May 11

A day of rest so we go birding...
KOA is full of kids, bicycles, and dogs, so we decided to explore the 5 rivers metroparks around Dayton.

First was Germantown, a really neat old town established 1804. The dam was constructed 1922 and the park consists of 1400 acres of old growth hardwood forest maintaining an amazing diversity of habitat.
Temp never was above 55 degrees so we mostly car birded, but the edges produce more birds than walking the forest trails anyway.

28 species,  including Wild Turkey, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Grey Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Robin, Cardinal, Brown Thrasher,  Red-bellied and Piliated Woodpecker, Wood thrush, Chipping and Field Sparrow, Bran and Tree Swallow, plus lots of calls I couldn't locate nor ID.

We looked for a place to eat lunch in Germantown, only place open was El Rancho Grande, pretty good Mexican food but not what I expected for Germantown...

Next stop was Englewood Metropark, only added Canada Goose and Purple Martin there. Frisbee Golf match in progress might have hampered the birding there.

 Wildflowers were outstanding, Columbine and Penstemine a's long with several DYC's and all the different shades of green made an spectacular palette.

 

We discovered this quaint covered bridge from 1870 across Twin Creek in Germantown.