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.
Pt. Betsie lighthouse on a warm summer night.
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.
Ok, so maybe I won’t be singing in this post, but lots of birds were vocalizing when I visited the Shiawasee National Wildlife Refuge Friday morning. (And I should thank my friend Wendy for telling me about the Merlin phone app that helped me identify so many bird songs that morning!) Want to come along? You should probably be on a screen bigger than your phone for these images. Just to get the full effect, you know.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for basking.
I got a later than normal start, as I’m usually there at sunrise and this time I didn’t arrive until hours after the sun was up. But it was still morning! So that counts for something, right?
This might be a king bird. Or something else. I thought he was very elegant.
Still, there weren’t many cars in the parking lot, which now that I think about it, was irrelevant because I planned on doing the Wildlife Drive instead of doing my usual 4 mile hike through the woods.
This juvenile bald eagle startled me, coming off of a telephone pole just as I drove by.
I was curious about what I’d see from the car on the 6 mile route through the refuge. I’ve visited in late fall and early spring, but the wildlife drive is only open from June 1 through September 30 each year, so I’ve never driven it before.
Not all the pretty things are wildlife. At least this water lily stood still for me.
I have to say there are long stretches of the road that weren’t particularly interesting to me. But when I got a good image, it was a really good image.
I watched this blue heron scratch his chin for several minutes before he took off for parts unknown.
And it was fun to see the refuge from a different perspective. I could see, way across the wetlands, parts of the trails I usually walk.
Way over there is a tree that usually has eagles sitting in it. You can get closer if you’re walking, but they always see you and fly away.
But boy, you have to be ready for anything while driving, just like when you’re walking in the woods.
Mama wood duck and her brood. Not in focus, but way too cute to leave out.
You never know when a bunch of birds will fly up over your car, or be standing silently up to their knees in water. (Do birds have knees?)
Do you see the heron out there looking for lunch?
I lost lots of great shots because I couldn’t get a fast enough focus.
Look closely and you’ll see a bunch of wood ducks startled by me driving by. Not in focus, but cool anyway.
I was particularly disappointed by not getting a great shot of the pelicans. I caught a glimpse of them too late, when I was already past the perfect spot to stop.
Not in focus, but there was a car behind me and I didn’t take the time to check my shot. Darn.
I actually drove the road twice, just to get back to the pelicans to get a better shot, but they were gone when I came around the second time. But that’s OK, I got a great shot of a sleepy blue heron on my second trip around.
“Can’t get a lick of sleep around here.”
And I spent quite a long time watching an egret stalk his (or her) lunch on my second loop too. They are so white I’ve often had a hard time getting good images of them, but this one was close enough to notice the nuances in the tail feathers.
I think something wasn’t going down easily.
I don’t know what it was eating, something too small for me to see, but there seemed to be a lot of it and the bird was chowing down.
Notice the color on his tail feathers?
Once I got through the gate at the end of the road the second time I decided to park and go walk some small part of my typical hike. It’s just over 2 miles out to the overlook, and of course 2 miles back and I didn’t want to do all that. And I’d just driven by the overlook. Twice.
The light playing on the water caught my attention.
But you know how it goes. Once you get started you’re always finding something just around the next bend in the trail that sparks your interest. Plus there was this high school (or maybe college?) group that I passed and I wanted to keep ahead of them. Just because.
Out with a park ranger learning about cool stuff.
So I ended up doing almost the entire 4 mile loop. But that’s OK, because I got to see the eagles’ nest and at least one of the adults was sitting in it. I’m guessing there are babies up there, but I couldn’t tell.
On guard.
The nest is a long way away from the trail, really too far for my lens, but you get the idea. I was thrilled it was in a dead tree. When I first saw this nest last winter I assumed that leaves would obscure the view come summer. I grinned when I turned a corner in the trail and the nest was right there. Plus the eagle, a bonus, made me smile even wider.
So, two driving loops, 12 miles, on the Wildlife Road, and a 4 mile hike through the woods. I’d say that’s a pretty good day.
The milkweed is just about ready to burst into summer.
Two days after Katie flew free we had company. My brother and sister arrived for a visit that was planned weeks before we knew Katie wouldn’t be here to greet them.
It was a good distraction, to have additional people here in the house. The days were filled with activities and meal preparation. I told stories about my girl, and cried when I needed to. It was nice to have extra people around who knew and loved her.
“I don’t suppose you have a peanut for me?“
Of course we went out to Kensington to see the birds. The heron rookery was filled with teenagers waiting for their parents to show up with food. They’ll soon be off on their own.
“Do you see the delivery guy? He said he’d be here in 20 minutes and that was an hour ago!“
And then we wandered a few of the trails looking for hungry little birds to come down for a treat.
“You know I won’t come to your hand, but I’d appreciate it if you drop a few treats for me along your way.“
We were later in the day than I generally visit, and I wasn’t sure what we’d find. Little did I know the park would be teeming with wildlife. At the beginning of our walk we came across an assertive raccoon.
“Looking for lunch, people, give up your seed and no one gets hurt.“
Another walker told us she had been fed by people (against the rules) and was now stalking guests. We tried to run her off, because there were small children present. But it was difficult to get away from her.
Finally we took a different path away from the other people and not far down that path we witnessed a great battle. We first heard the sound of a wound up sandhill crane very close.
Then we saw the action begin.
Mama stands over in the tall grass as the battle began.
We think the crane couple had a nest, or perhaps a young one, and the turkey was intent on getting too close. The crane was intent on not letting that happen.
The crane was relentless.
As we stood there, me with a camera lens that was too long because they were so close to us, the battle moved from the field to the path we stood on, and then into the woods. And back again.
“You can’t hide from me, Turkey!“
It was very loud, mostly the crane screaming at the turkey.
“Get moving out of here, you turkey!”
But the turkey was stubborn too. Each time the crane thought he had banished the turkey, and began to walk calmly back to his family, the turkey followed him, and the battle began again.
“Yep, took care of him, he won’t come back this way again.”
It got quite brutal.
“Get back, I say!”
There were the three of us and one other woman essentially trapped on the path, snapping pictures. I never took time to reset my camera settings for the low light and activity, so lots of images are out of focus.
“Take that!”
Still you get the idea of the epic battle we witnessed. It was amazing.
“Darn turkey. Can’t let your guard down a moment around here.”
When they finally settled down, we moved on.
“I’ll be back.”
Turns out even in the middle of the day there were lots of hungry littles out in the woods. Especially since we were on a less traveled path.
“Hey! Don’t forget about me!”
We had a few little birds follow us, and one larger male red-bellied that came down to visit us multiple times. That’s very unlike my typical experience where they usually act quite shy.
“HI!!! I put on my best outfit to show up for a meal! What did you bring me?”
We had a lovely walk, the weather was perfect with dappled sun deep in the woods, and a slight breeze keeping the bugs at bay.
My artsy-fartsy shot for the day.
This park never fails to entertain. When I’m feeling blue I can always count on finding a smile out among the trees.
Nature is amazing.
I hope you each have a place like this that mends your soul. I feel lucky to have mine.
Sometimes when I go north to camp it’s with the sole purpose of getting night sky images. Those trips I don’t care much about the campground, it’s just a place to nap during the day. Mostly I care if there’s a dark sky park nearby, or at least some open sky with something interesting in the foreground.
Our campsite, tucked up on a knoll, deep in the woods.
Those trips I usually spend the days sitting around at the campground reading and nibbling on snacks that aren’t good for me. When I begin to fall asleep over my book I tuck myself into my sleeping bag and take a nap.
It was spring in the woods, with the pine trees in ‘bloom.’
Sometimes that’s the best part about camping…eating, reading, napping. Repeat. I’m usually impatient for the sun to set, eager to try again for the shot I can see in my head but rarely get captured on my camera.
This trip, planned months ago, just happened to coincide with clear dark skies and no moon. So I got lucky.
I had my stove and my friend brought most of the food.
During last week’s camping adventure I had company, and a more varied agenda. We were camped in a walk-in site, we were the only people camping on our loop which was wonderful and so quiet we could hear owls at night as we sat around the campfire.
Thank goodness we were able to buy dry firewood!
OK, full disclosure. Mostly we sat around the campfire to get warm because it was stinking cold out there! Last year, on our camping trip the exact same week, we were wearing shorts. This year we were wearing long underwear, layers of sweatshirts, jackets and winter coats. I slept, the first night, wearing gloves and a hat, as well as my winter coat while in a sleeping bag and under multiple layers of blankets.
Not your typical sleeping attire.
But the next day, after a night of shivering and then squealing over the Milky Way, the sun came out and we paddled down the Platt River, almost all the way out to Lake Michigan. We got out of the river at the exact location I shot the Milky Way the night before.
Grateful for the sun while we were on the river.
That made me smile.
Lake Michigan is right on the other side of those dunes.
We had the site reserved for three nights, Monday through Wednesday, but though the second night wasn’t quite as cold as the first, I still slept in all my clothes and piled towels on top of the blankets on top of the sleeping bag.
Being cold all the time can wear a camper out.
Looks warm. Wasn’t.
Plus the weather people said it would get warmer but we were going to get rain Wednesday afternoon, and that it would rain all day Thursday, the day we were scheduled to leave.
Time to pack things up.
We decided to pack up on Wednesday morning and hightail it out of there. There’s nothing worse than packing up camp after a night of rain. Wait. In truth it’s worse to pack up camp after a full night of rain, while it continues to rain. Trust me on this.
The sun just tipping the trees above us made me want to stay….for a moment.
So we abandoned ship a day early. I think I did that almost every camping trip I took last summer, and always because of rain. Rain while camping in a small tent is not that fun after the first few hours of listening to it drum on the rainfly. Rain accompanied by wind and thunder can be pretty terrifying.
This could be another good spot to shoot the Milky Way, don’t you think?
Anyway, we chose to bail, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go back. Camping in the woods without big RVs next to you is a delight.
I stopped at Pt. Betsie on my way home, but the lilacs weren’t open yet. And the storm was coming in.
I just hope next time it’s warm enough that I can sleep without wearing my hat and parka.
On the beach waiting for the sun to set on our last night.
Some of you know that I’ve been taking an online photography course centered on getting images of the Milky Way. There are many many modules, but I’ve been stuck in the first set because I haven’t been able, for months, to get that first single image. And for me it was hard to go on to the next modules that talked about panoramas and stacked and stitched images when I couldn’t get the single image.
A friend and I had a camping trip scheduled for this week. It’s been exactly one year since we camped at this same campground, with it’s walk-in sites far from the world of mega RVs with their generators and large noisy families. Yes, carrying all your stuff down a wooded path to your site is a lot of work. But once again, just like last year, we were the only ones in that section of the campground, and it was heaven.
And, coincidently, this campground is located in a Bortle 2, a part of our state with less light pollution than where I live in a Bortle 4. AND the moon wouldn’t be up to interfere with finding the Milky Way. AND there was one night out of the three we’d be there that the weather folks said would be clear.
Win/win/win
According to my Planit app, the Milky Way would rise high enough to see it over the trees by 2 a.m. But my friend and I went out at midnight, after sitting around the fire all evening waiting for it to get dark, just to check out my chosen site, which was at a park at the mouth of the Platt River, where it empties into Lake Michigan.
An image I took of the Platt River while we were waiting for the Milky Way to show up.
It is a wonderful place to star gaze, but of course the Milky Way wasn’t putting in an appearance early, so we went back to the tent to take a nap.
I set my alarm for 2 a.m.
But when the alarm went off I didn’t want to crawl out of my warm(ish) sleeping bag. The temperature was hovering around 40F (4.44C) and everything in me wanted to stay in the tent and hunker down. But when would I ever again be in a dark location on a night that was clear?
So I crawled out of the tent and looked up. Stars, thousands of stars, were there, just hanging in the pine tree boughs above me. I scrambled down the path to the car and headed out to the river, smiling.
And as I carried my camera, already affixed to the tripod, around a building to the river I squealed. Because there it was….the illusive Milky Way, in all it’s glory.
There she is, as if she were just waiting for me to get my act together.
And suddenly I wasn’t cold anymore. Suddenly I didn’t care that it was 2 a.m. I wasn’t worried about waking up early the next morning after being up all night so we could kayak down the river ending up at this very spot.
No, all I could think about were the stars, all I could see were the stars. And in the quiet pre-dawn hours that morning I shot images and grinned, and then just stood there in awe for a very long time. Alone in the quiet I listened to gentle waves lap the shore and watched the stars move across the sky and there was no place I’d rather be.
You’ll have to image that part on your own.
From the boat launch, looking out over the Platt River and then, past the small dunes, to Lake Michigan.See the big dipper up there?
But if you ever have a moment like that you’ll know….It’s magic.
Last weekend I got to enjoy a walk in the park with my aunt. And here another weekend is approaching and I haven’t shared with you what we found.
I guess I better get cracking.
A perfect spring day spent out in the woods.
We went to Hudson Mills, a park over near Dexter Michigan, not so far from where she lives, but far enough away we don’t get there very often. It reminded me quite a lot of my favorite park, Kensington, and in fact it’s part of the same park system.
Such wonderful light falling through the new leaves.
There was a paved bike/walking path, and then lots of wooded nature trails to explore. We walked some of my aunt’s favorite trails, looking for evidence of spring, especially a particular dogwood tree she enjoys every year .
We found her dogwood in full bloom, shining in the morning light.
Luckily for us we had sunshine and slightly warm temperatures for our walk. Perfect. These are trails she knows well, and she knew just where to look for the early wildflowers too.
Spring beauty, so delicate with it’s pink stripes, was everywhere.
We walked in the dappled shade of newly leafed trees and watched the ground intently for surprises.
A trillium hides waiting to be discovered.
You could walk right past many of these wonderful bits of spring. But if you’re vigilant, you’ll see very special things.
My mom loved these jack-in-the-pulpit plants. Later in the season there will be red berries too.
It was so much fun when one or the other of us found something special and explained “Look!”
Wild geranium added color.
There was something to see no matter where we looked.
Tiny, deep purple, violets made us smile.
You could spend hours wandering these nature trails any time of the year and see beautiful things.
Purple is such a great color for spring!
We had such a good time walking in the woods together.
Walking just for the sheer joy of being out there.
And when we headed back to the car, we ran into a goose family with one little one trying to be grown up before he or she was old enough to care.
I went for a walk at one of my favorite parks a couple days ago. It wasn’t a pretty day but at least it wasn’t raining. Or snowing.
Between winter and spring.
I went because I hadn’t been in awhile and because I was feeling sad about a friend of mine who is going through some tough stuff.
A place to rest and contemplate.
When I got to the park there was a warning at the gate about a prescribed burn. That’s when parts of the land are deliberately burned to ward off weeds and nonnative plants.
A scorched earth walk.
Much of the nature trail area was black, which accentuated the hills that I’m always trying to photograph. For that reason alone I didn’t mind walking along the scorched earth, or the smell that can sometimes be overwhelming.
Overlooking his park, wondering what happened.
As I walked I stopped often to take pictures. No surprise. It took me forever to walk the four miles, but it didn’t feel like forever.
Back in the woods spring is taking hold.
It felt wonderful. Spring is arriving, though slowly. Tiny wildflowers are popping up. More will follow.
So tiny you might miss the evidence of spring right under your feet.
I thought about my friend and hope he is able to come on a walk with me soon. He’d find hope in the woods, even the burned parts.
Sometimes it’s hard to let go.
Of course yesterday, listening to the Supreme Court news, I felt sadness overtaking me again. The world seems to be a darker shade of burned right now.
Nothing but darkness.
I’m trying to remember that deep in the woods hope is poking up from under last years debris.
Change Is Hard 