It was a perfect March day for a hike – sunny blue skies with temps in the low 60s. We were also on one of my favorite hiking habitats – an old farm dotted with aged trees.
Todd’s Fork Nature Preserve is one of the four Cardinal Land Conservancy’s properties that is open to the public, and the last one for us to visit and write about. It is 220 acres of mixed habitats, and since acquiring the property in 2017, Cardinal has been working on a restoration program. They have replaced grassed pastures with a 100 acres of prairie, including a mixed tall grass prairie, a Big Bluestem prairie, a Little Bluestem prairie, and two short grass prairies of Sideoats Grama. Farm pastures are usually a single type of grass, usually fescue, and rather ecologically sterile. Prairies are a mixture of native grasses and flowering plants and ecologically rich, supporting many species of wildlife. In addition, over one thousand native trees have been planted.
From the graveled parking area the trail leads down an old farm lane lined by Black Walnuts.
To our left was one of the open prairies,
and in a far woodline we could see a large unoccupied raptor nest. While Bald Eagles and Great Horned Owls are already nesting, many hawk species in Ohio will lay their eggs in April and May.
From the farm lane the trail entered a former pasture, now prairie, on the right. After crossing a small stream we came upon the “Woodland Restoration” area that was identified on the trail map. White topped metal posts were securing wired cages that protected native tree and shrub seedlings that have been planted.
After working our way around the edge of the reforestation area we came upon an old farm pond. It was a very naturalized setting that hosted an array of birds, including very vocal Red-winged Blackbirds scouting locations for the nesting season.
A side branch of the trail took you to a bench on the dam of the lake. The photographer and I sat and studied these motionless Canada Geese for several minutes, uncertain if they were alive or decoys, until one moved its head ever so slightly to take a drink.
Also from the dam, we had a nice view on this maturing Redcedar – perhaps the most underappreciated native tree on our landscape.
As we returned to the trail we had this nice view onto an open wood that hosted Sycamores along the stream which arose from the base of the pond dam.
We then headed northwest toward a collection of conifer trees. If I was to hazard a guess, I would suspect that it might have been near the old homestead, although the trail did not take us through it.
Heading up the slight grade we also came upon this antique apple tree, still in relatively good shape. When I come upon old fruit trees on farms I ponder what heirloom variety they might be and what they meant to those families – fresh fruit, picnic desserts, summer sunshine captured as canned fruit for the winter table.
The trail then went by a smaller, very shallow farm pond where we were serenaded by Spring Peepers in the trees.
Click on the video below to hear the peeper chorus.
In the far shallows we saw a blush of new growth.
We returned to the idyllic setting of the farm lane to find our way back to parking.
Odds and Ends:
This Song Sparrow was living up to its name. It sat in this small Honey Locust – singing loud and proud. Perhaps an appropriate title for the photo would be The Beauty and the Beast. Todd’s Fork seemed to be a stellar birding location. While I only had my Merlin Bird ID app on for a short time, it had identified 14 species of birds by their songs, including an Eastern Towhee, 3 different sparrows, and a White-breasted Nuthatch.
Just off the farm lane we came upon this disfigured oak tree. These are horned oak galls. They develop when a parasitic wasp, the gall wasp, lays its eggs in the bark of the twigs. Hormones from the larvae cause an overgrowth of woody tissue, providing a protective nursery for the larvae. The gall wasps are very small, measuring 1/32 to 5/16 of an inch.
Trust the Process
As we went about our hike we found ourselves somewhat perplexed by things we were finding. The map of the preserve only shows one hiking trail, but we had noted one, marked in blue, arising just off the parking area that was not depicted on the map. The trails at Todd’s Fork were marked with tall PVC pipes with colored tips. This allowed for visualization of them across the rolling meadows of waist high plants. As we wove our way around the preserve we saw PVC trail markers indicating additional trails to the “yellow” trail that we were hiking. We opted to stick to the yellow trail outlined on the map in my hand.
Along the hike we came upon 3 fenced enclosures that were well constructed and clear of plant life. They measured roughly 75 feet by 125 feet.
Lastly, as seen in some previous photos and in the ones below, there was bush hog debris scattered across the trails at times. This included branches of thorned Honey Locust which could potentially injure someone, so I would advise paying attention to foot placement and wear sturdy shoes. As we skirted around the debris in the trail, I kept reminding myself that the Cardinal Land Conservancy preserves that we have hiked were always well managed and that I had to “trust the process”. Clearly they have something in mind.
My uncertainty about what we had experienced led to an phone conversation with Owen Hunter-Linville, Land Manager for Cardinal Land Conservancy. He explained about what we had seen and enthusiastically outlined ongoing and future improvements for Todd’s Fork.
Cardinal has been the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the well known Cornell Ornithology Lab, under their Land Trust Small Grant Program, to aid in habitat restoration for threatened bird species. At Todd’s Fork they are specifically targeting Bob White Quail, Yellow-breasted Chat, and the Woodcock populations. As part of that project they are aggressively removing invasive species such as Bush Honeysuckle and Autumn Olive, as well as some overly abundant Honey Locust, and that was the purpose of the bush hog work that we had seen.
Native shrubs will be added in their place. The fenced enclosures are for a scientific field study to see if protecting the native shrubs from deer is of benefit, when compared to shrubs that are outside the enclosure.
The array of colored trail markers were from a legacy trail system at the preserve, but the other trails are not maintained to this time. The current trail only exposes visitors to about one quarter of the preserve. Perhaps the most exciting part of this comprehensive reimagining of Todd’s Fork is a plan to markedly improve and expand the trail system, taking visitors through a broader collection of habitats including full woodland, open woodland, prairie, and wetlands. A new trail loop will lead down into the wooded valley that holds Todd’s Fork, a tributary to the Wild and Scenic Little Miami River, that to this time has not been available to the public. This is a mature wood that is home to many spring ephemeral wildflower species.
The conversation with Owen was outstanding and reassuring. He is a great representative of the Cardinal Land Conservancy and its brand. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious. Undoubtedly Todd’s Fork Nature Preserve is going to become another public greenspace gem in the watershed of Little Miami River and I am going to enjoy watching it happen, hiking there, and helping in anyway I can. In the meantime, Owen stressed that people should still visit the preserve, understanding that work is in progress, and to be careful with the debris along the trail. And my guidance is to “trust the process”. The preserve is in good hands.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 1703 Co Rd 3, Wilmington, OH 45177, 49 miles from downtown Cincinnati.
Parking – gravel lot for 8-10 cars.
Trail Conditions – gravel lane and grass.
Print Map Link – https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.cardinallandconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Todds-Fork-Nature-Preserve.pdf
Benches – one at the pond dam.
Picnic Tables – none.
Kids – with the current debris on the trail I would probably avoid kids under 8 at this time.
Suggested Paired Hikes – none
Links:
https://www.cardinallandconservancy.org/todds-fork-nature-preserve/