Cruise to Alum Creek

I took Mildred up to Alum Creek on Sunday.  I had a wheel bearing replaced on her and wanted to make sure all was well.  Everything appears and sounds back to normal.

I stopped up at the Hogback Ridge Preserve to see if there was any birding activity.  This is a really neat area and there is a nice nature center.  It would be well worth your time to take a drive up to see it.  There are also some nice groomed trails and benched scattered throughout.


I went midday, which I am learning is not the peak time to spot birds.  I caught a few, but was pretty lucky on the rodent side.  I was surprised by the number of squirrels and chipmunks.  This was the first time I've ever seen chipmunks go up and down trees.  I thought they were forest floor critters only.  There was this industrious one that didn't want to wait for the acorns to fall, so he scurried up the tree and plucked the acorns, three at a time, right off the branch.  He must know something the rest of us don't.

 

The woodpeckers were also very active.  I caught a few snaps of them as I strolled around the nature center's trail.

After the nature center I drove around the rest of the Alum Creek State Park to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, and changing leaves.  Here are some pictures from the rest of the trip around the park.

Alum Creek State Park Office