Gray squirrels are the bane of those of us who attempt to keep backyard bird feeders filled with birdseed. In large cities, small towns, and even rural areas across the Buckeye State, these arboreal aerialists seem to defy gravity in getting to places we don’t want them to be.
For instance, a very early Columbus resident and hunter shot 67 gray squirrels in one day from just one tree in the middle of a cornfield on what today is the Statehouse lawn.
If you know someone who’s really ready to raise their birding game in 2026 (even if that someone is you), a spotting scope might be just the thing.
“We began as a small gift shop and watch-repair business in 1976,” says Hershberger, who owns the shop. “So next year will be our 50th year in business. We always had a few pairs of binoculars for sale, and I began birding when I was a teenager, so the optics side of the business grew out of that hobby. Today, we carry 18 brands of optics, with 200 to 300 pairs of binoculars on display, and 20 to 30 spotting scopes, as well as telescopes for stargazing.”
Late one September many years ago, I was visiting Pointe Mouillee State Game Area at the mouth of the Detroit River along the western shoreline of Lake Erie in late September when I looked skyward and saw the most stunning example of fall bird migration I have ever witnesse
The vivid image of that annual autumnal spectacle of migration remains in my mind’s eye yet today. But it has always made me stop and wonder: Why do some raptors migrate, while others don’t?
Before the 19th century, wild buffalo (bison) dominated the North American continent — with individual herds covering 400 square miles or more and taking days to ride through on horseback. It’s estimated the bison population was more than 60 million at its peak.
“Buffalo herds in the East were never huge, never teeming, never rivaling the truly vast herds that thundered across the Great Plains until the latter half of the 19th century,” Belue says. “Eastern buffalo herds often numbered 100 head or less, and droves of fewer than 20 were common.”
If you enjoy water paddle sports such as kayaking and canoeing, but would rather not deal with the challenges and dangers of whitewater rapids, I have just the place for you.
Kerns grew up in a suburb of Columbus, and says she had an intense interest in the outdoors, even as a kid. “I took a summer course in marine biology during high school, and that experience really helped guide my future undergrad and postgraduate studies and ultimate career path,” she says.
On Aug. 30, 1892 (133 years ago this month), the steel freighter Western Reserve went down during a furious gale on the Great Lakes, taking 27 souls with her.
Though the tragedy happened on Lake Superior, the most northerly, largest, and deepest of the Five Sisters, the story has many ties to the Buckeye State.
The Natural Resources Park at the southeast corner of the Ohio Exposition Center (also known as the state fairgrounds) is an 8-acre oasis in what is otherwise a vast sea of concrete.
Smokey, of course, is best known as the star of the longest-running public service announcement campaign in American history, cautioning people since 1947 on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service to “remember ... only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
That’s why it’s appropriate that standing behind the giant Smokey at the state fairgrounds is a second icon of Ohio forest management history: the 60-foot Armintrout Fire Tower.
“No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at the Muskingum.
When Ohio gained statehood in 1803, leadership recognized the potential of the Muskingum to facilitate the opening of Ohio and the entire Midwest for increased trade and development. As a result, in 1837, the legislature began funding construction of a series of 11 locks and dams on the river, spending $1.6 million over the next four years (roughly the equivalent of $1.4 billion today) for what was one of the most extensive — and expensive — public works projects of its kind in America at the time.
Learning any hobby is always easier with a mentor — even a virtual one. Take birding, for example.
“The Merlin Bird ID app contains identification support and photos, sound recordings, maps, and descriptions for more than 10,000 bird species from around the world, with more species being added constantly,” says Kathi Borgmann, communications manager for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which developed and owns Merlin. “More than 29 million people worldwide have installed Merlin on their phones, with June 2024 seeing the greatest number of Merlin users, more than 5.4 million during that month alone.”
Of Ohio’s 88 counties, eight are named for Indian tribes: Delaware, Erie, Huron, Miami, Ottawa, Seneca, Tuscarawas, and Wyandot.
In development since 2019, Ohio’s newest state park is located along U.S. Route 68 just north of Xenia, where “Old Chillicothe” — a historic Shawnee village — once stood. As Gov. Mike DeWine said at its June 2024 grand opening, “The land had a story that needed to be told.”
