The walk into Ferd’s Bog, where I heard the winter wren, has a primeval feel. It was very quiet, though as we approached the bog itself, we heard a few bush-dwellers rustling about. This one, a hermit thrush (I think), posed so nicely my photo should be better than it is.

On to the bog, traversed by a boardwalk. Earlier in the summer, the grass is red with pitcher plants. Not so much so in August.

Cedar waxwings were everywhere, making their high-pitched noises that, I’ve read, are sometimes too high for the human ear to pick up.

The walk out is equally beautiful, of course, though it seemed all new because we were moving in a different direction.

We stumbled upon this state park in Ithaca the other day. I pulled into the entrance to turn around, and the girls took one look and wanted to explore.

So we did.

A trail, mostly stone stairs, led up beside the falls for 3/4 of a mile or so. It was filled with fairylandish vistas; around every corner was a new scene to exclaim over. Out of the rock walls beside the trail, water trickled. It was one of the wettest and most lush walks we’d ever taken.

The walk down was, in a way, more challenging. It’s hard to have the brakes on all the way. The trail down also skirted the falls much more widely, and we couldn’t see them very often. But we surely got an eyeful on the way up.

I’ve noticed that birds love the kind of warm, overcast morning I took my walk in. (So do mosquitos. Note to self: use bug dope next time.)

Mostly I heard them this morning: wrens, a huge ground bird spooking and beating away, “bush tickers” (as my daughter calls the many small birds that hide in the bushes sounding the alarm), cardinals, robins, ovenbirds, catbirds.

But I did get to see not one but two wood thrushes, which was a treat. I saw a flurry of juncos among some hemlocks, feeding and discussing. And at one point in the trail I came upon a veritable convocation of small birds eating and, I think, feeding young: redstarts, yellowthroats, vireos, chickadees. The light was no good for pictures, so I enjoyed just standing among them for awhile. They fed on bugs, and mosquitos fed on me.

I contented myself with photos of things that stayed still.

Several deer allowed me into their space, and one studied me closely. They’re a rich cinnamon color this time of year. Though all of them appeared to me to be does, I saw no fawns. I did see coyote tracks. 🙁

It was nice to be out. Even though it kept threatening to rain, it never did. When I got home I was greeted by more wildlife — or semi-wild life — on the front step.