Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday, June 28








Today my sister-in-law and I spent the morning at the Veterans Administration office in an effort to get the paper work together for Dad's VA benefits. Finally we found someone who could help explain how to complete the packet of seemingly endless forms. We also learned something we did not know. Dad actually served in both the Merchant Marines and then after WWII he served in the Coast Guard.

This evening I did something that I haven't done in 25 years. I went to a T-ball game. I must say it was quite entertaining even if it did appear to be very chaotic. Today's t-ball is played with virtually no rules. Everyone bats, no one is ever called out and they don't keep score. Call me "old school", but how will they ever learn how the real game is played! But I guess you can't expect too much from 4 and 5 year olds. It was fun to watch and they had a great time.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Saturday, June 26


Ready, set, paddle!




Prairie Oaks boat launch, 4275 Amity Road






Margeaux looking like an experienced paddler




Beach Bridge on Lucas Pike


Since I worked all day yesterday putting down mulch and edging flower beds, I decided to do something fun today. Prairie Oaks Metro park was having a "kayak the Darby" program this morning. Mr. B didn't really feel up to kayaking today so I asked Margeaux if she would be interested. We had a really good time on our 2 hour float down the Big Darby. There were quite a few kayakers that joined us and we made for a very colorful flotilla with all the multi-colored kayaks.


This afternoon Mr. B and I got the place all mowed up and then treated ourselves to dinner at Outback. We are getting ready for our visitors coming in for the 4th of July weekend.

Friday, June 25




Today I mulched, a lot! I did take time out to click this photo of a Red Admiral butterfly.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tuesday, June 22


Victims of our own oil catastrophe


Fish pond overgrown w/English ivy



Two days later, I'm really tired by now




It killed me to take out the coreopsis & milkweed





But I think the results are much better!

If you have been checking to see what we have been doing, I apologize for being a little tardy in posting. Last week was a very busy one that started with basketball camp on Monday. Mr. Bichler took his 8th grade team to the Cedarville University Team Camp. They took a bus down on Monday and played 9 games and a "Crunch" tournament on the last day, Wednesday. This year he only had 5 eighth graders that went so two 7th graders moved up to play with them. The competition included some freshman teams so his girls struggled in the beginning. Monday was very long and by the time he played his 9 pm game he was both physically and mentally exhausted and trust me, it wasn't pretty. However, after a good nights rest in his dorm room and a good breakfast the next morning in the dining hall, he was ready to coach his team to their first victory. The girls played very hard and improved each game. On Wednesday, the girls won both of their morning games and ended their camp experience on a high note.


We had planned to have a yard sale on Saturday which was a moderate success if only because it forced me to clean out some things and organize some others. The rainy early morning seemed to keep people away but we did manage to unload a few items.


The worst part of our week was trying to get the oil or residue from our newly blacktopped driveway out of our fish pond. We think it was all the heavy rains that we have had and the fact that the berm wasn't replaced around the ponds. All I could think of the entire time I was trying to power wash the oil from the ponds was how much worse the oil must be in Louisiana from the BP oil spill. We lost a total of six of our koi (Japanese carp). Three of them were 12-14 years old, 16" long and estimated to be worth $200 each. The three babies from last year would be $70 each to replace. Mr. B felt really bad about losing them because they had been Father's Day gifts from the girls when they were still at home. I think I'm going to have to replace the one liner because I can't seem to get rid of the oil and I don't want to get new fish until I'm confident that the liner is oil-free. Oh, and did I mention all the run away English ivy that I have been pulling up all week? This week I'm going to try to take it easy!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sunday, June 6


Even the turkey vultures were drying out on the fence posts!


Prezwalski's wild horses



We had to stop the bus until the giraffes moved off the road




Bactrian camels





Breakfast and our final bird count

Rain has been the ever present theme of this year's Birding by Ear workshop. But despite the storms we refuse to let the weather dampen our spirits. This morning we are up at 5 and although it is wet out, it isn't raining at the present. A cup of hot chocolate and an apple and I was ready to hit the trail again. Our two best finds this morning were the scarlet tanager that we heard and saw bits of and the yellow-billed cuckoo that was sitting in plain view for everyone to see. We also added an American Tree Swallow that was singing in the wetlands as we entered Miller's woods. Once again as we were leaving Miller's woods the rains came in buckets and even with my rain gear, I was soaked to the bone before getting back to camp. We packed up and got some dry clothes on before heading out for breakfast. Driving to breakfast we drove through the animal yards and got some great close up shots of the large animals at the Wild's. After eating we did a final tally of all the birds that we had seen or heard over the weekend. Our official count was 80 species which was really a pretty good count considering the extreme weather conditions. Sadly, we said good byes to our newly made friends. I am always amazed at how close you can become to people when you have a shared interest. This year the group was absolutely amazing. I can honestly say that they were the most warm and caring group that I have ever met at this event. Maybe the bad weather just drew us closer but we really enjoyed each other's company. The staff was great as well and I hated to leave but alas, there is grass to mow and a garden to weed. It's back to the real world. And can you believe it, the sun is shining! PS I know you are thinking that all my pictures look very bright and sunny. Most of the time my camera was in a water proof bag or it was so humid my lense was fogged up. The pictures posted were those brief periods between rain drops.

Saturday, June 5


Bobolink, found in the grasslands, sounds like R2D2


Our camp bus, yurts in the background



Inside our yurts, back top bunk was mine.




Meadowlark nest, hidden in the prairie grass





Searching for a song sparrow's nest

Our first night at the Wild's was...well kind of wild! Everyone arrived at the parking lot around 6 pm and then proceeded to the camp. The group numbered 14 including several married couples, friends and even a 2010 grad that came with her aunt. We met each other through a bird game. We were each given a bird song to sing/say and we had to find the other person who was singing our same song. Oh, did I mention we did this with our eyes closed? My bird buddy was Phyllis from Zanesville and we were Henslow sparrows saying "ts slick'. After introductions we met our staff and had a brief orientation before we headed out onto the trail. Our goal this weekend is to hear or see 100 bird species. We headed down to the wetlands to find our first birds. We quickly tallied towhees, red-wing black birds, cedar waxwings, song sparrow and were feeling pretty good about our success when the thunder began. It sounded far away but quickly moved closer and soon we were hearing a weather report on the staff radio that there was a tornado warning for Muskingam Co and reported lightening strikes within 5 miles. We immediately headed for main camp where we gathered in the dining yurt and talked about our Saturday agenda. Since it was raining there was no camp fire and everyone turned in early.

Morning came early, up at 5 a.m. and on the trail by 6. It was cloudy but no rain. We spent the early morning listening for woodland birds. After our breakfast at the overlook we checked some lakes for water birds and headed back to camp and did a short trail to Miller's woods before lunch. We were able to identify a yellow chat on the way. We were just about to cross the bridge and go into the woods when the heavens opened and we were engulfed in a deluge. Luckily most of us had our rain gear and despite the heavy rain we stayed relatively dry as we made our way back to camp. The rain continued through lunch but cleared again in the afternoon. One of the most interesting things we did was to help locate grassland bird nests. By taking a heavy rope by each end and dragging it across the prairie grass, we would watch and mark any areas where a bird flew up. The difficult part was actually finding the nests which are well hidden under the thick grasses and partly buried in the ground. We were able to see the nests of a song sparrow and a meadowlark. The most interesting birds in the grassland habitat are the numerous bobolinks which make a sound like R2D2 in the Star Wars movie. Our birding by canoe was postponed because there was thunder in the area but Casey, who is excellent at plant identification took us on a hike around the lake. After dinner we boarded the bus in an attempt to bolster our bird list. We only had identified 45 birds and we wanted to break last year's recorded 89. We drove into Cumberland and added chimney swifts, purple martins and a house sparrow. The evening was ended with Al Parker's famous owl calls. He has to be one of the most extraordinary birders I have met and he sounds more like an owl than a real owl. I had a wonderful day. Bird count 79. Tired and wet but still having fun.

Friday, June 4


Archie Griffin Award Winner (Kelsey K.)


Carol Bichler Award Winner (Missy F.)



The Wild's wetlands before the tornado warning




Three generations of West Jeff teachers, Carol, Megan, Rae


This morning our middle school had their Awards Assembly. Today was the last day of school for students, originally the last day would have been yesterday but all those snow days added up to one make-up day. Mr. Bichler and I were invited to help present the Gary Jainshig Science Award and the Top Female Athlete Award for this year. It was great to see the students again! We met up with the teachers at Mr. Mere's after school get together and caught up on school news.
At 4 p.m. I left for my Birding By Ear workshop at the Wild's. The weather driving to the Wild's was probably the best weather that I would see all weekend. I'm pretty excited at attending this year. I missed last year so I'm anxious to catch up on my listening skills and get outdoors. Because there is no cell phone coverage I will be going off the "grid" for the weekend!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Thursday, June 3
















I'm sitting here in our front room watching the muddy water in the Little Darby and hoping we don't get much more rain. A family of newly fledged grackles have commandered my bird feeding station and have it emptied by noon each day, including the block of suet. Yesterday, I had the priviledge of attending a military promotion event for one of our church members. Pastor Pat was going to give the invocation for Maria Kelley's promotion and she needed someone to drive her there. As I understand it, Maria is the first female to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the state of Ohio. Maria has been in the Army National Guard for 27 years and has been deployed to Iraq twice and her husband is there now. They have 4 children and I remember that her daughter Sarah was in the 5th grade the first time she was deployed. I think Sarah will be a senior next year. It was a wonderful ceremony. They taped the ceremony and had hoped to have her husband live on satellite watching from Iraq but they were unable to make the connection. Congratulations to Maria and her family for all of their sacrifices. Maria's husband, Dave will be home in 24 days.

On my birthday, I entered a contest to win the opportunity to blog around the world. I normally would never have given a contest like this a second thought but since I have been blogging for a year and a half and one of the destinations is the Galapagos Islands, I figure that I have nothing to lose. The winner is the contestant that receives the most votes before December. Only one vote per person so tell your friends to vote as well. The trip is for 2 and takes you on 8 of Lindblad's most popular expeditions with the stipulation that you blog during your trip. You may decide to enter yourself and if you do, I say, "go for it". To vote, or enter, visit http://www.blogyourwayaroundtheworld.com/ If you vote for us, I promise to send pictures and make you feel as though you were on the trip with us. Vote "Team Bichler"! Search: Carol Bichler.
Pictured above: California beach, Oakland; Barrow, Alaska sunbow; Grand Portage, Mn. Lake Superior ferry to Isle Royale NP; Crazy Horse Monument, South Dakota; Point Barrow, Alaska

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Wednesday, June 2
















Yesterday, I spent the morning at the zoo working in the Polar Frontier region. I thought I would share some of the pictures that I took last week when I was off-duty to get you inspired to make a trip to see our newest region. The visitors are all very positive about the new region and I think you will be too. I would suggest trying to get there as early as possible, the bears are most active between 9-10:30. There are keeper talks at 11 and 1 so they get some enrichment at those times and are motivated to move to the viewing glass at those times also. The arctic foxes have been out each time I have been there. They are about the size of a house cat and are entirely white in the winter but shed to become darker brownish in the warmer summer months. They are kind of in between now. The brown bears absolutely love their new, larger accommodations and spend a lot of time in their 9' pool trying to catch the rainbow trout that are stocked in it. Hope to see you there!

Zoo hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission: under 2 free, 2-9 and 60+ are $7.99, 10-59 are $12.99. Parking $5.