such speed, this blog would be finished by now!

A Birthday Cream Tea! Thank you for all my birthday cards and messages!

A birthday ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park! Even I can move faster than our computer!

Christmas Dinner arrived early this year!

But The Groundhog leads very nicely into the wild theme of this blog. One think I really love about being in Ohio is the incredible biodiversity of wildlife that can be found here. In your garden at any given time you may find raccoons, A TURKEY, Chipmunks, Skunks, Cats, Monarch Butterflies, Groundhogs, Coyotes, Deer, Cardinal's, Blue Jay's and Woodpeckers just to name a few! What has inspired this blog is a trip Amanda and I took yesterday to the Rocky River Reservation on the West Side of Town, nestled in a valley right below the airport that forms a part of the Emerald Neckace. The Emerald Necklace was Frederick Olmstead's (of Central Park Fame) creation and is a Green Corridoor that runs for about 70 miles and forms a ring of much needed 'green' space around the city.

A Duck and his Froggy friends at the Rocky River Reservation

After arriving at Rocky River we selected to walk the 'bunny trail' a simple 1.5 mile loop through some open meadow and woodland which would hopefully make for ample bunny sightings! We took the binoculars with us as well although we didn't expect to need to use them! Well what a 1.5 miles it turned out to be! Within 5 minutes of our arrival we spotted a Belted Kingfisher in a pond and things just got better from there, even with my eyesight we managed spot his mate around the corner and followed that up by spotting about 10 Red Throated Hummingbirds!!! They were everywhere, like flies buzzing around a rotten apple, One of them even hung around long enough for me to take a picture!

Can You Spot the Hummingbird?

How about now!

While we were still busy admiring the humminbirds we heard this tap tap tapping coming from behind us and Amanda spun around to notice a Downy Woodpecker pecking away at her tree no more than half a meter away from us! We know she was a she because she did not have any red on her neck!

Woody Pecking Away

not the Stag we spotted in Rocky River but here is Luna posing with her Deer friend

A common sight anywahere, the squirrel on the bird feeder!

We also spotted a stag peeking at us through the undergrowth and the rarest of sights - a chipmunk sitting still long enough to have his picture taken, normally they are gone in a flash! Another creature that can move faster than my computer! Despite seeing so much in such a short time we were both a little disappointed we didn't spot a bunny so I have included one here from a previous adventure!

Bunny as Promised!

We spotted a much larger bird leaving the Rocky River Reservation