A couple weeks ago I introduced a friend to the bird magic that is Kensington. You saw the angst with the red headed woodpecker, but there were other bird shenanigans that morning. For instance there was this grackle dad and teenager who seemed not to agree about something very important.
Soon dad will be busy with a new brood and teenager will get more freedom. But until then, from the looks of jr’s face, there are more ‘discussions’ in the wind.
I was at Kensington last week. We were lucky enough to find the red-headed woodpecker and his friends on this walk.
As usual, spring in Michigan is a mixed bag. Since we had 60 (15.5C) degree and sometimes higher temperatures in February we were owed several days or even weeks of temperatures in the 30s, (-1.11 C) sometimes lower, in March. With wind and snow to make everything feel extra special.
Still, signs of spring persist even here.
The first sounds of spring, the thing that solidifies the concept of spring for me every year, are the red-winged blackbirds. They announce their arrival loudly with a very distinctive call.
I usually hear them before I see them. But a day or so after I hear them singing over in the swamp they will have found my feeder. They come in mass and gobble up everything, much to the dismay of the smaller birds.
They’ve been around for a few weeks now and are disgusted, just as we all were, with that last snow storm.
And when I see my goldfinches start to turn yellow – well – than spring is well and truly on the way. It seems that one day they are all olive drab, and the next day the males are sprouting gold spots.
And then suddenly those show-offs are entirely, brilliant, yellow.
In fact yellow seems to be the color of spring. Between the daffodils, which are the only spring flowers we can have due to our hardy deer population…
…to the forsythia in the back yard…
…to the cowslips in the nearby woods…
…if you see an abundance of yellow around these parts you can almost guarantee spring has sprung.
Almost.
Thanks, Karma, for hosting this photo challenge! I remain hopeful that that last snow was our last snow. If you know what I mean.
I haven’t posted in ten days. It’s not that I haven’t thought about all of you. Or had things to say.
To hold my place in your memory I’ll post a lovely picture of something. Let me go look and see what I have that you might not have already seen here.
There.
I’ll be back when I have a moment.
It seems like it’s been a long time since I promised to show you the best images from my latest walk at Kensington.
While I was walking it didn’t seem like I was taking many photos. But when I go back and look there are way too many ‘best’ images.
So it will be hard to choose just a few. I so much wish you could all walk out there with me.
Though I know from experience that I do better photography when I’m walking alone. No one really wants to keep waiting for me to catch up.
I also don’t want to be those annoying people who talk so loudly while walking in the woods that they broadcast their arrival long before they’re visible.
And I have never understood those people who are racewalking through the trees. I can’t imagine they see much at all.
I have a hard enough time spotting wildlife when I’m moving along at my snail photographer pace.
Anyway, here’s a handful of images that I really enjoyed taking.
I hope you enjoy them too!
From my walk a week ago at Kensington.
At first glance I thought I had a tree filled with blue jays. But one is not like the others.
Ha. Made you look!
I went out to Kensington this morning. I haven’t been there to walk among the birds in a long time. I have loads of images to share with you. But this little sequence made me laugh.
I hope you enjoy it. too.
When I get some time I’ll look at what else I found and I’ll share the best of it with you. It was a wonderful day in the woods.
Change Is Hard 