Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

I'm going to keep the main portion of this blog brief, in order to make room for some pix of our outing yesterday to Grand Ravines County Park.

Cubs, 2, Reds, 10. Today @ Houston @ 2:20 p.m. EDT.

Beloved Red Sox 4,  Astros 0. Today, the Indians come to Fenway for a 1:05 p.m. game.

Tigers, 3, Mets, 4. Today @ Orioles @ 1:05 p.m.

White Caps, 10, South Bend Cubs, 11. Today also @ South Bend Cubs @ 2:05 p.m.

Simon Pagenaud wins the 103rd Indianapolis 500.

We have a current before sunrise @ 6:11 a.m. temperature of 53° under cloudy skies as we await today's high of 71° with a 70% chance for rain before the sun sets @ 9:13 p.m.

On to the important news from yesterday.

I opted to go on that birding walk at Grand Ravines. It was fantastic. Before the walk began, I took some great pix of a bald eagle sitting in a tree not far from the lodge. At the risk of sounding hackneyed, "It was a hot and sweltering day in a muddy forest setting."

Well not exactly, the weather was perfect for a walk in the woods, but the mosquitoes came armed to the teeth, so to speak and they easily found one of their favorite targets, Mary. I got bitten once, but like always, no lasting damage. I was reminded of the long ago Tour DeKalb, that Adam and I did when he was @ Northern Illinois University. I got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and when we stopped to fix it, the mosquitoes came out of nowhere and made fixing that flat a harrowing experience. 

But as always, I digress.

The eagle just sat in that tree and allowed me to take many pix, some actually quite good. I've chosen this one as a representative of the eagle in profile.

A nice shot of this majestic raptor in all his/her glory.

Then with the camera slung around my neck, my 150 - 400 telephoto lens on the camera and a pair of binoculars there too, we were off after a short intro by Kristen.

Along the trail, we saw some birds, and heard many more, some of which Kristen easily identified by their distinctive calls/songs. I found the flora more fascinating and took a lot of pix of that.

A nice shot of the Grand River looking east.

The ubiquitous dandelion, in amongst the trees along the trail.

Phlox?

Pretty, yes. Name? Maybe Mary remembers.

A Jack in the Pulpit.

A nesting place for some of the bird species we encountered.

Again, not sure of the type of flower, but I liked the look.

The Grand Lady as seen from the lodge.

Just an interesting tree knot.

Wild cucumber, I believe.

Carvings in a fallen tree limb used to make the trail.

All in all, the outing was a success. The weather cooperated, even if the mosquitoes didn't. We had an enjoyable day, saw and heard many bird species, including Scarlet Tanagers, Robins, Baltimore Orioles, Song Sparrows, Grosbeaks, some type of Flycatcher, and an Owl. The trail got muddy in a few places, and it was indeed uphill both ways, but we had a great time!

Today, a stop at the big-box arts and craft store, a stop at the big-box drug store, and perhaps a stop at the nursery for some additional plants for the vast gardens. Ciao.

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