As I was leaving Kensington, having been run out of town on the trails by the little birds, and on the boardwalk by a marauding swan and a big group of kids, I stopped at a little picnic area, off the beaten path.
“Are you SURE you don’t have anything to eat? Can you check your pockets again?“
I thought maybe the birds there would be more forgiving, since they don’t get many visitors. I turned on my Merlin app and let it record the birds singing as it identified who was nearby.
“We didn’t want her food anyway. It’s not good for growing cygnets.“
A vireo, a common yellow throat, a warbler, a bluebird, a flicker, a red winged blackbird. And of course a robin.
“I’ll just stay still, she’s not interested in me anyway.“
I could hear the vireo and the common yellow throat coming from down near the marsh, so I crept that way. I spent a long time standing still staring up at a cottonwood tree that I’m pretty sure hid the yellow throat. But I never saw anything move.
No birds, but this daisy was nice.
I’d already been out at the park for hours and I was hungry, having forgotten to bring myself anything to eat either. So I headed back toward the car, past the picnic pavilion where I saw this little guy.
“If I stand real still you won’t notice me, right lady?”
Well, it’s not a photogenic location, but heck, it’s a bluebird. Right?
He flew up into a tree and then over to the outhouse building. Still not a photogenic location, but the sun was pretty on him there.
“From this perch I can see what’s going on all over this picnic area.”
He bounced around there, from the corner of the building down to the ground up into a tree and back to the building again. Then I lost track of him, couldn’t find him anywhere.
“I’m a velcro bird! I can hang out anywhere!”
I decided it was time to go home, and I turned around to head to the car and, little stinker, there he was on the path right next to me!
“Hey lady! Pay attention, you’re gonna step on me here!”
It was as if he was laughing at me as I took my third, not photogenic, photo of him just because he was beautiful.
And then he flew up into a branch and stayed there, posing until I got the shot.
“Thanks for playing lady, I had fun too.”
Well thank you kindly, Mr. Bluebird, for playing along. You sure made me smile that afternoon! And I’m still smiling today!
So let’s see….I was a miserable failure according to the little birds over on the nature trails, so I decided to go out to the boardwalk to see what if anything was going on at the heron rookery.
The sky was clouding over when I got out to the boardwalk.
Every year I try to get out there frequently in the spring to watch the littles grow up. But I never get there enough, and this year I missed all of it.
Perhaps an adult resting after lunch duty.
Cause the littles weren’t so little anymore!
Are the nests empty?
It was about mid-day and most of the feeding activity had apparently already happened. There wasn’t much in the way of adults flying around.
Nope, not empty. They’re just deep and still hold hungry little ones.
But there was still enough activity to initiate a few anxious moments as the teenagers determined if the adult flying in was their adult.
Guess that wasn’t our order, guys.
Disappointment ran rampant.
This nest held four hopeful teenagers. They were keeping an eye out for mom or dad.
I enjoyed watching this mama (or daddy?) heron working on their nest.
Cleaning up the household.
After she got it the way she wanted it she rested a moment, shook her feathers and then sat back down.
Newborns are just so much work!
I think it’s a little late for eggs to still be there but maybe she has some late arrival babies in there.
I hope my partner shows up soon to spell me for awhile.
Mostly the adults just seemed tired of all the noise and chaos.
I swear, these kids need to grow up and take some responsibility for getting their own meals.
I wasn’t getting anything all that exciting when a group of kids showed up and I figured it was time to go.
Everybody’s having a good time, but they were noisier than the birds.
But then I took a few more pictures of stuff…
Hey! Where is everybody?
and as I was doing that I saw this swan flying toward me.
Incoming…
Directly at me, actually,
Really…..INCOMING!!
Until he (or she) was right there in front of me and then overhead. It was amazing and resulted in my favorite shots of the day.
Duck!!!
Things like being in the flight path of a swan make me want to go out there every day. I was definitely smiling as I headed for the car.
Not duck!!! SWAN!!!! (You see what I did there…)
And I smiled some more when I stopped at a little picnic area on my way out of the park. But that will have to wait.
We interrupt mom’s exciting (not) bird stories to show you a picture she just found on her laptop of my sister Bonnie. Bonnie was mom and dad’s sheltie before Katie. Obviously I never got to meet her, but I hear she was a very good girl.
Looks like mom was into yellow flowers decades ago!
Here’s Bonnie.
And here’s Katie.
And here’s me!
The yellow flower sisters!
PS: I hear today is International Sheltie Day, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than posting about my sisters!
Earlier this week I felt the need to be in the woods, so I grabbed my camera and my new lens and went out early to see what I could see.
Near the park entrance it seemed obvious that Mrs. Osprey didn’t want her picture taken as she sat low in her nest so I moved along.
Gotta respect a mother’s wishes.
“I haven’t showered in days and it’s early in the morning. Give me a break!“
As I walked toward the nature center and the beginning of the trails I realized I hadn’t thought to bring the birds anything to eat.
Well, I thought, they’d have to get over it.
Darn, I’m being attacked! Run for it!
I hadn’t taken into account I was the first car in the parking lot and that it had been raining for two days so people hadn’t visited these hungry birds in awhile. I was instantly attacked by an angry mob of red winged blackbirds as I rounded the corner. I heard their wings first and then felt one bounce off my head. Then another. They were everywhere.
I thought I was in a movie, and not in a good way.
“Look lady, hand over the seed and nobody gets hurt.“
I swatted some of them away and moved faster down the trail, blackbirds following closely.
I had managed to get out into the marsh, with only a few blackbirds circling my head, when I heard a Baltimore oriole singing his heart out.
Hiding behind a couple of leaves.
He seemed to be celebrating the sun as he sang in the morning light.
Then he moved out into the sunshine to show off.
As he sat there singing he began to preen, as if he was singing in the shower.
“Just need to get that little bit of leftover gnat out of my armpit…”
He was fun to watch and the blackbirds got bored and headed back up the trail to wait for their next victim. They could only hope that person wasn’t such an airhead.
Though the blackbirds had given up, other birds had not. A little titmouse quietly asked if it was true, that there was no food.
“Seriously? There’s no food?”
I felt bad, but I had to tell him the truth. I had forgotten his breakfast. I was amazed at how quickly he abandoned me, once he realized I was a waste of time.
I wandered off to look for other pretty things to photograph. I figured it probably wouldn’t be a bird kind of day given I was a bird feeder failure.
I had to stop and enjoy the view.
I felt lucky that the iris was in bloom and so very beautiful.
Golden iris in the morning light.
But while I was focused on the iris, my eyes glued to the viewfinder trying to get just the right composition, I heard wings again. And again I felt something largish bounce off the top of my head.
“Hey lady!! What’s for breakfast?”
The male red-bellied woodpecker was miffed that I wasn’t offering anything to eat. And he wasn’t afraid to tell me off either.
“Seriously???”
I told him I was sorry, but I didn’t bring anything. And I went back to photographing the iris.
There were the obvious yellow iris, but also these delicate, smaller, purple blooms as well.
Off to the right of me I heard a big uproar. Turns out Mrs. Red-bellied wasn’t happy either.
“Hey Mr! Get to work and bring home some bacon or this relationship is over!”
I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me for forgetting or him for being a bad provider. Either way she wasn’t getting anything to eat. He jumped to and got to work finding her something…anything!
“Now where did I store that fat ant from last fall?”
He looked everywhere.
How about some nice lichen, sweetie?
“This might be a nice change of pace from the stuff the lady usually brings.”
In between his forages for something natural to feed his demanding wife (who kept on complaining. Loudly.) he’d come back and dive bomb me for being such a disappointment. I kept looking for pretty things to photograph.
My artsy image from this walk.
He followed me almost all the way around a big loop, complaining and doing flybys. Eventually I moved out of his range and settled into a more peaceful walk.
What?? No food???!”
Of course most of the other inhabitants of the woods were equally stressed by my lack of responsibility. I promised them I would never ever forget to bring their snacks again.
“Inconceivable!”
I probably should just pack a snack bag for them and leave it in my car to be more prepared in the future.
“I would think you’d be more thoughtful, Lady!”
Feeling remorseful I headed over to the heron rookery to see what was new. I figured the herons wouldn’t be mad at me given I never feed them.
“And don’t come back here without lunch!”
But I’ll tell you all about that in the next post. I have to say a couple of my favorite images happened over there!
Penny here. Geeze people, here I am having all sorts of adventures and mom and my aunt take off camping for a couple days and get to post about it for years. Ok. For days.
This is my studious look. I think it works.
But my point is, do I get to post? No I do not. I have not been given access. Until now, when mom finally gave into my pressure. I told her I won’t sleep in her stinking tent until she posts about all the fun stuff I’ve already done this month!
We went to Katie’s park for our annual photo shoot.
I know my friends have been wondering what I’ve been up to and let me tell you I’ve been really busy! And most of what I’ve been into isn’t going to get me into trouble either! Win-win!
Mom likes a good head tilt, and I try to oblige.
First off, as most of you know, my sister Angel Katie always had a spring yellow flower photo shoot with mom. Well, she told me all about it and I demanded equal yellow flower opportunity. I’m pretty sure it’s in my contract with my folks. So mom took me over to Katie’s park one day early this month.
Mom says I did really good. I thought it took way too long.
Are we almost done, mom?
Then when my Aunt Beth was here we stopped near some other yellow flowers and mom grabbed a few pictures. By then I was an expert at being a model, so it didn’t take long at all.
I think the sun was in my eyes that day.
My Aunt Beth and mom and I also went on quite a few walks in different parks. We all had the best time with beautiful blue skies and hardly any bugs!
Aren’t I cute?
I got to show Aunt Beth several of my own personal parks and especially how well I can sit for the camera. As long as there were treats available, of course.
I look kind of small, don’t I.
She was very impressed.
And THEN, the most exciting thing! I got to go on a walk with my Aunt Beth and my Mama S and my mom and even my doggy mom Vivian and her roommate Oliva!
Mom asked them to walk up this trail to set us up for a photo.
It was amazing! Three shelties all going for a walk together. I tell you what, we caused lots of heads to turn when we all walked by!
It wasn’t easy to get the three of us lined up.
OK, so sometimes I was a little rambunctious, and Mama S had to tell me to straighten up. After all, I’m still a baby…right? Oh…what….no? Not so much?
Sometimes a girl’s just got to leap for joy.
Well, I guess I’ll start acting more adult tomorrow, but that day I had so much fun! I got to share one of my favorite parks with my three moms and my aunt!
Yep we had a great time walking together.
I’m so grateful that Mama S brought her girls along on this walk! I promised her we’d do it again soon!
That’s my mom, Vivian next to me (I’m in the center) and her bestie Olivia on the right.
And then, still in the month of May, I got to go on a play day with my friend Lance! I can’t even begin to figure out how mom and dad managed to get this much fun stuffed into one month!
Tuesday nights are band rehearsal nights. Tuesdays seem to come around so fast, especially if I haven’t practiced as much as I should.
Or at all.
This week I was moving slow and arrived later than usual for me, which still means 10 minutes before we start. Anyway, I had to park further away from the door and I was slogging my way slowly there, staring at my feet, so tired, so not wanting to be there, when I happened to glance up and see a young man, still in high school, waiting patiently for me as he held the door open.
Everything inside me smiled, and I sped up, apologizing for being slow that evening.
He just laughed and said, yea, sometimes it was hard to get off the sofa. And I agreed, but added, I’m always glad to get to play once I’m here. He grinned and agreed.
And, I suppose, that’s the way it is with a lot of things. Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated, even to do things you love. But once you start you’re always glad you did.
We’re working on Peace Dancer for our June 7th concert. Turn your volume up, then listen and enjoy.
So what does a person do while camping at Harrisville State Park once the main mission has been accomplished?
It was a dark and stormy day.
Well. If we’d had another clear night I’d have been out there on the beach getting a second good look at the Milky Way. But we weren’t that fortunate.
We went to the marina on Tuesday to look at the boats. There weren’t many there.
Monday, as we were setting up camp under blue skies, a park employee told us that Tuesday would be rainy but Wednesday was going to be nice. We figured we’d get through Tuesday and find something fun to do on Wednesday.
Tuesday looked like this most of the day.
We figured wrong.
During the day Tuesday we kept expecting it to rain, but it was just breezy and cold. The rain held off, but we expected it at any time. It was really too cold to enjoy walking on the beach.
Layers helped. Sort of.
We went to the local library to stay warm as we tried to find something to do. I googled “What is there to do in Harrisville Michigan?” Google came back with 5 things.
The clouds were cool, though.
1. Sturgeon point lighthouse. Been there, it wasn’t open but we got an amazing image.
2. Harrisville State Park. That’s where we were staying.
3. Cedarbrook Trout Farm. Well, I guess that was a possibility.
4. Bailey School. Saw it through the window, it wasn’t open.
5. Sturgeon Point State Park. Well, that’s where the lighthouse is…so…..
We spent a couple hours at the library, reading magazines and hanging out. When we headed back to camp to make dinner it began to rain.
You can always count on a library to fill a couple of hours.
So we each grabbed some snacks and our reading material and ducked into our tents.
Peanut butter on crackers…perfect snack food.
Fourteen hours later it finally stopped raining. Though I like listening to waves while I sleep I really didn’t need to listen to them for that many hours in a row.
The view from my bed.
And the kicker was that Wednesday wasn’t really any better than Tuesday had been. Windy and cold. We decided to go to the local diner for breakfast.
A warm breakfast always helps to make the day brighter.
There we asked the waitress what there was to do in Harrisville, and she mentioned a couple of stores. One was an art gallery that we had planned on visiting, another was a resale shop with supposedly cool stuff just waiting to be picked over.
Not open for the season yet.
We had hope.
We skipped, reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, down the city sidewalks. We were still cold.
But it turns out neither place was open because we were up there before Memorial Day, the official start to summer. Sigh.
We walked around the nearly empty town and then drove back to the library where I skimmed a book and she read another magazine.
A library can warm you up.
And then we decided to pack it in and go home.
Time to go, even though it wasn’t technically time to go.
We’d only made one meal at camp. We’d spent way more hours in our tents than we’d planned. It was cold and wet.
We’d accomplished my goal so we could call the trip a success, and sleeping in a real bed in a warm house looked pretty good. It only took us an hour to throw everything in the car and head home.
Sometimes you have to admit that Mother Nature won.
Of course halfway home we stopped at a roadside park and the sun came out. But that was OK, we felt good about our decision to bail on our last night at camp.
The sun came out on our way home.Made us smile.
After all, there’s always another adventure waiting in the wings. I could tell you what and where, but that would spoil the story.
Change Is Hard 