I tried to find some new places that I've never been and truth be told, I found a ton of them. We narrowed it down to two adventures for this week though. The first was a suggestion from my brother Mike.
We headed out to LaGrange to the Carlisle Reservation to see the Raptor Center.
I really had mixed feelings about this Raptor Center. On one hand, I have NEVER been so close to a bald eagle before in my life! But to see this magnificent creature in a cage was hard to take. I know these raptors are at the center for a reason as none of them can survive in the wild for various reasons. It was awe inspiring to see these special birds up close and in person.
Let's start with my favorite, the bald eagle.
I have a feeling they are used to posing for pictures because that's exactly what some of these birds seemed to be doing! Left beak, right beak, straight on shots!
The turkey vulture posed for some still shots then spread his wings for us. The pictures don't do him justice. He was huge!
A couple of red tailed hawks, just hanging around, watching us watch them.
The great horned owl. He was so gorgeous, I just can't put it into words.
And then there was the Great Nest. This is an actual bald eagle's nest that was the largest nest known. In 1922 it measured 12 feet tall and 8-1/2 feet across. This nest was in a hickory tree 81 feet off of the ground! Now it's on display at the Raptor Center and it is home to a myriad of birds. The second picture I tried to show all of the birds hopping in and out all over the place. Look closely, you'll see them.
Our second adventure this week took us a little closer to home. The Ridge Hill Memorial Cemetery on North Ridge Road in Amherst, is somewhere we've driven by a thousand times but we never went in. This weekend, we went in!
There is something about a cemetery. While I don't want to be buried in one, I do love going to cemeteries. The landscaping is gorgeous, the peace and quiet is so calming and actually, I love looking at the architecture of some of the stones and monuments.
I guess I didn't do so well on this picture as you can't see the family name on this regular looking boulder. It's not the normal carved granite stone but a boulder that looks like they buried people around the existing boulder!
An unusually carved stone. Like I said, I could walk around and look all day long.
The geese also seem to love a cemetery. I posted recently about going to the cemetery in Erie and having the geese blocking the road. While they weren't in the road at this cemetery, you definitely had to watch where you were walking in the grass as there was goose poop everywhere! It was worth it. They are beautiful birds.
Lastly, I tried to capture the peaceful feeling in the cemetery. I can't help it, I love a good cemetery.
7 comments:
Nicely done, Ree! When Carlisle first started their Christmas walk, they took the raptors out on the path so you could see them up close and cageless. I don't know if they still do that or not. Ridge Hill is a beautiful place. I've always liked cemeteries, too, especially really old ones.
Great job! You made it where I couldn't! Nice pics of the birds. One of those cemeteries doesn't like people with cameras so be careful. I tried and was stopped.
Ok, bust out some food pics for next Sunday!! We all know there will be some serious eatin' goin' on this week, so fire up the cameras. Doesn't have to be Thanksgiving dinner, but shoot some food!!
We did see a sign but to be honest, I thought it said something about wedding pictures. That's the first time I've ever seen a cemetery not want pictures taken!
Ree, yes it is sad that those birds can't survive in the wild anymore but most of them are now used for educational purposes. All of you Photo nuts should check the Arrowhead online at metroparks.cc. We are having photo walks at Carlisle all winter. You might enjoy exploring a new park.Each time will be a new trail. Bryan
See Marks Comment page for more info. Bryan
Thank you for the info! I am definitely going to check it out!
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