Last week I jumped at the chance to visit Kensington on one of our only blue sky days. It had been a long time, and I was hoping the birds were hungry even though I got out there a little later in the day than I like. But, instead of me telling you about it, let me just show you. You know it’s all about the birds….right?
A sandhill crane sunbathing and not wanting to be disturbed.So I didn’t get close. A long lens helps.I found the red-headed woodpecker at his usual corner. Wonder if there’s going to be a nest in there this spring?Meanwhile the little birds were definitely hungry. This is a titmouse. They are so cheeky.A bluejay keeps a careful watch for any spillage.I did spend a lot of time with my hand out hoping to entice the bluejay or the woodpeckers down for brunch.The male downy woodpecker was interested…but uncertain.The titmouse is never uncertain.He got brave.The squirrel enthusiastically enjoyed his treat.A chickadee bops in between titmice.And watching it all is a male red-belly woodpecker. Who really wants a snack but doesn’t want to get too close.Though he works his way down from the tree to get a little closer, keeping his eye on me.Meanwhile the little birds fly in and out, grabbing snacks on the go.And right next to the path, last year’s young sandhill crane is poking around in the mud of a stream.Under the watchful eye of mom and dad. They were both just a bit further up the stream. And they knew exactly where I was.The red-belly supervises it all, including me, from his safe place.Brunch continues with a titmouse grabbing a shelled peanut.Would hunger make this guy brave?Yes!Coming in for a landing.Pursuing the buffet.He makes his selection……and he’s off!Now there was a bit of a traffic jam. Notice the chickadee wing shadow on the downy woodpecker’s chest.The woodpecker won, but the chickadee will be back, see him behind the woodpecker?Taking his snack with him.The red-belly is happy with his score.But wait! Who is this? A FEMALE red-belly waits for a snack of her own.The chickadee tells her off, he’s been displaced once too often already.She waits patiently.But it’s time for me to leave all this drama behind. I move on, leaving seed on the path for everyone to share.
Will I see any more birds on the rest of my walk. Well…of course…but they were birds of a different feather. They’ll show up in this blog soon I’m sure. They’re kind of pushy.
I'm a long time banker having worked in banks since the age of 17. I took a break when I turned 50 and went back to school. I graduated right when the economy took a turn for the worst and after a year of library work found myself unemployed. I was lucky that my previous bank employer wanted me back. So here I am again, a long time banker. Change is hard.
36 thoughts on “It’s been a long time, Kensington”
I really like your action pics! The blue jay looking at you with his head titled is great. Looks like a good day to visit Kensington. Wonderful images Dawn, thanks!
It was a beautiful day to visit my favorite park. I could have stayed longer, should have stayed longer, but it was already going on a third hour, and I was afraid I already had too many images to sort through. Which of course I did. If there is actually a thing about too many images.
One photo is more stunning than the next! What a perfect day- I am always astounded at them coming right to your hand- especially the Woodpeckers! How do you get the flying shots if you are using one hand for feed? They are absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing! ❤
The woodpeckers are more shy than the titmice, for sure! I hold the seed in my left hand, and the camera in my right, and focus on my hand. Then I hope.
Sometimes my arms get tired, but usually there’s so much activity I stop feeding to look at the back of the camera frequently which helps. That red belly woodpecker though, now HE’S the guy you have to have patience for. He’s soooo stubborn. For awhile I was tossing him peanuts in the shell. Sometimes he’d catch them in midair…other times he’d catch them and drop them and the bluejays would swoop down and get it. So I think he figured he might as well come on in and pick what he really wanted from my hand. The bluejays, this trip, weren’t into their typical dive bombing behavior. They just sat and watched for an opportunity to steal stuff that had spilled.
Fabulous, Dawn! I one had a woodpecker dare to nosh out of my hand. I was beyond thrilled! Funny how the chicadees and nuthatches don’t even hesitate (and I can see, neither do the titmouses!)
A titmouse or a chickadee is almost always the first to the hand. The nuthatch has to run up and down the tree a few times to get it’s nerve up. And surprisingly the downy woodpecker can sometimes be the first to do a really close, really fast flyover just to get your attention.
It is such a beautiful, magical place. I wish I could take everyone there and at the same time I want no one there to keep it safe, and the way it is now.
I will never get over how you take photos of the birds with one hand. I am jealous! They are so fabulous! Looks like everyone was very happy to see you. The expressions on those birds are funny. Who knew birds had so much personality?!
Oh they definitely have personalities. Here at home some years we can tell the chickadees apart. I’ve tried with the blue jays but I can’t. People say they have different markings, but here they don’t stand still long enough, and never nicely in a row on the deck railings for me to compare.
Wow, what wonderful shots! I love the titmouse and the birds coming in for a landing. But I don’t know how your poor hand wasn’t frozen without a mitten! And just imagining having to hold your hand so still while these birds made their selections from the buffet and you snapped their pictures with your other hand … amazing!
It was a beautiful day, sun, no wind and in the 50s! Also there was a nice woman who was leaving the woods as I was going in who gave me her hand warmers that I kept in my pockets and if my fingers got a little cold I just reached in and warmed them up for a moment.
What a great outing you had Dawn! It’s funny to see the Sandhill Crane on the ground with snow all around it. The Titmouse and Chickadee are always so cute, but I really like the close-ups of the Woodpeckers as well. Their respective red heads – so brilliant on a finally sunny day! I know they enjoyed your visit as much as you did. I know what you mean about getting out. I got down to the Detroit River and back to Council Point Park several times and it felt like I’d been on a mini vacation after this Winter which essentially began in November. The outings will carry us through the rest of this Winter.
Yes, we’ve had snow on the ground since at least Thanksgiving. Every day has been cold, and very few had sun. So this was a real treat. I’m glad you got out! The sandhill crane on the ground was very near the nature center where the most people are. I was concerned for her, or him, not sure why she was there. I hope she felt OK, but I have confidence the rangers inside the nature center knew she was out there and were probably monitoring her.
It was such a treat to get out in the sunshine – it makes all the difference in the world. That’s true that the rangers are monitoring that Sandhill Crane. Once I was at Lake Erie Metropark near the boat launch and saw a Canada Goose with a horribly broken wing, hanging down, dragging on the ground. I felt sick seeing it, so I planned to go into the museum and alert someone to it and then passed an interpretive guide leading a group on a trail, so I told him. He said he had lost track how many people had already told him about that poor goose and they had already lined up an avian vet for it.
Love the Titmouses (titmice?). And that Sandhill Crane was wonderful. That Chickadee was so cool! Every photo was perfect and showed so much. Took me a long time to look through all of them. Thanks Dawn!
I’m glad you enjoyed. It took me a long time to figure out which images to show you. There were so many. There will be a few more coming up. It was such a beautiful day.
When I saw “Kensington” in the title, I said to myself “Yay! A kensington post!”
Then I awwed, smiled, and finally gasped when the woodpecker swooped in. A couple more gasps with excitement as I scrolled slowly through. Thrilling for me, and I can only imagine how much better in person it was for you.
What a great start to my morning. Thanks so much for sharing Dawn.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sara! Sometimes I wonder if the name of the park means anything to anyone not from around here. It’s such a special place. I wish you could all come and take a walk, I can show you in images, but it’s really more amazing in person. You should come.
I am so impressed every time you feature this kind of photography! I can barely imagine having a bird feed from my hand, and you take incredible photos of it at the same time!
Change Is Hard 
February 19, 2026 at 4:35 am
I really like your action pics! The blue jay looking at you with his head titled is great. Looks like a good day to visit Kensington. Wonderful images Dawn, thanks!
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February 21, 2026 at 8:19 am
It was a beautiful day to visit my favorite park. I could have stayed longer, should have stayed longer, but it was already going on a third hour, and I was afraid I already had too many images to sort through. Which of course I did. If there is actually a thing about too many images.
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February 19, 2026 at 5:59 am
One photo is more stunning than the next! What a perfect day- I am always astounded at them coming right to your hand- especially the Woodpeckers! How do you get the flying shots if you are using one hand for feed? They are absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing! ❤
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February 21, 2026 at 8:20 am
The woodpeckers are more shy than the titmice, for sure! I hold the seed in my left hand, and the camera in my right, and focus on my hand. Then I hope.
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February 22, 2026 at 6:45 am
well done with the multi tasking! 😀
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February 19, 2026 at 6:57 am
Great pictures! I especially liked The red-belly is happy with his score. A perfect way to spend a blue sky day.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:21 am
It was an absolutely perfect way to spend a blue sky day.
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February 19, 2026 at 9:01 am
So wonderful! I’m impressed with your arm strength and patience! 👏🏼
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February 21, 2026 at 8:23 am
Sometimes my arms get tired, but usually there’s so much activity I stop feeding to look at the back of the camera frequently which helps. That red belly woodpecker though, now HE’S the guy you have to have patience for. He’s soooo stubborn. For awhile I was tossing him peanuts in the shell. Sometimes he’d catch them in midair…other times he’d catch them and drop them and the bluejays would swoop down and get it. So I think he figured he might as well come on in and pick what he really wanted from my hand. The bluejays, this trip, weren’t into their typical dive bombing behavior. They just sat and watched for an opportunity to steal stuff that had spilled.
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February 19, 2026 at 10:22 am
This brought great joy! What an incredible bird feeder you make! How do you take such good one-handed photos?
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February 21, 2026 at 8:24 am
Well, I’ve done it so many times over the years. AND…of course there are 3x as many awful shots as good ones. I just don’t show you those very often.
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February 19, 2026 at 10:59 am
Fabulous pictures! Yes, what strength and coordination to take pictures while feeding.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:25 am
Also enormous amounts of luck.
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February 19, 2026 at 11:20 am
Dawn, you have officially earned the title of ‘Bird Whisperer.’ And, you are great at multitasking.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:26 am
Practice. Luckily it’s fun too.
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February 19, 2026 at 11:31 am
Fabulous, Dawn! I one had a woodpecker dare to nosh out of my hand. I was beyond thrilled! Funny how the chicadees and nuthatches don’t even hesitate (and I can see, neither do the titmouses!)
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February 21, 2026 at 8:27 am
A titmouse or a chickadee is almost always the first to the hand. The nuthatch has to run up and down the tree a few times to get it’s nerve up. And surprisingly the downy woodpecker can sometimes be the first to do a really close, really fast flyover just to get your attention.
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February 21, 2026 at 9:40 am
I bet they are. The nuthatches do take a little more time. The woodpecker that finally came to me thought long and hard about the risks!
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February 19, 2026 at 1:29 pm
You took some amazing pictures. The first one, the big bird laying on the ground, the little ones eating out of your hand. Beautiful.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:28 am
It is such a beautiful, magical place. I wish I could take everyone there and at the same time I want no one there to keep it safe, and the way it is now.
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February 22, 2026 at 8:35 am
Keep your secret and enjoy it and share the pictures with us. How are you and how is your husband doing?
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February 22, 2026 at 11:21 am
We’re at ER. He had an episode last night. Doing lots of testing now.
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February 19, 2026 at 2:44 pm
I will never get over how you take photos of the birds with one hand. I am jealous! They are so fabulous! Looks like everyone was very happy to see you. The expressions on those birds are funny. Who knew birds had so much personality?!
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February 21, 2026 at 8:29 am
Oh they definitely have personalities. Here at home some years we can tell the chickadees apart. I’ve tried with the blue jays but I can’t. People say they have different markings, but here they don’t stand still long enough, and never nicely in a row on the deck railings for me to compare.
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February 19, 2026 at 3:21 pm
Wow, what wonderful shots! I love the titmouse and the birds coming in for a landing. But I don’t know how your poor hand wasn’t frozen without a mitten! And just imagining having to hold your hand so still while these birds made their selections from the buffet and you snapped their pictures with your other hand … amazing!
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February 21, 2026 at 8:31 am
It was a beautiful day, sun, no wind and in the 50s! Also there was a nice woman who was leaving the woods as I was going in who gave me her hand warmers that I kept in my pockets and if my fingers got a little cold I just reached in and warmed them up for a moment.
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February 22, 2026 at 11:11 am
I’ve wanted to try hand warmers. Thanks for letting me know they really work!
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February 19, 2026 at 10:52 pm
What a great outing you had Dawn! It’s funny to see the Sandhill Crane on the ground with snow all around it. The Titmouse and Chickadee are always so cute, but I really like the close-ups of the Woodpeckers as well. Their respective red heads – so brilliant on a finally sunny day! I know they enjoyed your visit as much as you did. I know what you mean about getting out. I got down to the Detroit River and back to Council Point Park several times and it felt like I’d been on a mini vacation after this Winter which essentially began in November. The outings will carry us through the rest of this Winter.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:33 am
Yes, we’ve had snow on the ground since at least Thanksgiving. Every day has been cold, and very few had sun. So this was a real treat. I’m glad you got out! The sandhill crane on the ground was very near the nature center where the most people are. I was concerned for her, or him, not sure why she was there. I hope she felt OK, but I have confidence the rangers inside the nature center knew she was out there and were probably monitoring her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 21, 2026 at 7:30 pm
It was such a treat to get out in the sunshine – it makes all the difference in the world. That’s true that the rangers are monitoring that Sandhill Crane. Once I was at Lake Erie Metropark near the boat launch and saw a Canada Goose with a horribly broken wing, hanging down, dragging on the ground. I felt sick seeing it, so I planned to go into the museum and alert someone to it and then passed an interpretive guide leading a group on a trail, so I told him. He said he had lost track how many people had already told him about that poor goose and they had already lined up an avian vet for it.
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February 20, 2026 at 10:51 pm
Love the Titmouses (titmice?). And that Sandhill Crane was wonderful. That Chickadee was so cool! Every photo was perfect and showed so much. Took me a long time to look through all of them. Thanks Dawn!
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February 21, 2026 at 8:34 am
I’m glad you enjoyed. It took me a long time to figure out which images to show you. There were so many. There will be a few more coming up. It was such a beautiful day.
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February 21, 2026 at 5:55 am
When I saw “Kensington” in the title, I said to myself “Yay! A kensington post!”
Then I awwed, smiled, and finally gasped when the woodpecker swooped in. A couple more gasps with excitement as I scrolled slowly through. Thrilling for me, and I can only imagine how much better in person it was for you.
What a great start to my morning. Thanks so much for sharing Dawn.
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February 21, 2026 at 8:36 am
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sara! Sometimes I wonder if the name of the park means anything to anyone not from around here. It’s such a special place. I wish you could all come and take a walk, I can show you in images, but it’s really more amazing in person. You should come.
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February 21, 2026 at 5:12 pm
Bucket list! Along with some time in the UP and Mackinac island.
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February 23, 2026 at 9:13 am
I am so impressed every time you feature this kind of photography! I can barely imagine having a bird feed from my hand, and you take incredible photos of it at the same time!
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