We took advantage of the beautiful weather and visited the Cincinnati Nature Center during the Great Outdoors Weekend event. They hosted a campfire event, providing the s’mores, and we brought some Polish sausages to roast as well.

While we were there, we visited some of our favorite spots, such as the bird blind next to the Playscapes area.

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Perhaps it was the extra activity during the weekend, or just the change in the season, but there weren’t nearly as many birds as we had seen during the summer. This juvenile male cardinal was growing into his colors.

Matt’s Pond is another favorite spot, as the boys love to try to catch the tadpoles with the nets. This generation of tadpoles was much more savvy, though, and no tadpole was gullible enough to get scooped up for scientific examination. Perhaps the tadpoles we released on our last visit had warned the other tadpoles to beware the young hunters’ tricks. At least neither of the junior biologists fell in this time, although one dropped his net into the pond. Fortunately, the daddy biologist was able to retrieve it before it sank.

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The pond is surrounded by wildflowers, including goldenrod and asters.

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I loved the contrast between the bright yellows and purples.

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I’m still finding the Tamron 150-600mm to be a beast to hold still without a tripod. I’m needing every bit of help from the 1/640 second shutter speed, and that is with the image stabilization turned on. However, I admit that I haven’t been doing any weight training, other than hauling that lens around. I know I should make a resolution to improve myself through consistent athletic discipline, but we all know that it isn’t going to happen.