Wordless Wednesday in my yard
Author Archives: dawnkinster
Of wings… or the attack of the red bellied
It’s that time of year where a walk through the woods reveals babies everywhere.
I visited my favorite park early one morning after a night of rain.
The parking lot was virtually empty, and the birds were frantic for some breakfast.
Swarms of blackbirds and starlings swirled around me. The little birds tried to get some attention too.
They lined up on the railing for a chance to get something to eat.
The rose breasted grosbeak got first dibs. Just based on beauty. Plus he was pushy.
Even the mourning dove hopped over to get a treat. I’ve never had either the grosbeak or a dove land in my hand before.
Eventually everybody got something.
And then I went on down the trail
Where I quickly ran into this family out for a morning stroll. I first noticed an adult with a teenager almost as tall. Notice the teenager’s knees.
Then the other parent emerged from the trees to complete the family.
Once I edged carefully by them, which wasn’t easy because one of the parents was keeping an evil eye on me, I found a papa red bellied woodpecker. And his son.
To be accurate, I didn’t find him. He got my attention when he dive bombed me. Repeatedly.
He wasn’t interested in coming in for a treat. He flew right at me, did a touch down on my head and landed in a tree behind me. Then he came back and hit me in the head before landing back in the tree with his young one.
He did this over and over, as I continued to duck and weave and move on down the trail.
Eventually he picked up a bit of seed that I had flung behind me as a desperate distraction and perched on a broken branch to peck it open.
And then he fed it to his youngster who had been following all the excitement eagerly.
I crept away as they were eating.
Lots of little birds came in for a snack once I was away from the attacking woodpecker.
I enjoyed their visits in the quiet woods.
It was peaceful out there, not many people wandering the trails.
And then I heard a squealing and yelling headed in my direction.
The quiet of the woods was interrupted, but I was OK with that. Kids need to spend time outside too.
So I headed out to the rookery to see if any of the teenagers were still there.
Many of them were. I guess they’re planning on staying as long as mom and dad are willing to feed them.
I witnessed one parent arriving with something good to eat. The craziness is hard to sort out in pictures. And the noise was amazing.
Personally I think it’s time the folks kick the kids out. Most of them are flying from their nests to other branches, but come back to the nest for food.
None of the commotion appeared to distract the egret, just below, from continuing his grooming. Egrets move in when the herons leave the rookery. This guy was early I guess.
And then I left the park, stopping for a moment to check on the osprey nest where the youngsters were flexing their wings too.
Another good walk in the woods.
Babies everywhere, all growing up so fast.
A conversation with Katie
Hey baby-girl, where are you?
Right here, mama, inside your heart. I’m always right here, just like I was before, only then I was mostly under your feet. Remember?
Oh yes, sweetie, I remember always being careful where I stepped, especially after you went deaf.
I wasn’t really deaf mama, I just chose not to pay attention.
I thought so, little girl. Well, now that you’re hearing again, keep track of us, OK?
I will, mama. I know you’ll always need me. And when you do, I’ll be right there. Cause we’re a team forever.
Thanks sweetie. Love you.
Love you too, mama.
Starry night 2
After our first night under the stars I went back to the hotel, arriving around 5:30 a.m. ready to get some sleep. Unfortunately most of the hotel housekeeping staff, whose laundry room was across the hall from me, were arriving as well. And don’t even talk about the family with three kids who were in the room next door.
Anyway.
I gave up on napping and drove around a little bit looking for barns. And as the afternoon wound down I went out to the lake to see what kind of sunset was going to happen.
And to people watch.
Both were fun, but I was really waiting impatiently for the skies to darken again.
My friend and I were meeting at Esch Beach at midnight where we hoped to shoot the Milky Way amongst a stand of tall, dead trees. It seemed promising.
It turns out that on a warm Friday night the beach is a busy place. Lots of people sitting next to lots of fires which lit up the trees with a bold, red glow. OK then. We’ll just consider that our light painting and work with it.
While we were shooting the trees we listened to the group of people sitting right behind us discuss what we were doing. “Are they taking pictures of the Milky Way?” “IS that the Milky Way up there or just a bunch of clouds?” “Do you think I can get it with my phone?” “Look how cool that looks on the back of their cameras!”
When we moved off, closer to the beach, to see if there were northern lights (my friend was getting alerts for the lights on her phone) over the lake they were all standing up pointing their phones to the sky.
Made me smile.
And guess what? Though we couldn’t see anything but darkness out over the water, the cameras told us otherwise. It was my first time ‘seeing’ the northern lights. I was pretty excited.
Then more carloads of people began to arrive, so we decided to drive back to Point Betsie and try to get some more Milky Way images. The night was young. The air was warm. The lake calm. No time to waste!
No one was out on the beach at Point Betsie, and I shot my favorite house in the dunes again.
Then we walked up closer to the lighthouse, for a different angle.
It was pure magic and I loved being there in the warm darkness. I took a few images and then just sat down on a piece of cement in front of the lighthouse and watched the sky and listened to the gentle waves.
We didn’t mean to stay out all night again…it just happened. And when we finally left it was hard for me to say goodbye to my lake.
Lake Michigan is special no matter the season or circumstance. The lake under the stars?
Priceless.
Stars, the first night
It’s taken me a few days to sort through the images from my two nights of photography. Looking through them I’m transported back to those warm nights again.
Before my photography friend arrived that night I spent a few minutes capturing the sky above the dunes and houses along the road. It was an image I’d had in my head since my last trip up to this area, back in May. I think it looks like an amazing painting, and I’m glad I got to go back and get it.
Once she arrived we went down to the beach to see what there was to see.
It was a very windy night. We were pushing our tripod legs deep into the sand to try to reduce camera shake. The wind was cool, but I never felt cold until we stopped shooting. The adrenalin kept me warm.
The sky was stunning. The Milky Way was so clear. And when we turned around to face north the lit lighthouse was beautiful too.
The moon and several planets were supposed to line up around 4:30 that morning, so though we were done shooting the lighthouse and the Milky Way around 3:00, we thought it would be a waste not to stay and see. It was warmer up on the road, and we stood around talking as we waited for the moon to come up.
The moonrise was stunning, but it was rising through a bank of clouds and only intermittently visible. And in the end we didn’t see them all lined up, just Jupiter and sometimes Mars, and the moon.
But even without planets we were both smiling when we finally headed to bed just as the sun was beginning to light up the world.
We knew we’d had a wonderful night under the stars, and if we were lucky we’d be out the next night too.
Stay tuned.
Not photographed
I met a friend at Kensington today. She’s a budding birder. Me? I’m just trying to get focused bird images.
The little birds weren’t particularly hungry today and not many were coming down to grab a treat. Besides, she wanted to add new birds to her life list…so we didn’t spend too much time trying to tempt the regulars.
We were wandering out to a boardwalk that bisects a wetland when we noticed a squirrel trotting down the path toward us. I was a bit concerned because it seemed to be a fast trot, and I didn’t want it running up our legs. And then I realized this was a very long squirrel. Kind of skinny too. And it had something in it’s mouth.
When it got close, just before it veered off into the weeds next to us, I realized it was a mink. I’ve never seen a mink before. I had a camera hanging around my neck. Did I get a picture? No I did not. I was too busy processing what I was seeing. A mink, with a mouse, or perhaps a vole, in it’s mouth trotted right by and I have no image to show for it.
Oh well.
We moved on down the path to the boardwalk where we began to hear at least two Common Yellowthroat birds. They were calling, quite loudly, from trees on both sides of the path. My friend was using her binoculars and I was using my camera to try to find either one of them.
I’ve never actually seen one, and I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for, so I looked for any small bird. She saw it first, and then I saw it hop from one branch to another. And then it flew right toward us and landed, for a split second, on the boardwalk just to the left of me.
I had time to register the swooping black eye patch and the bit of yellow, and then he was off, following the call of the other one behind us. Did I get a picture of this beautiful bird while it was there on the path beside me? No I did not. I was too busy processing the fact that the bird had actually landed so close.
Oh well.
We spent a long time on that boardwalk, looking for more Yellowthroats. We heard them and caught brief glimpses of them flitting among the branches. I actually have one sort of bad image, and was lucky to get that.
While we were there a blue jay landed on a limb of an oak tree above us. He watched my friend as she offered treats to a couple little birds without success. He hopped closer, tilting his head to peruse her hand. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the blue jays never come down for a treat, they all wait until you give up and move along, then they swoop down to gather from the ground whatever you’ve left behind.
As I was fiddling with the camera settings to get a picture of him above her he dropped straight down, wings folded, a little torpedo headed right for her hand. He landed on it with a plop which scattered the seed from her hand onto the boardwalk. In the midst of the chaos he grabbed a peanut and flew back up into the tree to gloat while he enjoyed his spoils.
We looked at each other stunned. So…did I get the picture? I did not. But it really happened, I can get my friend to vouch for me.
Oh well.
Eventually we headed back to our cars, happy that we had seen the mink and the Yellowthroat, and even the blue jay. And as I drove out of the parking lot I saw a sandhill crane couple with their two teenage colts. A lovely image. Did I get the picture? I did not.
There was nowhere to park and by the time I did and walked back I got one very poorly focused image of the back of one baby as they slipped off into the tall grass.
So….this post will have to fuel your imagination. Imagine walking down a wooded path on a beautiful warm breezy day. Imagine a mink running toward you and a beautiful little yellow bird flying by and a big ole blue jay figuring out how to get a contactless treat and a whole beautiful family of cranes complete with twins.
I bet, if you do all that, you’ll be grinning as much as we were, in fact you won’t be able to help yourself.
We sure couldn’t.
Starlit solace
I went on a little adventure this week, two nights spent near Lake Michigan shooting images of the Milky Way. It didn’t escape my attention that I went without my girl. Or that I went in part because it was too hard to be here without her.
And it worked. For two glorious nights I stood in silky sand with my lens pointed at the sky and I was happy.
Last night, after I was finished shooting while waiting for my photographer friend to finish her work, I sat alone in the sand, gazed up at the Big Dipper and talked to my dad, a warm breeze drying the tears on my face.
Hey Dad. I know you and Mom never met Katie but she’s up there now. Take care of her for me, will you? She might be scared to be so far away from her mama and daddy. I don’t want her to be scared, so please reassure her. And she likes her shoulders to be massaged. If you could do that for me, I’d appreciate it.
Tell her we love her, and miss her, and we’ll see her again someday.
PS: I’ll have more images to show you from the past two nights once I get them all sorted. It was pretty amazing, millions of stars crowding the sky, the Milky Way glowing.
I felt lucky to be there. Even without my girl.
Backyard fun
The squirrels have taken over. Katie would be incensed.
They do provide entertainment though.
And distraction. They all take flying leaps over to a hanging birdfeeder, then eat until they are full.
Or until one of us goes out and chases them off.
But they come right back. So mostly we just sit and watch the antics.
And then this guy showed up. I thought he was a female, one of the mama deer who are hanging around with their babies.
But I guess he’s not a her.
Sure is beautiful though.
Broken
I’ve written posts of celebration for other dogs. Friends’ dogs, dogs I loved, some I’d met, some I only knew online. Those posts flowed from my heart through my finger tips, past my tears and onto the screen as if by magic.
But this is my girl.
And the pain, so deep, is creating a fortress wall high and wide, filled with hidden devises ready to ignite without warning as memories explode and fade in my mind like 4th of July fireworks.
The words in my heart, aching to be set free by my finger tips, are trapped.
This is the time to celebrate Katie, to sit and remember all fifteen years, five months and twenty-three days of her extraordinary life. To relive the adventures, the funny head tilts, the squirrel alerts, the soft tummy tickles.
And I will do that, am trying to do that.
Just not quite yet.
Change Is Hard 