Slate Run Historical Farm

Slate Run Living Historical Farm is one of my favorite Columbus Metro Parks! It's actually the first Metro Park Kenneth and I ever visited. We drove up one afternoon from Athens when we were still students at Ohio University. On that visit we were able to watch horse powered grain threshing. 

Goodale Park

Goodale Park is a 30 acre park near downtown Columbus in the Victorian Village. It's the site of the Music in the Air concerts, the annual ComFest and a great place to watch Red, White and Boom. Goodale is the oldest park in Columbus and was donated to the city in 1851 by Lincoln Goodale, for whom the park is named. To learn more about the history of the park, watch these History Videos with Terry Sherburn on the Friends of Goodale Park website.

Highbanks

Highbanks Metro Park is where I recently had my favorite bird watching moment (to date). Kenneth and I got a really close up look at a Pileated Woodpecker. The bird was about thirty feet from the path. We stood and watched the woodpecker for about ten minutes while I frantically snapped photos (which Google+ turned into a GIF!) and pointed the bird out to other hikers. Some of my other favorite birding moments have been seeing Sandhill Cranes for the first time, getting a really close look at a Northern Saw-whet Owl, watching Carolina Wrens on our apartment balcony and correctly identifying Blue-Winged Warblers the first time I encountered them on a hike. What made seeing the Pileated Woodpecker so special was how long we were able to observe the bird, and how close it was to the pathway. We didn't even need binoculars!

I really enjoy birdwatching - it's a fun and relatively inexpensive hobby. All you need is a bird book, a pair of binoculars and a place to watch birds. This could be a metro park, or your backyard - just throw out some bird seed (or set up a feeder). You might be surprised by what birds show up!

Rainy Day

Spring at Battelle Darby Creek

Flowers. Frogs. Turtles.

River Walk

Kenneth and I took a walk along the Scioto River today at Hoover Reservoir Park. I'm glad we've had so many lovely days in a row here in Columbus!

Walking the Labyrinth

Kenneth and I finally walked the labyrinth at the Lane Avenue Gardens of Chadwick Arboretum! It was a beautiful evening!

Pileated Woodpecker!

Kenneth and I spotted this gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker today at Highbanks Metro Park. He was about thirty feet from the path on the Dripping Rock Trail. I think he was looking for food as he pecked away at the tree. He kept shifting his weight and turning to look in the hole he was creating. 

Prairie Oaks

Kenneth and I have been attending the Columbus Metro Parks Winter Hike Series for the past three years. Last year we attended seven hikes, which is the minimum required to get the coveted Barred Owl decorative patch. Unfortunately both of our schedules with work and school in January and February this year have been busy on the weekends and we have not been able to make it to more than one winter hike. 

Topiary Park

I love the combination of art and nature at Topiary Park! Kenneth and I visited this park in September after visiting the Columbus Museum of Art. The Topiary Park has a unique history and a really cool topiary display depicting Georges Seurat’s famous impressionist painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte.

Bright Night

Battelle Darby Creek

 
Battelle Darby Creek is my favorite Columbus Metro Park! Kenneth and I visit this park the most, it is the only Metro Park we have been to during every season (the photos in this post and the slideshow are from our recent visits in September and October). This park contains 7,000 acres and 18 miles of trails, making it the largest Metro Park! It's located on the west side of Columbus, just south of US Route 40. 

The habitats at Battelle Darby Creek are prairie, wetlands and riparian forest along Big Darby and Little Darby Creeks. The creeks are state and national scenic rivers and provide habitat for 44 species of freshwater mussels (8 of these are endangered) and 100 species of fish. Visitors can get an up close view of these underwater creatures in the new nature center, which opened in late 2012. The nature center features an indoor stream with live fish and turtles and interactive exhibits about the history of the area as well as the native flora and fauna. 

Wicked Plants

Historic Palm House - Franklin Park

This awesome photo is on display in the Palm House Gallery at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  It's cool to see how the Palm House looked many years ago!  It was built in 1895 and now is home to over forty different species of palm trees from all around the world.

Purple Shadows

Bruce Munro: Light at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Icos

Bruce Munro: Light at Franklin Park Conservatory is an amazing new exhibition right here in Columbus!  It began on September 25th of this year and will be on view until February 8th 2014.  Bruce Munro is a light-based artist from the United Kingdom with over 30 years of practice working with light as an art form.  This is Bruce Munro’s third solo U.S. exhibition, having previously exhibited at Longwood Gardens and Cheekwood Gardens.

Autumn Chill

It finally feels like Fall in Columbus!  Cool, crisp mornings and warm sunny afternoons were the norm for most of last and part of this week, then yesterday the clouds rolled in and we've now had two rainy autumn days.  I don't mind cloudy days and when they occur infrequently they don't dampen my mood.  (Endless cloudy winter days are a completely different story!) 

The gardens this morning were covered with cold dew that reminded me of little tiny jewels! Speaking of flowers, check out how awesome these flowers look, in October, in Ohio!  

Sharon Woods

Schrock Lake

When Kenneth and I moved to Columbus in the summer of 2010, we were eager to discover everything the city has to offer - especially its parks!  The Columbus Metro Parks include seventeen different parks (with a new park, Rocky Fork, currently being developed), all with plenty of hiking trails and interesting habitats.  Kenneth set a goal for us, to visit all of the Metro Parks before he graduates from veterinary school in the spring of 2014.  We visited several parks shortly after our move, some of them for the first time during the Metro Parks extremely popular Winter Hike series (which we plan to participate in again this winter!).

Sharon Woods, however, was the last park we needed to visit.  In early September we finally made it happen!  It took three years, but we have now visited all of the Columbus Metro Parks at least once.  I really enjoyed our hike at Sharon Woods, I think we'll be back soon!

Flow

"When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope"

Today at work we planted an 'Autumn Splendor' Horse Chestnut tree in memory of Dr. Wangari Maathai as part of our summer camp program at work.  Dr. Maathai passed away at the age of 71 two years ago on September 25.  She is no longer with us, but her memory lives on in her organization, the Green Belt Movement, and in the actions of those she inspired.  Wangari Maathai was an environmentalist and was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.  She did a very simple thing, she planted trees and she encouraged others to do the same.  She said "When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope."  This summer the children who came to camp learned about Wangari Maathai's message to plant trees and voted on what tree we would plant in her honor.  Wangari showed us that anyone, even the smallest amongst us, can make a difference, simply by planting a tree.  

Photograph taken by Kenneth Brunson