My children all learned to ski at the ski hill in Earl Bales Park.

I enjoyed visiting the area today in perfect warm weather.





MYSTERY BIRD
I will identify it at the end of the post.

Earl Bales Park also has a very large pond.













Some botany:





















MYSTERY BIRD
Despite the lack of a red belly, this is a Red-bellied Woodpecker. The name “Red-headed Woodpecker was already taken.

NATURE POETRY
Now, from the thick grass, the fireflies
begin to rise:
up, then down, then up again:
lit on the ascending flight,
drifting simultaneously to the same height,
exactly like the bubbles in champagne. – Elizabeth Bishop (1911–79)
Miles Hearn
Well, I knew it was SOME kind of Woodpecker, anyway! And I love Earl Bales Park. Thanks, Miles!