Of course I am always looking around while walking in a parking lot or on a hiking trail. I never know what I will see! While visiting Ohio’s Mentor Lagoons, I saw 29 different species of birds, many purple martins at their nest, and a chimney swift tower, but they weren’t the most interesting things to happen during my hike!

I was deep in the wooded area, more than an hour from the parking lot, and decided to call it a day. On my way back, something caught my attention … and so I looked closely … do you see it in the photo below?

I zoomed my camera in to see the raccoon climbing up the tree! It made it to a hole in the tree and then explored within the hole! The hole was at least 15 feet up!

I arrived at the parking lot and decided to walk along the lagoon’s edge toward the bridge since I had not checked it out upon my arrival. I saw a couple of great blue herons and a few red-winged blackbirds. Red-winged blackbirds are very protective of their nests. I know this first-hand from various experiences I have had where they tried to bombard me … literally flying at me! Well this is what they were doing to one of the great blue herons!

On another note: If you are interested in knowing what a chimney swift tower looks like, it is in the photo below. Ohio is trying to provide habitat for these birds which have declined 72% since 1966. Fifty thousand swifts can roost overnight in large industrial chimneys!