Comments on Julie Zickefoose: Fickle Birds, Steadfast Birdwatchers

Play Roulette for free as often as you like, get a...

2008-04-23T00:56:00.000-05:00

Play Roulette for free as often as you like, get a feel for the game and how to place you bets.
Free Roulette is a great game with many ways to bet so learn strategy and have fun.

Roulette is a casino and gambling game named after the French word meaning "small wheel".

The roulette wheel is believed to be a fusion of the English wheel games ... The American style roulette table with a wheel at one end is now used in most casinos.

Is a Free Roulette Systems 100% Effective Or Should I Pay For One?

They are a dime a dozen, but there are only a few
roulette strategies that really work. Also I think it is great if you
can find a Winning Roulette Systems, because these roulette systems really do beat the wheel time and tiem again.

Two thoughts: 1. That picture of Chet is too cute....

2007-01-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Two thoughts: 1. That picture of Chet is too cute.
2. I just caught up with the Great Adhesion Data controversy from two posts ago, and now my pileated head hurts, too. but
... (one more thought)
Chet is too cute. So all is well. :-)

I DID know that -- for about five minutes. Thanks ...

2007-01-11T00:26:00.000-05:00

I DID know that -- for about five minutes. Thanks for reminding me!

Yes, the entire population of this very rare wild ...

2007-01-10T17:13:00.000-05:00

Yes, the entire population of this very rare wild horse stems from something like 14 individuals, so zoos worldwide must be very careful how they breed them. One stallion per year is allowed to run with the mares. This year there were two foals born at the Wilds: leggy, slimmer versions of their rotund mothers. We watched them cantering along one of the roads. Very appealing animals, who look wonderful running over the grassy hills at The Wilds. They're going to start breeding cheetahs before long, but they have to build their Midsized Carnivore Center first. By the way, did you know it's pronounzed Shevahlski?

Przewalski's horse - wow! Is there a breeding prog...

2007-01-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

Przewalski's horse - wow! Is there a breeding program for them there?

Thanks for the history check, Kathi and Tricia. On...

2007-01-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the history check, Kathi and Tricia. One of the Wilds staff gave a presentation on their efforts to restore some kind of reasonable native vegetation instead of what is now cold-climate exotic grasses and legumes--what the coal companies plant for a fast cover. Since all the topsoil is gone, and they scraped it down to the impoverished subsoil, it's really hard to get prairie vegetation going, and trees are stunted if they are able to grow at all. I have to wonder what nutritional value the grasses have, growing on that depauperate soil. So it's lovely to look at, but not necessarily lovely to live there, if you're a struggling tree or prairie plant. The exotic animals, of course, are heavily subsidized with hay and supplements. One bright spot: Henslow's sparrows love Chinese lespedeza, which grows rampant on the artificially-sculpted hills.

Oh and your gear would completely blend in up here...

2007-01-10T14:46:00.000-05:00

Oh and your gear would completely blend in up here, we are so fashionable in the cold! ;-)

My great grandfather and grandfather said "no" man...

2007-01-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

My great grandfather and grandfather said "no" many, many times to the coal companies. They never made a lot of money, but still have a lovely 200 acre farm in Muskingum County. I remember driving by what is now The Wilds when I was a kid and thinking that it was awful and sad.

I am glad to see some good can come after the strip mining.

The Wilds is a great place to visit. But it does ...

2007-01-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

The Wilds is a great place to visit. But it does have two major negatives.

It has no orangutans and no yaks. Yaks love the Ohio winters, just ask Zak.

I hope some one brought hot chocolate.I'm not goin...

2007-01-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

I hope some one brought hot chocolate.

I'm not going to comment on wild asses and Bill in the same sentence.

RR
my confirm "word" was rzrjghj. Can I buy a vowel?

I, too, like winter walks and winter birdwatching,...

2007-01-10T06:48:00.000-05:00

I, too, like winter walks and winter birdwatching, but you can keep the wet and windy weather, thanks. Cold is fine, snow is neat, cloudy is OK, but that rain ... Brrrrr!

As for the landscape around the Wilds and the AEP lands: "open, and expansive" I agree with but "quite lovely," I'm not so sure. Yes, it is truly unique and interesting habitat, totally unlike anything else Ohio has to offer, and great for grassland birds and raptors. But, I remember it as it was, before the coal companies came and ripped the heart out of the land. The beautiful hills and valleys were ravaged. For years, it looked like someone had eaten the earth and vomited it back up. Piles of rock and mud, polluted ponds and creeks, trash and broken equipment lying around - I have some pretty ugly childhood memories of this place. The reclamation process does seem to have worked, although it could never restore what was lost. I still can't get used to the dramatic changes when driving through that area.

~Kathi

*verification word starts out with "JZ!"

Where can I sign up?There's nothing to look at her...

2007-01-09T23:40:00.000-05:00

Where can I sign up?

There's nothing to look at here in the rain besides gulls. An endless assortment of gulls, in myriad and indistinguishable plumages.

;-(

The Wilds reminded me of a savannah in Africa. Lo...

2007-01-09T23:07:00.000-05:00

The Wilds reminded me of a savannah in Africa.
Love the cold weather gear. What a statement.

Great account of a top-notch outing. I think I'm ...

2007-01-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

Great account of a top-notch outing. I think I'm beginning to have a more adventurous spirit rising within... Rain or shine. You go!

That's 70 birdERS. I must be truthful. I doubt we ...

2007-01-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

That's 70 birdERS. I must be truthful. I doubt we cracked 40 species of birds.
Anne--so great to hear from you. What an image!

70 birds on the trip! O my goodness! Looks like ...

2007-01-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

70 birds on the trip! O my goodness! Looks like a good time and would have loved to see those Short-eared Owls! Hope next time it doesn't rain!

I've always told Eric and Sean that the most amazi...

2007-01-09T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've always told Eric and Sean that the most amazing moments occur when you're out in "weather" that no human being wants to be in. When Sean was 12, he and I did a canoe trip down the Current River in Missouri. It was March, and on the first day of our trip we canoed for 22 miles in freezing rain, sleet and snow.

I remember telling him that "those who venture out into the 'wild' in crazy, awful weather are often rewarded with something amazing."

The very next day, as we continued our trip down river, SIX white wild horses tromped through the snowy forest and then forged the spring-fed, bluegreen waters right in front of us as we paddled through.

Nature really does save her best for those who endure. I love the thought of those bison and the owls at the end of the day. =)

Anne