Kensington | Change Is Hard

Watching Wordless Wednesday

February 8, 2023 by dawnkinster 21 Comments

February 4, 2023
by dawnkinster 45 Comments

When I left you and the birds last I was headed to the back regions of Kensington Metropark in search of deer. It’s almost guaranteed to find one or two back there if you’re quiet. If you’re not quiet you won’t see any. But they’ll be watching you.

*This little guy was the one that got my attention by his incessant whining as I was walking through the woods.*

As I worked my way toward the back a woman coming the other way said she had seen two beautiful does in the furthest back corner of the longest loop. Since I was headed that direction anyway I smiled my thanks. I knew they wouldn’t still be there when I arrived, but I also knew there were some back there.

*This guy chimed in, so I had to stop and feed them for awhile.*

Somewhere.

On the way I had a few birds begging for treats, so I stopped and tossed them a few peanuts. I was busy doing that when a guy came up the path. He apologized for interrupting my bird photo shoot. I said no problem, there would be lots of opportunities to get more pictures.

We talked for awhile. He said there was a thicket to the right around the next corner where he often saw multiple pairs of cardinals. I thanked him and got back to work shooting my birds.

I had only seen a couple of deer far off in the woods so far, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t see many more. But a whole lot of cardinals? That would be fun!

*She was pretty far away, but I was glad to see at least one deer that morning.*

And then I rounded the corner, and saw the guy down at the end of a long slope, taking pictures with his phone of several deer that were standing around quite close to him. I stopped so as to not startle them.

*There was a group of about six does hanging out together.*

At first they were focused on him, hoping for a handout. Then they noticed me.

*She decided to smell the air to see if I was a threat.*

The guy moved on and now I was the main attraction.

*There was a buck too, but he wasn’t interested in me.*

I know they wanted something to eat, but all I had was seed for the birds. Not nearly enough to feed the herd. I moved on trying not to startle them, until I came to the thicket around another corner, quite a ways from the herd of dear, where the cardinals lived.

*She could flip one ear back to listen for things behind her, while keeping one ear and her eyes focused on me.*

There was only one that I saw that morning, but he delighted me by flying up to a sunlit branch.

I had the camera up to my eyes, trying to figure out the best shot when I heard footsteps. I thought maybe another person was coming along the trail so I pulled off a few shots of the cardinal, knowing he’d fly away.

And then I lowered the camera and glanced back to see who was coming.

*The whole herd was coming down the trail, following me.*

I guess they hadn’t given up on me. I felt even worse that I had nothing to give them. One in particular was out front. I thought he was a youngster, less wary, perhaps more hungry.

*She was asking with her eyes. I imagine some people do feed them, but I don’t think very many people walk this far back in the woods.*

I stood and watched them as they gave up on me and wandered a bit looking for something to eat.

*I’m sorry, girl. I hope you made it through this cold snap out there.*

Then I moved as swiftly as I could away, climbing a hill and making a couple turns as soon as I could to put some space between me and them. I found myself next to another thicket that had all sorts of birds, including a cardinal couple.

They were interested in me but not interested in getting too close. In fact, Ms. Cardinal took great delight in not giving me a clear shot to a great image.

*Yep, that branch across her face was deliberate on her part.*

She flitted from here to there.

*She moved and her face was showing, but now the branches covered up her beautiful body.*

Always making sure there were twigs and branches between her and me…

…while making sure she showed enough of her beautiful colors to keep me intrigued.

*She had a lot of spots to hide, but she couldn’t hide her beauty.*

She let me chase her down the trail, always keeping something between us.

*Yep, she won the game, bet she’s still smiling.*

After awhile I just gave up and went on down the trail. It was getting late and I was a long way from the car.

But there were a whole lot of birds waiting for me, so it wasn’t a fast trip back to the car.

No, they dropped out of trees and flew around my head as I walked, landing on my camera lens if I ignored them.

*Missed the bird, but I liked the image anyway.*

They were everywhere. I was surprised because usually that far back in the woods, where fewer people walk, the birds are not as eager to engage.

As I got closer to the parking lot the birds because more assertive. I emptied my pocket of seed, sharing some with a squirrel or two along the way.

*Pretty sure he knew I had seed in my pocket.*

Eventually I made it out of there, completely stripped of all treats, but with a full card of wonderful images, and great memories.

Even though I didn’t gain an audience with the Queen of the Boardwalk.

February 3, 2023
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

The birds tell it like it is

It was sunny yesterday. Cold, but sunny, and there’s no way I wanted to waste a sunny day doing laundry. Plus I figured the birds would be hungry. So I headed out to my favorite park, dressed in layers, with cleats on my boots, and a long lens on my camera.

*The heron rookery waiting patiently for spring.*

I visited the boardwalk first, to see if I could garner another audience with the queen, but though she was in the thicket, she didn’t deem me worthy. It was early, but other small birds were more than happy to jump aboard the hand for breakfast.

*This little one glowed in the morning light.*

Ms. Redbelly, however, would only eat from the railing. Though she seemed very interested in what I was doing out there on such a cold early morning.

*“If I hurry I can come back for seconds!”*

I spent entirely too much time out there trying to coax the queen in, and finally my frozen toes and fingers insisted I move on or go home. I moved on.

*“No time to lose, the queen could snatch up the rest of breakfast if I don’t move fast!”*

I specifically wanted to hike the trails at the back of the park, looking for deer. But I think I’ll let the birds tell you the story.

*“Bout time you got here, lady. We’ve been waiting.”*

*“I’ll just let everybody else know you’re finally arrived.”*

*“My private dining table is at the top of this tree.”*

*“Hey! I’m wearing my red badge, I was supposed to get preferential treatment!”*

*“Those woodpeckers think they’re all that.”*

*“Yea, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. She drops plenty of stuff for all of us.”*

*“But she didn’t leave ANYTHING in my favorite feeder!”*

*“You silly little Titmouse, you didn’t look hard enough!”*

*“I’m TELLING! You always get the good stuff!”*

*“Seriously lady, I’m very disappointed in you. And I bet you don’t see any deer either, if you don’t get going.”*

And did I see any deer? Well, these demanding birds have taken up all my time.

You’ll have to wait and see.

January 4, 2023
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

January 1, 2023
by dawnkinster 26 Comments

Poof!

While out at my favorite park trying to get shots of birds I learned a lesson.

You have to be quick. Otherwise you get a lot of this.

Not that I mind too much. This was cool too.

December 30, 2022
by dawnkinster 14 Comments

Crane watching

While I was walking the boardwalk searching for the Queen I noticed these cranes through the bushes and across the road.

What were they watching, I wondered?

*You gotta make sure you check both ways before you cross this road!*

Oh. You wouldn’t think there’d be so much traffic on a cold mid-week afternoon.

Don’t worry, no cranes (or runners) were injured in the capturing of these images.

But I wonder if these guys don’t think it’s about time to head south?

December 29, 2022
by dawnkinster 27 Comments

Queen of the Boardwalk

I was out there to meet the Queen. I’d been trying to get an audience with her for several weeks. But she’s a Royal and follows her own rules. I’m used to that.

*Anybody out there? Hey Mr. Downy, are you hungry?*

You see, almost every day I’d see, on Facebook, a photographer who calls herself the “Hand of Snacks” feeding a female cardinal along the boardwalk at my favorite park.

*Well, at least one bird wants a snack!*

Lots of birds come down to any number of hands filled with snacks at this park, but cardinals are famously shy. Quite stand-offish. So to see this female sitting in a hand regularly intrigued me. And I drove the 30+ minutes every week or so, hoping to get to meet her Majesty for myself. Oh, I’d see her – sitting in the scrub along the boardwalk. I’d offer a treat. She’d watch me. But she never showed any interest in getting to know me better. Week after week I’d leave disappointed.

*They almost always go for the peanuts first.*

This Wednesday, there she was, sitting among the twigs of a dogwood bush with her partner, the bright red Mr. Cardinal. And that morning she seemed interested in me. She moved out to the end of the branch and eyed me up and down. I stood still, gifts offered. She flew to the railing, quite a far bit away from me and eyed me some more.

Clearly I was not her Hand of Snacks. I was an imposter. But she was hungry. But I was an imposter. Could she trust me? Would she trust me? She hopped along the railing to get a closer look. She looked up at me and then down at the snacks in my hand. I stood still, barely breathing.

And then she reached out, her feet still firmly planted on the railing, she wasn’t going to actually stand on my hand, and grabbed an oiler seed, moving rapidly away from me to eat it. I stood still.

She hopped over again and helped herself to another treat, not moving so far away this time…and then she grabbed a peanut and with a slight nod to me, she flew back into the bushes to share it with her partner.

*You’re such a good Queen, taking your partner the best peanut.*

And the politely waiting chickadee hopped up onto my hand to see what she had left behind.

*She’s off to share. Mr. Chickadee is waiting in line.*

Now I can say I’ve met the Queen. And it was everything I knew it would be.

*I’m glad she left him some of the good stuff.*

December 21, 2022
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Wordless Wednesday – Holiday sharing

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.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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