Robin Arnold Art

Spring is getting close so I thought  now would be a good time to post this article we wrote in 2009 about vernal pools. Since writing this article the FWS developed a 5 acre marsh on our property creating even more vernal pools. Head out during a spring or late winter thaw and see what you can find. Happy hunting! 12 ACRES IN OHIO A Vernal Pool and the Fountain of Youth We left the house in the gathering darkness as 2 adults in our fifties; by the time we reached the vernal pool at the back of the property, we were 10 years old again. We carried a video camera, a tape recorder, 2 headlamps, and a notebook. It was an early spring evening—damp and windless, and the western chorus frogs in the marsh were just beginning to tune up after a long, cold winter. We were on a mission to check out a small vernal pool and its inhabitants in the back corner of the field. We waded to the middle….   At first, neither of us saw anything but dead grass and decaying leaves on the bottom

Bear on a Box This is my latest addition to my "critter on a box" series! The possibilities for these little boxes is only limited by my imagination  and unfortunately, my skill level. I have some neat ideas in my head but they will have to be placed on the back burner until I become a Master Carver. In the meantime I'm happy doing my cute folk art carvings. If they make someone smile I've done my job. The box is made from a piece of driftwood I picked up along the Lake Erie shoreline. There are a lot of neat things-- besides burning it in a campfire-- that you can do with driftwood so it's a  hot commodity in this area.  Anytime I can find a weathered  piece of wood that's usable I'm happy. This particular piece was perfect. It has a nice weathered look but it's not so far gone that it's falling apart. Inside of Box The hole in the box is drilled out with a forstner bit and the lid swivels on a dowel. For more details click on the fo

Snowy day in Ohio is an understatement! When we woke up this morning we had about a foot of snow on the ground. We went to TSC on Saturday and stocked up on bird seed and suet to help out our feathered friends during this nasty storm. So far at our feeders we've had goldfinches, house finches, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, nuthatches, tree sparrows, juncos, house sparrows, downy woodpeckers, mourning doves and a red-bellied woodpecker. We've also had a Coopers hawk visit several times looking for a meal. The wind wasn't too bad Sunday morning so I went out with my camera to see if I could get some photos of birds in the snow. Northern Cardinal This first one is of a Northern Cardinal. I've tried for a long time to get a nice photo of a male cardinal sitting on a snowy branch but it never worked out very well for me. I finally got a nice, sharp photo of this cardinal sitting in a snowy thicket.  I like this one because you can see the snow sticking to his