Walking through the wildlife

We took a long walk today down the Paul Henry Trail. We walk this trail a few times a week, but today we went further than we have ever been on it. Our total walk was over 3 miles! I thought I was going to die towards the end, but I made it!

I decided to grab the camera this time, because last time we went we saw so many neat animals but no way to capture them. I'm glad I did; we saw some great stuff today and now I'm able to share it with you!

We have seen a lot of these cute little yellow birds. They are very tiny and can't sit still for anything! I'm lucky I got this shot; they flit around so much it is hard to get their picture. Anyone know what they are? They are not goldfinches; they are entirely yellow and very small birds. They have a pretty call too, but I can't remember now what it sounds like.

There are a lot of swans along this trail. They hang out in Mill Pond, next to the river. This one was floating around with one of his legs sticking straight out.

Here is one of a swan on her nest. We see several swan nests along here. Haven't seen any little baby swans yet, though.

Then we saw this little chipmunk hanging out in this tree. They are so cute!

This one might be hard to see, but it's a fish sitting on top of a log in the water. He sat like that for a very long time without moving. We think he must have been trying to catch bugs.

Here's another one that might be hard to spot. It's a wood duck. He and his girlfriend were hanging out on the banks of the river.

See this one? It's a litte bitty snake. He was slithering around right next to the pathway. Not sure what kind he is, but he's cute too.

This one's neat. It's a muskrat taking some grass to his nest. See how he carries it in his mouth as he swims?

There are always turtles to be seen along the trail. And it's common for them to be all piled up on the same log. Once we counted 24 turtles sitting on one log!

This is a little chickadee. We get chickadees at our feeders at our house too.

Here's an unidentified flower. There are several along the trail. I think they are so unique because they have three petals. You don't see that very often. Anyone know what it is?

Another unidentified plant. Big umbrella-like things.

And finally, a weird stone thingy. It's too tall to be a headstone. It says "J 72" on both sides.

We can't wait until Lena is big enough to enjoy seeing all this wildlife for herself.