Tag Archives: Michigan
Kids today
By way of spreading joy
A week ago today I took three people to Kensington to feed the birds. They had never done that before but they’d heard about it and wanted to have the experience.
They had to drive almost 2 hours but they thought it was worth it. I do too. Though we arrived early in the morning, when the birds are most likely to be hungry, we weren’t inundated with begging feathered ones. But we had our fair share.
Mostly it was the woodpeckers, in different varieties that were interested in us. Though an occasional red-winged blackbird stopped by.
And the bluejays were always nearby.
In fact this visit turned into a ‘toss a peanut’ experience. The red-bellied and the red-headed woodpeckers and of course the bluejays are all very talented at plucking a tossed peanut out of the sky.
We spent much of our walk through the woods tossing peanuts into the air where they were eagerly snatched by a winged one.
And of course we walked out onto the boardwalk to check on the blue heron rookery.
The heron babies are now teenagers, testing their wings and making a great deal of noise whenever an adult ventures by. Just in case there might be breakfast arriving.
All in all, though we weren’t swarmed by birds I think everybody had a great time and I hope they come back for another adventure!
Looking for the lights
Last week a storm on the sun was predicted to send some major northern lights our way. A storm big enough to be seen even down here in southeast Michigan. But since there’s so much light down here, what with cities and towns all over, a friend and I decided we’d drive the three hours up to the tip of Michigan’s thumb and try our luck.
When we arrived there was a kind of mist hanging over the lake. It was several hours until sunset, but we didn’t mind hanging out on the beach and waiting.
Or photograph the swans hanging out just up the beach.
But finally the sun began to set and we became hopeful.
Maybe the night would be the night we’d dreamed of. We were ready.
As the sky darkened we could see two planets, Venus and Jupiter. They were the perfect “stars” to practice our camera focus as we waited for the light show to start.
We waited. We noticed clouds in a bank along the horizon and some in the sky. But aurora would look spectacular among the clouds. So we waited some more and practiced focusing on more stars.
As time passed the bank of clouds rolled across the lake toward us and we had to change our focus and practice on the stars directly above us where the sky was still clear.
But by midnight the sky was completely clouded over and the light storm hadn’t yet hit earth. We decided to pack it up and head home. No amazing aurora. No milky way.
Were we disappointed? Or course. But we had hours on the beach, little waves rolling up on the sand, and stars overhead. Sometimes you don’t get what you want, but you always get what you need when you head out into the night to photograph the sky.
Guaranteed.
A turtle a day
Apparently it’s turtle season around here. That time of year when the females leave their ponds and swamps and wander out into our yards, roads and gardens to find the perfect place to lay a few eggs.
Yesterday late afternoon I backed out of my driveway, watching behind me via the car’s rear camera. When I got to the road I paused and glanced up, looking back toward the house. What was that pile of brownish green stuff up there at the edge of the driveway?
A big ole mama snapping turtle, that’s what it was. I (and she) was lucky she wasn’t in the middle of the driveway because I don’t know that I would have seen her. She’s around every spring, and I should know to look around before I take off these days.
This late afternoon the ring camera doorbell chimed. That sound is supposed to tell us there’s someone at the front door. Out here in the country it can mean all sorts of other things, like cats, raccoons, possums, and even a neighborhood dog. Today when the chimes rang I checked out front and at first didn’t see anything. But Penny was insistent that something was out there, mom!
Husband checked his phone where the doorbell reports, and found the notice “a tortoise is crossing the yard.” And there she was, up along the side of the porch.
She’s a Blanding’s turtle, and she and others like her are endangered around here. I was glad she was in our garden, and after taking her picture, I tiptoed away.
But of course Pen wants to go outside, and I can’t let her go out the front until the turtle has moved along. Last time I checked she was on our front step.
I don’t know where she plans to go next.
Meanwhile Pen and I will stay inside – she’s abandoned me because obviously I am incompetent – and has retreated to her daddy’s lap.
I guess going outside is not as high a priority as I thought.
Backyard beech tree birds
Hey!
Penny here. Guess what? Guess what, guess what, guess what?!!!
Mom accidentally found out that today is LUCKY PENNY DAY!
Wow! An entire day where the whole country celebrates ME!
Personally I always knew I was special but mom tried to keep the lid on it so to speak, so I didn’t get a big head. But she can’t hide my greatness anymore…why, there’s a day just for ME!
Oh. Wait. They’re talking about real pennies? The kind you find in parking lots? The kind they don’t even make anymore?
What the heck people!
I say we start a letter writing campaign to get me nominated to be the official LUCKY PENNY.
Geeze.
Talk later,
Your Lucky Penny (officially named Simply Unstoppable Pretty Penny, but I know I’m lucky too)
Because you can’t have too many birds
A week ago I had the chance to go to Kensington, one of my favorite places in the world. It was a beautiful, sunny day.
The birds weren’t crazy hungry and we weren’t overrun by little ones, but we had our fair share of visitors demanding a treat.
My sister and I had been there before, a few years ago and she was used to having birds fly down to her hand, but it was still magical. It always is.
Her friend had never been there before so this was a new experience. He figured out that he could toss a peanut up in the air and the red bellied woodpeckers and the blue jays would both fly out from the trees and catch that peanut in the air.
They were successful grabbing the nut about 99% of the time.
He also got an up close and personal viewing of several sandhill cranes. We didn’t feed them, but they were hopeful and followed us around on the trail.
The heron rookery was full of expectant parents. Though I’m sure there are eggs or maybe even youngsters up in those big nests we couldn’t see any yet.
Ms. Swan built her nest very near the boardwalk this year. I’m sure every photographer has a great image of mom waiting patiently on her nest. By this week there could be babies and the usual paparazzi shooting baby pictures.
I doubt I’ll get out there again soon, but I sure enjoyed my spring walk with family through such a beautiful place. I hope you enjoyed these images too.
Wordless Wednesday
The orioles are back!
Historically the orioles (bright orange migrating birds) come back to my feeder from their winters in South America about (and almost always ON) May 5th.
This year people were reporting them returning to their yards in lower Michigan at the end of April. So I put my oriole feeder out then. And then I waited. Every day I thought “this will be the day.”
And suddenly it was. My first sighting was May 1st and I was very excited. He was extra hungry and between him and the house finches I started going through a lot of jelly. Of course I didn’t mind at all.
Today I figured out there are actually two males. And possibly two females now. Though today I saw a picture online by a bird photographer who does a lot of educating with her images. She said her photograph was probably a young male, perhaps last years youngster. She said they look like females but have more black on them, like a male.
So now I’m considering that the two ‘females’ I’ve had might just be last year baby boys. That would make sense, as the males always arrive first.
Either way the four of them have been at the feeder all day, every day since at least the 5th. AND I also get hummingbirds the next day (the 6th) of May, and a rose breasted gross beak!
The hummers and the gross beak arrived a day late, but I was just as happy to see them.
I don’t have an image of the male hummingbird yet, he’s very skittish. But the gross beak has always been something of a photo hog. He’s not skittish at all, as long as you move slowly. And your dog doesn’t bark.
The same day that the gross beak and the hummer arrived I saw a catbird, also a migrating bird that isn’t here in the winter.
And across the street in the pond was an egret. Though my pictures of that bird are just bad. I always have trouble with the bright white of egrets. I know I’ll have more opportunities so I’ll wait until I get a better image before I share.
BUT, I have to say that the 5th and 6th were very big bird days in and around my yard!
All the photos here were taken through a window, working through reflections and grime. But I didn’t care, I was just thrilled to see them all.
