April 11 - Where my Mama Grew Up

It was considerably cooler this morning at about 37º, but still a little breezy with 25-35 mph winds, although nothing like the 40 mph winds that we saw yesterday.  I went down to breakfast and worked a bit on my blog until about 10 a.m., then drove on back east toward Fairview, where my mother graduated from high school in 1934.

Theresa Unruh 1915-2001

I’d gone on the interwebs to see that the Major County Museum was open from 10-4, so looked forward to seeing it.  But, when I got there at noon, it was closed up tight.

Let's see . . . this is Thursday at noon . . .

I walked around the grounds looking at the outdoor exhibits of old farm machinery, and back into town to see what it looked like (which is like an Oklahoma farm town).

Downtown Fairview

And their spacey-looking water tower

So, I drove over to Canton Lake, which is a reservoir on the North Canadian River, to walk and bird the Frank Raab Nature Trail.

Frank Raab was a legislator and on the Oklahoma Water Resources Board

The sign at the beginning indicated that the trail was closed due to having a bridge out.  But, I decided to at least walk to the bridge.  I walked quite a ways along the loops, but did not find a bridge that was ‘out’, although several were kind of rickety.  It was warm and breezy, so didn’t see many birds along the trail, although there were Morel mushrooms under the ‘cedar’ trees.  I did meet a local who had a 5-gallon bucket about half-full of these tasty delights.

Other mushrooms had come and gone, including this earthstar:

Astraeus sp.

The woods were full of migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers, and all of the “butter-butts” I got a glass on were of the “Myrtle” variety.

The woods were full of Butterbutts

A group of American Pipits was feeding along the river below the dam,
and a small flock of Blue-winged Teal were likewise feeding in the river.
Besides the birds, there were other wildlife to see, including butterflies

Clouded Sulphur - Colias philodice

Pontia protodice, the checkered white

Beavers were working along the stream

I got back to Woodward, and checked in with the Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival folks and enjoyed the reception & mixer at the motel.  I spent quite a bit of time talking with Larry and Jan from West Virginia, who had been on the Greater Prairie Chicken trip bus yesterday.  Then, I went to bed early, as I was on an early bus for the festival tomorrow.
Canton Lake – Frank Raab Nature Trail eBird Checklist is Here