This painting of a Black-and-white Warbler was based on photos I took at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in Ohio. I think the first one I remember seeing was at Shaker Lakes in the Cleveland area. In my mind I thought of it as the “woodpecker warbler.” It was like a tiny little zebra working its way up the bark of a tree.
About thirty years ago I was living in University Circle while going to art school. My girlfriend Liesl, now my wife, and I went on a lot of nature/birding walks for dates. That was time doubly well spent. Our favorite locations were in the metroparks surrounding the city, namely North and South Chagrin. Those were a bit of a drive, so sometimes we’d hit Shaker Lakes, just 10-15 minutes away. “Lakes” is a bit generous; they really were large ponds. Given their proximity to the city, they had a ton of wildlife. A pair of Snapping Turtles there were—and still are—by far the largest I’ve ever seen. One’s shell had a huge divot in it from an injury it survived. With the amount of car traffic in the area, I wonder if it had been hit.
During migration we regularly saw good warblers at Shaker Lakes, and in the summers Black-crowned Night Herons hunted there. That was also where I first spied a Brown Thrasher.
The metroparks surrounding Cleveland really were amazing. I had never lived in a city as big as Cleveland and was totally out of my element. When the weather was decent, I’d escape the crowds and get out to the country by saddling up on my bike and riding out to one of the metroparks, usually North Chagrin. The ride out of the city and suburbs was 15 miles each way. Once out there, I’d be treated to less crowded roads before heading back. At the time mountain biking was legal at North Chagrin, so I’d often ride the trails there before heading home. It was a blast: hilly, twisty narrow paths with big drops down to gorges the streams had cut through the hills. On weekends it wasn’t safe with the number of people on the trail, unless you were up really early. After about a year and a half, the park system outlawed bikes from all trails and only allowed them on the paved paths. I was disappointed but totally understood why that happened. It was fun while it lasted.
On one mountain biking trip at South Chagrin, Liesl wiped out on a patch of gravel and came up with a huge gash on her arm. I was pretty sure we were headed to the hospital. She popped up and looked it over… no screaming or crying. All I could think was, “Man, she is tough!” She rode for a while to get back to the car, and then we packed up the bikes and wrapped up her arm. Since the bleeding had stopped, she wanted to go for a walk. We ended up birding and tipping rocks looking for salamanders. That was a nasty wound, but we still had a fun and memorable day.
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