birds | Change Is Hard

December 18, 2022
by dawnkinster 26 Comments

Random, possibly Christmas-y, bits of thought

Anyway, I was reading Quaint Revival’s latest post about all the snow she’s getting over in Wisconsin, and she said it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas…which led her into thoughts about how those lyrics happened to be written and a request for someone to find out for her. Which, being a want-to-be librarian I felt compelled to do.

*I think Santa is on some sort of exercise program.*

She thought maybe the lyrics were written by Meredith Wilson in 1951 as he sat beside a pool, hopefully under warm skies. But Wikipedia says it probably was written in Yarmouth, and when I google that I can only find Yarmouth Maine, or Yarmouth British Columbia, neither of which sounds very warm, even in midsummer!

*Looking for her Christmas gift. Or a peanut, whichever’s available.*

But looking for this information did remind me that we played this very piece of holiday music at our recent concert, so I went to listen to it again. Well, actually, I went and listened to it for the first time. Music sounds very different when you’re sitting in the middle of the band than it does when sitting in the audience, and I haven’t taken time to listen to our concert until now. (I recommend listening to this with a good set of earphones…it sounds a LOT better with earbuds than just using your laptop speakers.)

*Holiday music always makes things better.*

Last Sunday I had a couple friends come for lunch and painting. Well, truthfully, they brought most of the lunch (roasted tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches) and most of their own painting supplies too. After we ate the yummy lunch we settled in to paint Christmas cards. It was so much fun to experiment together. Plus it increased my stock of cards waiting to be mailed out to unsuspecting friends and family. I should do this on a larger scale next year!

*Seems like birds infiltrate all aspects of my life.*

We have a little bit of snow, enough to make things look pretty, but not enough to interfere with driving. Not that I’m driving much. One of the benefits of retirement is not having to go out unless I want to. When it’s cold and snowing I rarely want to. And though I miss my Katie-girl soooo much, I am kind of glad to roll over in bed and go back to sleep in the dark early hours of these winter mornings.

*“I used to put up with an awful lot, mama.”*

Speaking of not traveling, we’re staying home this Christmas. We have had invites to holiday gatherings, but this year we just can’t quite make ourselves wander out. Twenty Twenty-two has been a long, hard year for us. Instead of going out this year I’ll fix some of the family mealtime favorites, and we’ll snuggle up on the couch to enjoy the quiet.

*I look forward to seeing these guys every year.*

Though it might not be entirely quiet. We’re going to have a houseguest for awhile, a little 10 year old doggie will be staying with us while his mom is visiting family out of town. We’ve practiced him being here without his mom a couple of times and I think he’s going to settle in, but he sure does love his mom.

*“Does this peanut make my head look flat?”*

I saw a movie trailer this morning for something staring Tom Hanks. There was a year, a long time ago, when my husband and I watched several movies, unusual for us, realizing later that all of them were Tom Hanks movies. You know, Castaway, Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan. This movie is called something like A Man called Otis. While I was watching the trailer something felt familiar…and then I remembered one of my favorite books, A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman, about an elderly man who’s quiet life is interrupted by a family that moves in next door. I think the movie is based on this book, and I think I really need to go see it. Maybe during the Christmas holiday week, as a gift from me to me.

I did get out to feed the birds at Kensington this morning. A lot of the photos in this post are from that visit. I didn’t look at the weather, or even the temperature before I left home when it was still dark. By the time I got to the park the wind was blowing the snow sideways. Not surprisingly no one else was around.

*“I don’t eat out of hands, lady. But if you’ve got a spare peanut I’d enjoy it.”*

I went out to the boardwalk to see if I could entice the Queen to my hand, but she wasn’t having any of it. In fact none of the birds were willing to get too close, though they were happy enough to come to the railing if I’d leave my treats and back off.

I wandered in the woods a little, to get out of the wind, and even there things were very quiet. And then I stood still and waited.

*“My turn!” “NO IT’S NOT! It’s MY turn!”*

And soon enough I heard the flutter of wings and saw, through the trees, the fast moving little bodies of hungry birds. So fun. Even though my hands were freezing and my toes were freezing I stood around out there for a long time.

*“Hey Lady! I’m waiting patiently over here!”*

I stood there just smiling and watching them, all puffed up against the cold.

*“Puffing up helps you keep warm lady, you should try it.”*

Merry Christmas to my little birds, and to all of you too. May you all enjoy this holiday season, in whatever way seems right for you this year.

And here’s hoping 2023 is amazing.

December 8, 2022
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

Cee’s Black and White photo challenge: All About Nature

Once in awhile I like to mess around with black and white images. Most of the time I look for stark images with clean lines and a big contrast between the darks and lights. Kind of ultra modern.

But I also like nature in black and white, so when I saw Cee’s challenge I went looking for something from my archives that would fit the bill. And, as you know, I have a LOT of bird images so I decided to pull this Sandhill crane from a visit just last month to my favorite bird park. It was all about the shadow when I took the image, and I think it’s the shadow that makes this a great black and white.

I hope you like it too! Thanks, Cee, for the challenge!

November 27, 2022
by dawnkinster 33 Comments

Getting outside

I’ve been able to get outside for long walks a couple of times in the past week or so. Being outside always makes me feel better.

*Patterns in ice greeted me when I arrived.*

In fact, that’s advice I give regularly to people who are feeling down or sad and wistful. Being outside just makes me smile.

*I’d heard the queen of the boardwalk was a lovely female cardinal. And she was there, but not hungry.*

I suppose that’s why mom always told us to go outside and play. Or, just possibly, it was to get us all away from her!

*Mrs. Red-bellied didn’t want to sit on my hand either, but was willing to grab a snack for later.*

Either way, we spent our childhoods romping around the neighborhoods we lived in, climbing trees and stomping through mud, riding bikes, roller skating, playing kick the can and just generally running around.

*Mrs. Red-bellied flew every peanut way over to the rookery for storage.*

I don’t roller skate anymore…haven’t kicked a can in a few decades, used to run, but don’t do that now either.

*Swans flew over but didn’t stop for a treat. I guess they had better pickings somewhere else.*

But I can still stomp around in mud and walk through the woods and look for good climbing trees, though I don’t dare actually climb these days.

*Mrs. Red-bellied races a blackbird for the treat on the boardwalk railing.*

And I can look for the birds and others who generously share their woods with me. And sometimes, though certainly not nearly all the time, I can grab an image to remember it all by.

*A nuthatch decides my seed is better than the bittersweet.*

A little over a week ago I decided, late in the morning, to go to Kensington, my favorite bird park, even though I’d arrive much later than normal and the odds were the little birds would have full bellies and not want to socialize with me.

*“I’m not really hungry, lady, but if you’re giving it away…..”*

Well, the pictures above are from that walk. The little ones were more than happy to visit with me, though the red-bellied woodpeckers and the redwing blackbirds weren’t willing to sit in my hand that day.

But they were definitely willing to grab a bite if I left it somewhere for them.

And the squirrels were very upfront about asking for something too.

And then there was this sandhill crane family. The juvenile (you can tell it’s a youngster because his/her head is still brown, not red like his folks) was transfixed by a squirrel that was up in a tree.

*Youngsters also have yellow, not red, eyes.*

The squirrel was not as excited about meeting the cranes.

“*I’ll just wait up here a bit, see if they move on down the trail.”*

It ran up and down the other side of the tree, gathering seed I’d spilled while the young crane closely watched.

*“Now, if I stay over here on this side of the tree, he won’t see me.”*

It was hysterical.

By the time I left them the squirrel had scampered away and the crane family was poking among the leaves for any leftover treats.

And just this weekend I went up to the Shiawasee Nature Preserve with a friend. We walked almost 2 miles back into the woods, wandering the dyke system and marveling at the engineering.

*It’s a totally different kind of wonderland.*

We didn’t get any close encounters with birds, but we saw plenty of bald eagles, both adult and juvenile flying high overhead.

*“I see you two down there, ladies, and I’m not getting any closer.”*

And we heard hundreds of sandhill cranes, their calls coming from all around us. When we got out into the open we saw many of them walking in the mud flats far out in the wetlands.

And dozens more were flying in, their grey feathers glinting in the afternoon sun.

*The afternoon sun made them glow as they flew in.*

It’s just as magical, in a different way, as Kensington.

*The lines of the landscape are irresistible to this photographer.*

Lucky me, to get out into places like this so regularly.

I wish you all could come!

*What kind of winter do you think we’ll have?*

But since most of you live so far away, I’m counting on you to look around your area and find some wild beautiful place and take me along with pictures and words some day. We’ll both be the better for it.

Guaranteed.

November 17, 2022
by dawnkinster 46 Comments

Surprise!

I was standing in my breakfast room, taking a picture of this red bellied woodpecker….

*A modern art image, showing off his red belly.*

….when this guy showed up. He’s a male evening grosbeak.

*The yellow eyebrows helped me identify our visitor.*

According to my Michigan bird book they aren’t supposed to be around here. They live in the northern lower peninsula and the UP of Michigan. But last winter at one of our local bird seed shops there was talk that people around here had seen them.

*Such a striking bird, he was hungry and happy that there was seed on the railing.*

I’ve only seen one, last winter, just one, and just one visit. But today our initial visitor came back later in the day along with some of his friends!

First I saw two of them on the railing. And then I realized there were three, then four males, on the railing, in the trees…

*A evening grosbeak party at the feeder!*

…and on the feeder. Plus one of the birds on the feeder was a female! (over on the left above)

It was so cool. I’m thrilled that I got to see them, and even more thrilled that I got some shots.

I’ve been smiling all day.

November 15, 2022
by dawnkinster 28 Comments

Change

Have I mentioned lately that change is hard?

My laptop went through an update. I don’t even know for sure who was doing the updating, and I certainly don’t know what was being updated.

What I am certain of is that I didn’t request the update. It just happened.

So I’m finding, in the process of working on stuff, what has changed. Mostly, it seems, it’s in how pictures are being stored.

And where.

I was feeling pretty cocky when I figured out how to find my images. It looks different, and it’s in a different place, but they’re all there. That was a relief.

But then I went to download images I took yesterday.

WHOA. That process seems to be entirely different.

I don’t know how the images are being chosen to download and even scarier, I don’t know WHERE they are being saved.

I used to be able to choose to download only the most recent images and I could pick which folder I wanted images to go into. Now there doesn’t seem to be a choice.

Since I can’t figure out where the images will go, even if I am successful in finding the download link, button or whatnot, I stopped.

*Chickadee complaining about having to drink bath water.*

I put the card back in the camera and I will do some research before I try again.

*Female cardinal wondering what all the fuss is about.*

Why do things have to be changed? Was there something wrong with the way we downloaded files before? Or is this some sort of job security for the people that design software?

Couldn’t there be some sort of warning and maybe even some instructions before they do these things?

*Bluejay calling his mates to come and get something to eat.*

And who is this ‘they’ that has such power anyway?

Darn.

*Woodpecker reflecting on why dinner is not on his feeder.* *And staring at us inside to make sure we are aware of his discontent.*

Change is hard.

(Meanwhile, enjoy some images I had already downloaded but never got around to using before today)

October 31, 2022
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

You’ve seen it all before

I had a chance visit my favorite park this week, a late afternoon decision.

You’ve seen images like this before. I’ve taken hundreds of images just like these.

But of course I took the camera.

And of course there were birds — that was the point, is almost always the point when I walk these trails.

And luckily the birds were hungry.

Very, very hungry.

And of course we had a very good time. Because, really, how could we not?

I think the birds had a good time too.

For the most part anyway.

So I’m hoping you don’t mind seeing images like this again. Because I never tire of taking them.

October 27, 2022
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

A little bit of everything

Here in Michigan you can expect a little bit of everything with October’s weather. Kind of like an everything bagel.

I know I say it every year, but this year the autumn colors were spectacular. Truly amazing.

And we had lots of sun.

And some snow.

Then more sun.

And a bit of snow. And rain.

It was warmer than normal.

And then really cold.

But the days when the sun shown and the wind died down were truly delightful.

I don’t think we can expect November to be nearly as entertaining.

Gosh, that everything bagel sounds pretty good right about now. Toasted. With cream cheese please.

October 14, 2022
by dawnkinster 27 Comments

Goodbye little buddy

Several days last week I noticed a little house finch hanging around the feeders. We have a lot of birds that hang around, but this little guy sat on the feeders, leisurely pecking at the seed, seemingly unconcerned about the comings and going of other birds.

He wasn’t concerned about me coming and going either. He never moved, though he kept an eye on me, as I was filling feeders, until I reached for the one he was occupying. Then he’d fly up to the roof, or over to another feeder to wait. I walked right by him several times, within inches, and he didn’t move. He actually flew up to land on a feeder I was carrying one afternoon.

I knew he wasn’t well, his beak didn’t seem to work right, bits of oiler hull stuck to it. His eyes seemed faded.

I looked for him every morning to see if he had survived the night. Two mornings ago he watched me fill the feeders, walking by him in the process. He wasn’t moving at all, wasn’t eating. I avoided the feeder he was resting on, so as not to make him move.

A few hours later he was dead on the deck railing. I buried him under the ninebark bush, at the base of a lily plant, with a few bright red maple leaves to mark his place.

Bye-bye little guy. I hope you enjoyed your time here with us, you sure did make me smile.

October 8, 2022
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

New feeder

I swear the birds in my yard are so spoiled.

They wait every morning, growing more impatient every hour I’m late, for their feeders to be filled.

*She was curious about me, just inside the window, but not frightened.*

Yes feeders. As in multiple.

They already had an oiler feeder, a thistle feeder, a flat feeder and an oriole and/or hummer feeder, depending on the season.

*I love capturing her fuzzy fluffy feathers.*

But I follow a bird photographer who just purchased a new feeder that seemed to be a bird favorite, so I ordered one too.

*Then Mr. Downy showed up, chasing her off. He thinks he’s special I guess.*

The birds love it. I don’t know if it’s just because it’s new, or because the bigger birds who can’t fit through my caged feeder have a new source of snacks.

Yesterday it enticed three different types of woodpeckers to spend time near our windows.

*And then Ms Red-bellied arrived, chasing Mr. Downy off the feeder.*

I hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as we did!

*And Ms. Hairy Woodpecker arrived too, with her long beak. She at least shared the feeder with the little birds.*

And go over and read Backyard Bird Nerd’s blog. You’ll love the variety of birds that she attracts to her yard!

*Hey! What about ME? I’m pretty too….but they won’t let me on the popular feeder.*

I’m looking forward to spending more time with my birds, but I’ll try to get up earlier to get those feeders filled before they go on strike and demand one treat per image taken. It’s possible Katie left them a copy of her contract and I don’t want that kind of thought process to spread.

*I’m new around here (red breasted nuthatch, I’ve never seen here before!), so I’ll just look for seeds over on the railing.*

Wordless Wednesday

October 5, 2022 by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: birds