Early Morning Lightning Photo

A good thunderstorm and a very dark sky makes for a great opportunity for lightning photos. It also helps to have a protected area in which to stand to avoid getting hit by lightning while trying to grab a picture of it. Timing is also a big issue – if the camera shutter isn’t open the split second the lightning flashes, the shot is missed.

All those things came together very early this morning when a small thunderstorm moved through. The lightning and thunder diminished as the storm approached, though. Despite keeping the camera shutter open for several seconds per photo, only one forky flash of lightning popped into view within a period of about 30 minutes. Lucky for me, I had just opened the shutter and caught it. So, after taking over 350 pictures of this storm, I managed to get one decent shot. The photo is below. (The color of the sky has not been altered; the sky was just showing a little morning light, and the sky had a blue/purple cast.)

Click on photo for larger view

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Mentor Marsh: Wake Robin, Kerven, & Zimmerman Trails

A long spell of sunny, dry weather over the last two weeks made it ideal to explore the nature trails in my home town. There are several trails that skirt, and go into, the Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, which is adjacent to the Mentor Headlands Beach State Park on Lake Erie in Mentor, Ohio. The marsh is a remnant of an ancient riverbed of the nearby Grand River. There are several trails in the area, some better than others for viewing the marsh and/or for birding.

The Zimmerman Trail is two miles long, and we began at the Headlands Drive entrance. We only ventured about ¾ of a mile onto the trail. From the Headlands entrance, the trail is a simple dirt/mud trail, very wooded, hilly, and sometimes not very visible due to a few downed trees. We could hear several birds in the area but could not see many because of the heavy foliage. Since the weather had been dry the trail was very dry, but it is evident that the trail would get messy with wet weather. We did not check out the Rosemary Lane entrance to this trail. There is a very nice view of a marsh pond area on Headlands Drive below the entrance of the trail.

The Kerven Trail, located on Corduroy Road, is also heavily wooded, but has a nice overlook of the Mentor Marsh. The trail to the overlook is not well marked and we found the overlook by accident. We realized on the way back to the beginning of the trail that we had to go on the butterfly meadow path in order to easily get to the overlook.

The nicest trail is the Wake Robin Trail, which is a boardwalk that runs through the marsh itself. There is a short but steep hill with a dirt trail which leads to the boardwalk, so be prepared for this short trek down. (There are plans to connect the boardwalk with another overlook nearby which will allow easy access for all.) We spent quite a bit of time on this short (.35 mile) boardwalk because it was very peaceful and there was a great view of all the different marsh plants, insects, and birds in the area. The height of the phragmites - the tall reeds that have invaded the marsh – is very evident once you are in the marsh at ground level; some easily reached 15-20 feet. Phragmites are not native to this area and over the years they have choked off the natural vegetation in the marsh. There is an effort to restore Mentor’s Marsh’s native habitat around the area of the boardwalk, much to the delight of birds (and humans too).

We also spent some time at the Mentor Lagoons Trails and the Mentor Headlands Dunes Nature Preserve Trail and I will post those photos in the near future. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy these photos – some in black and white – from the Zimmerman, Kerven, and Wake Robin trails.

Zimmerman Trail

Kerven Trail

Wake Robin Trail

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The Birth of a Cumulonimbus and an Orange Sky

Strong storms moved through the area yesterday, and one that formed in Ashtabula county, which is just east of us, was clearly visible from our home in Lake County. That storm produced a cumulonimbus cloud which was beginning to form an anvil as it moved out of our range of view. The cloud top grew so large that even though the storm was moving into Pennsylvania while the sun was setting here, the sunlight reflected off the cloud top, creating a completely orange sky that was reported visible throughout most of Lake County and parts of the metro Cleveland area. Here are some photos, from beginning to end.

















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Lake Erie - Eerily Calm

After seeing Lake Erie churned up by very high winds a few weeks ago (see my post: "High Winds Make Big Waves on Lake Erie” ) it was odd to see the lake be so calm last week. Due to the lack of virtually any breeze at all over the last week, Lake Erie was as flat as I think I have ever seen it. In fact, while visiting Cleveland’s Edgewater Park and Wendy Park areas late last week, there was no sound of the water lapping against the shore. Only light ripples in the water could be seen – and they make for some rather peaceful pictures.







All Photos and Text © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com

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They’re Named Cottonwoods For Good Reason

Late last week, we spent some time at Wendy Park on Cleveland’s lake shore and while it was a very hot May morning, it seemed to be snowing. As we got further into the park, we noticed a large stand of cottonwood trees that were fully laden with seeds encased in what looks like fluffy cotton (hence the name cottonwood) but of course it’s not cotton. The fluffy seed casing just allows the seeds to be easily dispersed by the breeze – and the day we visited the park the seeds were flying around in full force, making it look like a snow storm. Despite the fact that many seeds were in the air and on the ground, the trees were still loaded with seeds, almost making each tree look like it was covered in huge clumps of white cotton candy. Here are a few photos. (Now, if someone would just invent a cottoncandy tree, I would be happy.)






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High Winds Make Big Waves on Lake Erie

There was a high wind warning with gale force winds on Saturday after a large cold front (with lots of nasty storms) moved through the area on Friday night. Of course, when I hear “high wind warning” it’s time to head to Mentor Headlands Beach in order to watch the big waves on Lake Erie. This time, though, as my husband and I drove up to the east parking lot, we noticed a dusty cloud over the area which my husband recognized as a mini-sandstorm. After getting out of the car, we were pelleted with grains of sand that really stung. We weren’t even near the beach yet. As we walked up to the stand of trees before we arrived on the beach, the wind was even stronger. Upon walking on to the beach area, no longer getting some wind protection from the trees, my husband commented, “I think we made a mistake.” It was funny but not funny at the same time, as the wind almost knocked us over, and not only were we being hit with grains of sand, but it felt like there were small pebbles being thrown around as well. But after a momentary pause, we figured we were there, we might as well try to get close to the beach and try to catch a photo of the waves against the lighthouse at the eastern end. We had to walk sideways to protect our faces from being sandblasted, and it was nearly impossible to walk. We estimated the sustained winds to be about 55-60 mph. There was one lone gull that seemed to be having a good time flying into the wind, though. While my husband helped me to stay standing, I took a few photos. It really was very beautiful despite the wind and I’m glad we didn’t get blown away. (click on any image for a larger view)










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Pink and White Dogwoods Bloom

The pink and white dogwoods flowered when we had a warm spell a few weeks ago. The cool weather than moved in afterwards seemed to keep their flowers in a holding pattern. Here are a few photos.







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