A day at the park.
For a long time. Well, since before Elinor was born, at least. I have had plans on taking Elinor "hiking" with me. Now that spring is approaching, it is time to start preparing. I wanted to start off small, since I don't know how much patience she will have for this sort of thing. We hope to get into a regular thing with Kurty and Frances where we can trot around outdoors, before trying out the longer hikes, but I figured that Elinor and I would start off this week by taking a test-walk through one of my lifelong favorite places. We headed off to Lower Macleay park, which, for those who don't know, is the closest in portion of Forest Park (as we all know, is the largest, forested natural area within city limits in the United States).
I took plenty of pictures (I would have taken more, but I had battery issues), which are dwelling, of course, at Our Flickr Page! So stop by and take a look. I will put a couple here though...
We started out at Lower Macleay park, one of the key areas of my childhood, and headed up the trail alongside Balch Creek. We passed the Castle and switch-backed up the hill to the Audubon Society, where Elinor had a great time, we stopped by the mews where we gazed at Julio the Great Horned Owl, then we went down the hill to the lake and looked around. Going back up the hill, Elinor got a plush House Finch that plays the house finch sound when you press it! Afterwards, we encountered a group of Audubon employees with birds on there arms, so Elinor got to meet, all close-up and with no wire cage this time, Hazel the Spotted Owl, Jack Sparrowhawk the American Peregrine and Ruby the Turkey Vulture. Great fun was had by all and Elinor learned that you can tell what time of day an owl hunts by the color of its eyes!
We then stopped for a banana before heading back down to Balch creek. Once there we did stop for pictures at the castle this time and then we headed uphill where we came across two odd things. First a big cage like nest made out of twigs and second, two little trees that someone had covered with christmas tree ornaments!
At this time, we headed out of the park and Elinor fell asleep. It was great fun and certainly something we will do more of, now that I know that she can be fine with me carting her around for two hours. I was thrilled that she had stayed awake and alert through her first "nature walk" and it makes me think she is ready for more! Since out route was a loop, the return path took us across the bridge that cross the Balch creek canyon and where our trail began, so we got some good "bird's eye views" of the beginning of our journey...
I took plenty of pictures (I would have taken more, but I had battery issues), which are dwelling, of course, at Our Flickr Page! So stop by and take a look. I will put a couple here though...
We started out at Lower Macleay park, one of the key areas of my childhood, and headed up the trail alongside Balch Creek. We passed the Castle and switch-backed up the hill to the Audubon Society, where Elinor had a great time, we stopped by the mews where we gazed at Julio the Great Horned Owl, then we went down the hill to the lake and looked around. Going back up the hill, Elinor got a plush House Finch that plays the house finch sound when you press it! Afterwards, we encountered a group of Audubon employees with birds on there arms, so Elinor got to meet, all close-up and with no wire cage this time, Hazel the Spotted Owl, Jack Sparrowhawk the American Peregrine and Ruby the Turkey Vulture. Great fun was had by all and Elinor learned that you can tell what time of day an owl hunts by the color of its eyes!
We then stopped for a banana before heading back down to Balch creek. Once there we did stop for pictures at the castle this time and then we headed uphill where we came across two odd things. First a big cage like nest made out of twigs and second, two little trees that someone had covered with christmas tree ornaments!
At this time, we headed out of the park and Elinor fell asleep. It was great fun and certainly something we will do more of, now that I know that she can be fine with me carting her around for two hours. I was thrilled that she had stayed awake and alert through her first "nature walk" and it makes me think she is ready for more! Since out route was a loop, the return path took us across the bridge that cross the Balch creek canyon and where our trail began, so we got some good "bird's eye views" of the beginning of our journey...
posted by penguindevil at 3:15 PM
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