I arrived at the park before 8am. I knew it would be a great day as soon as I turned onto the entrance road and saw an Orchard Oriole feeding two fledglings (a young Cowbird was in the mix, but I didn't see it being fed). I took the meadow trail (left) and soon felt some raindrops. By the time I was halfway along the trail, there was a steady light rain; but overhanging trees and forest paths kept me dry (if not warm). It took three hours to complete the mile and a quarter, but I stop often and wait for the birds to appear. I wasn't disappointed. After lunch and a nap in my van I took the ridge trail (to the right), which was another mile and a quarter and took another three hours. I visited the wetland overlook (at the Ranger Station) when I arrived and when I left. The afternoon was wonderful...beautiful and sunny. I saw many fledglings being fed by busy parents. I've put an asterisk next to each species I saw feeding young. I saw lots of wildlife, too. I highly recommend this park. I saw: Great Blue Heron - 1 Green Heron - 1 Turkey Vulture Red-tailed Hawk - being harrassed by smaller birds Killdeer - 2 Belted Kingfisher - 1 male Red-bellied Woodpecker *Downy Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2 Eastern Phoebe - 1 Eastern Kingbird - 5 White-eyed Vireo - 1, singing Red-eyed Vireo - 1, singing Blue Jay American Crow - 6 Tree Swallow Barn Swallow *Carolina Chickadee *Tufted Titmouse *White-breasted Nuthatch House Wren - 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1 Eastern Bluebird - 1\ Wood Thrush - 1, singing *American Robin Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher - 6 Cedar Waxwing - 6 Blue-winged Warbler - 1 bright male, singing Yellow Warbler - 1 Kentucky Warbler - 1, singing, performing for me Common Yellowthroat - lots Yellow-breasted Chat - 2, 1 close-up Eastern Towhee - 2m, 2f Chipping Sparrow *Field Sparrow - lots *Song Sparrow *Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1m Indigo Bunting - 2m, singing *Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole - 2m, 2juv American Goldfinch House Sparrow Other Wildlife: Raccoon - a very young one curled into a ball taking a nap in the middle of the path. When nudged it woke up. I couldn't resist petting it before it waddled into the bushes. Hope its mother found it. Mink - crossed the path Deer - 1 adult; later a young fawn which watched with big-eyed wonder as I talked to it before it finally bounded away; later 2 more adults; later two more fawns, older than the first. Squirrels - both gray and orange Chipmunk - and a baby chipmunk later Groundhog - several, plus several little ones Rabbit - several young ones Also a large frog, lots of butterflies, a snail crossing the path, and few (thankfully) insects. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]