Zero Degrees

November 2025

When the morning forecast says “sunny and calm,” I can’t get out the door fast enough to take pictures. ‘Sunny and calm’ means good reflection shots of birds on water. When the morning forecast also says “snow,” it feels like I’ve won the lottery! Even if the temperature drops to zero, I’m out the door! Zero degrees just means more layers!

When layering up for cold weather, my husband Mel, who has hiked the Appalachian trail many, many times, through all kinds of weather, occasionally warns me that “cotton kills.” The first layer of clothing should never be cotton! If you sweat, it won’t evaporate. If you stay wet, you’ll stay cold. You can even die —well, not when you’re out taking pictures and your car is a stone’s throw away, but certainly if you’re a hundred miles from help and hypothermia sets in! I don’t ever worry about hypothermia when I’m out taking pictures, but I do worry about being so cold I have to come home before I’m ready.

**Black-capped Chickadee** *November 2020*

So, my first winter layer is always synthetic. After that, I throw on various layers of wool blends, more synthetics, and maybe fleece. If I think my feet will freeze, I wear toasty warm, re-chargeable socks that came as a gift from a very kind friend. On top of all those layers, I wear windproof or waterproof pants and a warm coat.

Even with all those layers and a good pair of gloves, it has taken me years to figure out how to keep my hands warm and still operate the buttons on my camera. Eventually, I found a lightweight pair of down mittens which are thin enough to feel the buttons but warm enough to keep my fingers from freezing—sort of. I still put rechargeable hand warmers in each of my pockets to make sure.

Then there’s my head, neck, and feet to worry about. I start with a neck-warmer and sometimes a scarf; followed by a cozy warm hat, and sometimes the hood of my coat. Just before going out the door, I put on my hiking boots as well as a pair of waterproof over-boots if the snow is deep or it’s exceptionally cold.

It took me a long time to work out this multi-layer system where I can stay reasonably warm—and still move!

It isn’t quite zero degrees yet, but it will be at some point. On November 8th of this year, we had our first snowfall. A few days later, it was 50 degrees. This coming week, a snowstorm is expected. Such are the vagaries of a Michigan winter and the challenges of dressing for the occasion!

**White-throated Sparrow** *November 2023*

**Red-bellied Woodpecker** *January 2022*

As much as I enjoy capturing a pretty picture of a bird in the snow, I am not a big fan of winter nor am I a glutton for punishment. I don’t like all the dreary, overcast days and the loss of color, I don’t like the freezing cold temperatures, and the lack of butterflies, dragonflies, or frogs. And I absolutely hate wearing all those stupid layers of clothes just to go outside!

That said, I do love the challenge of taking pictures in the wintertime. I love how it feels to be dressed in all those layers on a really cold day with giant snowflakes stuck to my eyelashes and feeling invincible! I love being outdoors hoping for the best picture ever, then coming home after a long winter walk to stand in front of the fire and soak up its warmth.

Most of all, at age 78, I love that I still can!

Sometimes a Sparrow

September 9, 2025

I always enjoy finding house sparrows! And I love hearing their cheerful voices as they sing outside my kitchen window during the cold winter months. They are a pleasant reminder that there is joy to be found even on the dreariest of days. House sparrows, however, are not everyone’s favorite bird!

Some people dislike them because they are an invasive species—but they didn’t come here on their own! Nicholas Pike, the director of the Brooklyn Institute, imported the first eight pairs of house sparrows from Liverpool, England in 1850 to control insect pests like the linden moth caterpillars that were damaging trees on the East Coast. Pike only released 16 birds but within 30 years those sparrows, as well as others that were released across the country, turned into thousands of birds and became a serious agricultural problem and a significant threat to our native birds.

House Sparrows are known for taking over the nest boxes of native birds, evicting the birds who have already established nests in those boxes, destroying the existing eggs, killing the nestlings, and even killing the females who are incubating the eggs! They are not America’s favorite bird!

I like to keep in mind, though, that it wasn’t their idea to come here in the first place and, in spite of their ‘shortcomings’, house sparrows play a very beneficial role in our environment by controlling a wide variety of pests including caterpillars, aphids, moths, and ants. They also eat mollusks, crustaceans, earthworms, lizards, frogs, berries, fruits, nuts, and our discarded scraps of food! Let’s hear it for the house sparrows!!

House sparrows are also an excellent model organism for many avian biological studies. They are abundant, easy to raise, and generally don’t fear humans. Because these little birds are so adaptable and easy to study, there have been at least 5,000 scientific papers published over the years using them as the study species!

I love the house sparrows for their chattiness and their social skills! They often gather in big groups and fill the trees with their cheerful song, a series of ‘cheeps,’ made mostly by the males, and repeated incessantly during much of the year to announce that they possess a nest and they want to attract a female. When dozens of these little birds are singing happily together, it’s music to my ears.

When I hear house sparrows singing, I stop to listen and, if they’re not preening and fussing too much, take a few pictures. I don’t think many photographers have any interest in these birds, however. House sparrows lack the ‘pizazz’ of their more colorful cousins, like the bright red Northern cardinals, the stunningly blue indigo buntings, or the very, very orange Baltimore orioles! I love a colorful bird as much as the next person, but sometimes a sparrow is all I need!

There have been so many times when I’ve stopped to take pictures of sparrows and ended up with so much more than I expected! The sparrows draw me in with all their chattiness, but the other birds, the more solitary ones, are often hiding nearby. Some birds, like the kingfishers, just stop by for a quick hello and disappear!

It happened again the other day! I was waiting to photograph a sparrow, in a tree full of sparrows, when an elusive belted kingfisher landed on a limb right above me! I only got one shot and he was gone! In the nearby trees, I saw the leaves rustling. There were three small warblers flitting about quietly; a Nashville, a Cape May, and a Yellow warbler. Warblers rarely sit still like the sparrows, but I still managed get a few pictures.

If it hadn’t been for the chatty little sparrows, I never would have stopped for a picture. I never would have seen the warblers, or the kingfisher, or the beautiful wood duck that silently emerged from reeds in a nearby pond while I was still watching the sparrows!

Sometimes a sparrow is all I need get the ball rolling!

Chasing Butterflies

August 22, 2025

On a warm, sunny afternoon in early April, when it felt like spring might be settling in for good, I went looking for Mourning Cloak butterflies. This butterfly has dark, reddish-brown wings with a lacy-looking yellow edge that reminded someone long ago of the traditional garments worn by people in mourning and they dubbed it a ‘Mourning Cloak’ In Britain, however, they call it a Camberwell Beauty, a name that originated from its discovery in Camberwell, South London in 1748.

**Mourning Cloak butterfly Portman Preserve April 12, 2025**

I spotted my very first “winter” Mourning Cloak a few years ago in late March while there was still snow on the ground! The temperature had climbed to a balmy 65-degrees, but I still didn’t expect to see a butterfly floating languidly over a pile of snow! It seemed so incongruous! Prior to that day in March, I had no idea that some butterflies, like the Mourning Cloak, overwintered as adults!

**Mourning Cloak butterfly three years earlier on the same date and the same location (April 12, 2022 Portman Preserve, Mattawan, Michigan)**

Butterflies that overwinter as adults tuck themselves away in tree cavities, leaf litter, cracks in rocks, loose bark, and the crevices of unheated buildings in order to survive. When they emerge on a warm spring-like day, they feed on tree sap, particularly from oak and maple trees, to regain their strength. If the cold temperatures resume, which they inevitably do, overwintering adult butterflies head back to their hiding places and wait for warmer weather.

**‘Summer’ Mourning Cloak July 9, 2023**

Butterflies that don’t overwinter as adults spend the winter as a chrysalis, a caterpillar, or an egg. Other butterflies, like the monarch, migrate south to find more hospitable accommodations.

When I ventured out in early April looking for a Mourning Cloak butterfly, I was pleasantly surprised to find several of them darting about! I also found a few Eastern Commas, and one tiny Spring Azure butterfly! Spring Azures don’t overwinter as adults like the Mourning Cloaks and the Eastern Commas, but spend the cold winter months as a chrysalis. In late winter or early spring, they emerge as adults, find a mate, lay eggs, and die within just a few days!

**Eastern Comma butterfly April 12, 2025**

**A tiny Spring Azure on April 12, 2025**

After finding these three different butterflies so early in the season, I was hopeful that I would find even more varieties during the month of May. I went to several different nature preserves over the course of that month and managed to find even more butterflies than I did in April, but most of them were very, very small and not particularly colorful. I LOVE finding the bigger, flashier butterflies like the monarchs, fritillaries, and swallowtails, especially when they land on the bright orange butterfly weed, pink swamp milkweed, lavender bee balm, yellow salsify, or the beautiful magenta-colored ironweed. The combination makes for some stunning pictures.

The collection of butterflies I ended up with in May included a Hobomok Skipper, Little Wood Satyr, Pepper and Salt Skipper, Silver Spotted Skipper, Zabulon Skipper, a Wild Indigo Dusky Wing, Red-spotted Admiral, Viceroy, Eastern Comma, and several Pearl Crescents.

In June, I saw my first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and my first Spangled Fritillary of the season, plus two small butterflies that were different from the ones I had seen in May: a tiny Eastern-tailed Blue, and a little Essex Skipper. Both have wingspans of about an inch!

**Silver-spotted Skipper on Bee Balm June 29, 2025**

July was my very best month for chasing butterflies! There were enough swallowtails, fritillaries, monarchs, viceroys, and red-spotted admirals to keep me happy, and there were a few I hadn’t yet seen during May and June: an American Lady, an Appalachian Brown, a Coral Hairstreak, a Little Glassy Wing Skipper, a Northern Broken Dash, a Northern Pearly Eye, a Tawny Emperor, and an Orange Sulphur. Whew!

**Coral Hairstreak butterfly on Butterfly Weed**

**Little Glassywing Skipper on Bee Balm**

**Northern Broken Dash butterfly on Bee Balm**

August didn’t bring me any new butterflies, but I continued to enjoy the butterflies I had already seen as they fluttered delicately through the various fields of fading summer flowers that I like to visit.

**Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Bull Thistle**

**Eastern Giant Swallowtail on Purple Coneflower**

**Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Ironweed**

**Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, black morph**, **on Bee Balm**

**Great Spangled Fritillary on Butterfly Weed**

If you want to help overwintering insects like Mourning Cloaks and Eastern Commas, you can start by not cleaning up your yard too early in the spring! Leave all that leaf litter beneath your trees and in your gardens. It’s likely to contain overwintering caterpillars, eggs, or adult butterflies. You can also set up a fruit feeding station in the spring with overripe bananas, cantaloupe, or rotting fruit that will provide sustenance for the mourning cloaks and other butterflies that have been overwintering.

To continue enjoying these wonderful butterflies as well as other creatures, we all need to assume responsibility for maintaining as many natural areas as we can, including our own backyards, and refrain from the widespread use of insecticides!

**Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Meadow Salsify**

Habitat loss and the use of insecticides are killing the creatures we love—not just the ones we don’t love!

What saves them, saves us.

Troubled Times

June 23, 2025

With all of the terrifying actions of this current administration, my picture walks have become more and more imperative to my mental health. When I’m out taking pictures, I am lost in my own world, focused on those fleeting moments of beauty and joy that, at least for a few hours, give me the illusion of a better world—but even that can be a struggle.

Yesterday, I left the house by 7:00 a.m., before the oppressive heat of the day was expected to settle in, and went for a picture walk hoping to find monarchs, viceroys, or swallowtails flitting about in the fields or perched on newly emerged flowers. They were nowhere to be found!

You don’t have to look hard or long to find proof that we are at a crisis point regarding our butterfly populations.

“A new study published today in Science has found that populations of butterflies across the United States are declining. In addition to dramatic declines for individual species, the study concluded that total abundance of butterflies has declined by 22% from 2000 to 2020. That means that for every five butterflies seen 20 years ago, now there are only four.”

This is both disturbing and alarming. Sadly, the reasons for their decline are all too familiar: habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use. Almost every creature I love to photograph faces these same challenges. We are stewards of this earth and bear the responsibility for those losses; either through the people we elect, the poisons we use in our own yards, or the habitats we desecrate. It’s on us.

**This Blanding’s Turtle is just one of many creatures whose numbers are in decline due to habitat loss**

On a happier note, my early morning walk was filled with a multitude of much smaller butterflies than the monarchs or the swallowtails– mostly little essex skippers and the slightly larger silver-spotted skippers. I was also delighted to find a large contingent of dragonflies– eight different types to be exact, and one damselfly!

**A tiny Essex Skipper butterfly on Meadow Hawkweed**

**Silver-spotted Skipper on a small Oxeye Daisy**

**Small White butterfly** **on a tiny bit of clover**

The previous day, I had gone on an early evening walk, also trying to avoid the heat of the day and hoping to capitalize on the soft, warm light of the setting sun. Apart from the mosquitoes, early evening is a perfect time of day for nature shots! Everything seems quieter, more relaxed– even the colors quiet down! And there are creatures I rarely see, like sandhill cranes, skittish bunnies, and industrious little muskrats.

**One of two Sandhill Cranes foraging in the early evening light**

**Eastern Cottontail that hadn’t yet noticed me**

**Mama Wood Duck and her eight obedient offspring**

Sometimes, when the whole day stretches before me with no appointments or obligations, I pack myself a snack and go on a ‘field trip!’ Luckily for me, there are at least a half dozen nature preserves within an hour’s drive of where we live and I rotate through them on a regular basis. It’s always fun to go someplace ‘new’ even if I’ve been there before!

**Male Red-winged Blackbird with a damselfly snack**

In the long run, it doesn’t really matter where I take pictures, or what time of day I go, or even if I don’t find something out of the ordinary; it’s the walk itself that’s kept me sane throughout these troubled times, and the connections that have been forged as a result.

Waiting for Wood Ducks

May 5, 2025

I was standing in muck along the edge of a small marsh, knee deep in tick-laden reeds, hoping the Wood Ducks I had heard earlier would return. It was a chilly spring morning and I had underestimated how cold I might get just standing still. Sometimes, though, the sun would peek through the clouds, giving me a brief illusion of warmth, but the cold breeze still cut through me. I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head, tried not to worry about ticks that might be crawling up my legs, stuffed my hands deep into my pockets, and waited for the Wood Ducks to return.

The marsh was alive with the sound of birds, most noticeable among them were the Red-winged Blackbirds. By belting out their familiar song over and over again, the males were working hard to woo the nearby females. The song of the Red-winged Blackbird is the quintessential sound of spring here in Michigan.

The quiet, less noticeable females were hanging out in the reeds, skulking through the vegetation for food and gathering materials to weave together into their intricate nests.

**Female Red-winged Blackbird with nesting materials in her beak**

A smaller, even less noticeable bird was also flitting among the reeds across from where I was standing. With its subtle coloring of brown, gray, buff, and black, this little bird was well-camouflaged and hard for me to see along the edge of the swamp. I recognized it, though, partly because of its distinctive markings, but mostly from its location. It was a Swamp Sparrow!

While I was watching the little Swamp Sparrow flitting around the marsh, a splash of yellow caught my eye. A tiny bird kept flitting among the reeds so quickly that I had a very hard time bringing it into focus for a picture. The bird in question turned out to be a Common Yellowthroat. Its bright yellow feathers and broad black mask make it one of the most easily recognizable warblers—if you can get it to sit still long enough!

Higher up in the tangle of branches was a barely visible olive gray bird with a white breast. I had no idea what it was so I kept taking pictures, hoping one would be good enough to identify later using one of my birding apps. This one turned out to be a Least Flycatcher.

At this point, it was well past an hour into my vigil, and still no Wood Ducks!

In the distance, I could see a lone Kingbird perched on a reed. With its dark gray back, white chest, and neat white tip on the tail, the Eastern Kingbird looks like it’s wearing a business suit—and this bird is ALL business when it feels threatened! It will readily attack any birds that enter its territory, even if they are much bigger! It’s called a Kingbird for a reason!

About the same time that I spotted the Kingbird, a Great Blue Heron flew overhead!

When I turned my attention back to the marsh in front of me, I saw a pair of Common Grackles perched in another tree not far from the Kingbird. Grackles are stunning birds to observe especially when the sun highlights the iridescent blue feathers on their head. Unfortunately, Grackles are also the number one threat to corn crops. They eat ripening corn as well as corn sprouts, and their habit of foraging in big flocks means they make a multimillion-dollar impact on corn producers.

Another colorful bird that was flitting among the tangled branches and tall reeds was the Palm Warbler. It’s a relatively easy warbler to identify, with its rusty-colored cap, yellow eyebrows, and yellow belly with rusty streaks. These cheerful little birds are migrating through Michigan right now and I love finding them!

I’d been waiting in the muck now for almost two hours and I wasn’t even sure the Wood Ducks would be back before I had to leave. But I had a little more time so I continued to entertain myself watching all the birds going about their daily lives right in front of me mostly oblivious to my presence. At that point, I’d gotten pictures of thirteen of those birds, including a few American Robins, at least one American Redstart, a mewing Catbird, and a few bright yellow American Goldfinches.

Suddenly there was the sound of splashing off to my left! The Wood Ducks were back!! I quickly turned my camera in their direction, hoping my settings were all correct and zoomed in. There were two males and one female and they were already swimming away from me headed for the shelter of the reeds. It wouldn’t be long before they disappeared from view so I started snapping pictures as fast as I could, hoping for one or two good shots. These are such beautiful birds, particularly the males, with their iridescent colors of blue, green, chestnut, and purple; and their contrasting patterns of white around their neck, head and flanks. It would be so disappointing to miss a shot after all this time!

Not only did I have the right settings, the Wood Ducks stayed longer than expected for the photo shoot—AND I never got any ticks! It doesn’t get much better than that!

Driving into Spring

February 12, 2025

When I was a child, I thought winter was everywhere; that everybody had snow and ice and gloomy, overcast days. I didn’t know that you could get in your car and drive for a thousand miles and spring would magically appear! It wasn’t until I retired that I fully appreciated the phenomena of packing up your bags and driving into spring!

**My granddaughter, Emmy, enjoying winter like I once did**

It’s not that I disliked winter as a child, I just didn’t know anything different. It’s not that I dislike winter as an adult. I love a sunny 30 degree day, with five or six inches of pristine snow, and a wide variety of birds to photograph right outside my back door. What I don’t like are the endless days of gray skies and slushy snow with the repeated bouts of freezing rain. It isn’t pretty, and it isn’t fun.

So, several years ago, my husband and I decided to spend a few of those gloomy months away from Michigan and rent a house in Florida, choosing a different city each year: Del Ray Beach, Venice, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Panama City Beach, and Port Charlotte.

**A beautiful Florida Limpkin in the Red Bug Slough near Sarasota, Florida**

***A Great Blue Heron in the late afternoon Florida sun***

***Red-breasted Merganser near St. Petersburg, Florida***

For most of those years, our long drive into spring included two hapless dogs, Brandy and Corky; the four of us all crammed together in a small Toyota Prius for a 10 week stay in the sunshine state. The two dogs with their two cages, and all the other paraphernalia that dogs need, took up the entire back seat of our car! They barely had room to move. Sadly, both dogs are now gone but, somehow, we haven’t found any additional space in the car!

***The ‘hapless’ dogs stuffed into our back seat***

We were in Port Charlotte in March of 2020 when news of the pandemic started to spread. It was a frightening time and we didn’t know what to do. As older adults, we were considered particularly vulnerable. What if one of us became seriously ill? What if we both became incapacitated? Who would take care of the dogs? Who would take care of us? Should we finish out our rental agreement or head home where we could be close to family and friends? Ultimately, we stayed in Florida, but we kept to ourselves.

***A very colorful Painted Bunting at the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples, Florida***

***Purple Gallinule in Ollie’s Pond, Port Charlotte, Florida***

**Tri-colored Heron**, **St. Augustine, Florida**

We wore the masks that our niece, Holly, had made for us, and avoided mingling with other people unless we had to buy groceries. Back then, we even wiped down all the boxes, bags, and cans that came into our house. We just didn’t know what we were up against. Our life-saving vaccines were still months away. Fortunately, Mel and I could still continue our solitary pursuits of walking, picture taking, and fishing. They were our lifelines.

***Barred Owl, Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland, Florida***

***Sandhill Crane and offspring on the campus of the State College of Florida near Venice***

***Reddish Egret, St. Petersburg, Florida***

When it was time to head home, we never stopped– except for gas and a few bathroom breaks. For more than twenty hours, we took turns driving, sleeping, and snacking. And for the next two years, while the pandemic raged on, we stayed home. We stayed home the following year as well because Brandy, our last remaining dog, was becoming more and more debilitated.

***A Willet along the shore near St. Petersburg, Florida***

**A lovely pink Roseate Spoonbill** **in Ollie’s Pond, Port Charlotte, Florida**

Last year was our first time back to Florida after the pandemic, and we returned again this year. It’s wonderful to see the sun every day, and to soak up its warmth; to not have to wear masks or avoid other people, and to not have to wear seventeen layers of protective clothing just to go outside for a picture walk! I know I’ll be missing all sorts of beautiful, snow-covered birds back in Michigan but…

I think I’ll manage!

**White Pelicans in Ollie’s Pond, Port Charlotte, Florida**

Finding Refuge

November 7, 2024

Yesterday, in a state of post-election grief, I went to the woods to find comfort, solace, and healing—as well as pictures! It’s my happy place, a place of refuge in both good times and bad.

**One of the inviting trails at Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan**

But yesterday it wasn’t just any woods, it was the Kensington woods in Milford, Michigan, where the songbirds are acclimated to people and expectantly perch in the trees along the trail hoping you will extend your arm and present them with a handful of birdseed. I knew the assignment and had come prepared. My pockets were bulging with sunflower seeds, raw peanuts, and dried mealworms—plus a red Tootsie Pop from one of the grandkids in case I got hungry. The tootsie pop, however, was not in the same pocket as the bird food!

**Tufted Titmouse– one of many small birds willing to take food from my hand**

Every time I stopped to take a picture, the songbirds would start flitting nearby expecting to be fed. At one of those stops, a chickadee landed on the far end of my telephoto lens and stared back at me waiting for his handout! (Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture!)

**One of the beautiful little Black-capped Chickadees waiting to be fed**

It was impossible for me to resist and I always reached into my pocket for more seeds. In order to get a picture or a video of the birds in my hand, though, I had to sling my ‘real’ camera, with its long 600mm lens and attached monopod over my shoulder, and pull out my cell phone. While I stood there with one hand outstretched with seed and the other trying to take a picture, I felt the occasional bounce of a little chickadee or a tufted titmouse landing on my monopod that was extended behind me like some sort of backwards fishing pole. I had to smile, knowing they were there waiting for me to feed them and trusting that I wouldn’t cause any harm.

**Female Red-winged Blackbird waiting for a handout**

As I stood there feeding the ‘littles’ (chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches), two very tall sandhill cranes came sauntering down the trail in my direction. They were in no apparent hurry, and probably knew that I wasn’t either. I expect they knew that a handout was a possibility, just like it was for the ‘littles’. It’s not particularly advisable to feed them, however, or the chipmunks for that matter. They can get a little too pushy if you don’t hand over the goods! For better or worse, virtually all the critters at Kensington know that humans come bearing gifts.

**Two Sandhill Cranes sauntering down the trail**

The trail I was on at Kensington skirts a small lake called Wildwing. In the middle of that small lake were hundreds of migrating birds swimming about. They were not very close to shore and it was nearly impossible to get a decent picture, but with my 600mm lens, I was able to see American Wigeons, Ring-necked ducks, Red Heads, Buffleheads, Gadwalls, and a large contingent of mallards. It was a birding bonanza!

Along that very same trail, I was surprised to find a large flock of Rusty Blackbirds busily surveying the open ground for food and I quickly pointed my camera in their direction. It’s amazing how beautiful their feathers are when you can see them up close. Rusty Blackbirds get their name from the rusty coloration at the edge of their feather edges that shows up during the winter months.

The trail around Kensington’s Wildwing Lake is 1.75 miles long and, without the need to obsessively take pictures like I do, the average person could walk it in 40 minutes or less; maybe a little more if they stopped to feed the birds several times. I spent five blissful hours!

**The Red Squirrels want handouts too!**

For me, a walk in the woods is therapeutic. Taking pictures is therapeutic. Both are wonderful antidotes to the fear and anxiety that has consumed so many of us over the last several years. The walks in the woods and the picture-taking got me through COVID and hopefully they will get me through the next four years!

**The Sandhill Cranes are always a joy to see!**

**Sandhill Crane checking the ground for spilled seeds!**

The Four Survivors

October 22, 2024

As I was walking through one of my favorite birding spots, the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, I was thinking about the four survivors; birds I have photographed many, many times over the years who have overcome challenges of one sort or another. I’ve spent so much time photographing these four that I feel a particular kinship with them.

One of those birds, a female Blue-winged Teal, is a year-round resident at the fish hatchery, but shouldn’t be. I see her at the hatchery almost every time I visit and have pictures of her throughout the four seasons. She has become so familiar to me that I named her Betty.

When I realized that I had pictures of her for every single month of the year, I wondered why she had never gone south for the winter. Blue-winged Teals aren’t supposed to stay in Michigan throughout the winter months. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they “…are not able to endure the cold weather and are some of the first to migrate south in the fall and the last to head back north in the spring.” When I posted my quandary about Betty on Facebook, a birding friend replied, “Betty has a wing injury that prevents her from doing long distance flights. She is willing to fly very short distances to relocate to a different pond now and then.” That explained everything! She had no choice. But, given the missive from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the inability of these birds to survive the cold, I had a whole new sense of admiration for Betty and her ability to make the best of a bad situation. She’s a true survivor!

**Betty on a very** **cold February day in Michigan**

The other bird I always look for at the fish hatchery is the Great Blue Heron. I haven’t named him and I don’t see him as often as I do Betty, but I think he’s the same blue heron I’ve been seeing for many years at the hatchery. When I first started taking his picture, it looked as if he had sustained an injury to his neck at some point in his life. Maybe a predator tried to catch him when he was young, or maybe he got tangled up in a fishing line. There’s no way to know, but he obviously survived ! Whenever I visit the fish hatchery, I look for him in all of his favorite places. Sometimes he’s standing on a log at the edge of one of the ponds. Sometimes he’s perched in a tree or scouting the edges of the water looking for a fish. In the wintertime, I’ve even found him out on the ice! Wherever I happen to find him, it feels like my lucky day, and I always take a picture!

**My Great Blue Heron in one of his favorite spots at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery**

**My Great Blue Heron in a contemplative moment**

**My Great Blue Heron in the dead of winter!**

The WMU Business Technology and Research Park next door to where we live is another one of my favorite places to walk and take pictures. There are mowed trails meandering through acres of wildflowers, tall grasses, and trees. No matter what the season, I always find something to photograph: songbirds, wild turkeys, butterflies, dragonflies, praying mantids, white-tailed deer, and an abundance of chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits. In addition to all the inviting grassy trails, there are three small ponds that provide refuge for mallards, swans, geese, green herons, turtles, frogs, and a few migrating ducks.

**A Fall walk through WMU’s Business Technology and Research Park**

It’s also the place where I look for my Red-tailed Hawk. I scan the skies looking for him, and I search the tops of lampposts and trees hoping to get a glimpse. It’s a fun game trying to find him, but I don’t always win. Sometimes, he finds me!!

**My Red-tailed Hawk overhead at the Business Park**

**My Red-tailed Hawk on one of the lampposts**

On the one eventful day that he found me, I was standing on a small footbridge taking pictures of mallards swimming in the pond and keeping my eye out for the green heron that sometimes perches on a branch along the edge. All of a sudden, that hawk flew in out of nowhere and landed on the railing of the footbridge less than 20 feet from where I was standing! He took my breath away!! But I slowly turned my camera in his direction, hoping my movements wouldn’t scare him. At the same time, he turned his head in my direction and we locked eyes through the lens of my camera. Before that magical moment passed, I quickly snapped a few pictures, and a millisecond later he was gone!

**A close encounter with my Red-tailed Hawk**

What I’ve learned about Red-tailed Hawks over time is their amazing ability to not only survive but to thrive! They have achieved this success due to their adaptability, especially when it comes to food. Red-tailed hawks will eat almost anything, including rats, mice, squirrels, voles, rabbits, snakes, birds, bats, frogs, toads, insects, and even carrion. They are considered ‘generalist predators,’ a trait that has significantly contributed to their overall success and their widespread distribution. They are survivors!

**My little Carolina Wren who visits the platform feeder on our deck all winter long**

The last of my four survivors is the Carolina Wren that has been visiting the feeders on our back deck for many winters. Like the other survivors, I feel a kinship to this bird and consider him to be my Carolina wren because he keeps coming back and I keep feeding him—or perhaps more accurately, he keeps coming back because I keep feeding him!

**My Carolina Wren on a snowy day in January**

He likes the black-oiled sunflower seeds I leave in our platform feeder and carefully picks them out one by one, flutters down to the nearby doormat, tucks the seed into a crevice of the mat to stabilize it, and then cracks it open. The mat is just the other side of our sliding glass door, a few feet away from where sit. It’s such a treasure to see him return every year when the cold weather sets in.

**My little wren just outside our window on a snowy day**

It never ceases to amaze me that this tiny bird, or any bird for that matter, can survive the harsh winter months with just a handful of feathers to keep them warm, while I have to bundle up in layers upon layers of warm clothes, stuff hand-warmers into my pockets, and sometimes wear heated socks just to go out and take pictures! How do those little birds manage??

**All layered up for winter photography!**

There are so many wild animals out there that we never see struggling to survive through all kinds of weather and all kinds of circumstances. They have the marvelous ability to adapt and sometimes even thrive. But I continue to worry about how many of them we will lose over time due to our carelessness as human beings in our role as stewards of planet earth. We’ve already lost too many.

**Winter birding at Kensington Metro Park, Milford, Michigan**

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” ~ Robert Swan British explorer and environmental activist

Some Days…

August 23, 2024

Some days it’s really hard for me to push myself out the door and go for a picture walk—even though it’s something I love to do. Today was one of those days. I’d already gone for a long, leisurely walk with friends earlier in the day, and I’d already taken enough pictures. There was no logical reason to go out again. But it was a perfectly beautiful day; not hot, not humid, not windy. It would be a shame to waste all that loveliness by sitting in the house– and I would always wonder what I’d missed if I didn’t go. As it turned out, I would have missed everything!

My walk started out, as it often does, down by the creek behind our house where the dragonflies gather. I’ve found blue dashers, familiar bluets, slaty skimmers, Eastern pondhawks, and Eastern amberwings at the creek all summer long, but today there was a surprise–an American rubyspot damselfly! It’s one of the prettiest little damselflies I’ve ever seen, but rarely find. My trip out the door had already paid off!

Next on my route was the nearby WMU Business Technology and Research Park with its vast expanse of prairie grasses and wildflowers where I was hoping to find a few lingering butterflies or, perhaps, the first praying mantis of the season. There were so many possibilities! What first caught my attention, though, was a stunning green darner dragonfly, floating above the grasses looking for a place to land. I rarely see them, or get a picture, so I tracked its movements through the air hoping it would land somewhere that would be easy enough to photograph. Unfortunately, it chose a spot about 15 feet away and below my line of sight. I carefully picked my way through the high grass hoping to find it, hoping not to disturb it, and hoping not to acquire a few ticks along the way! I succeeded on all counts!

**Female Common Green Darner Dragonfly**

The fields of tall grass and wild flowers at the business park have beautifully mowed trails all the way through. One of those paths that I particularly like to walk has praying mantises along the way–and now is the time to find them!

**WMU Business Technology and Research Park mowed path**

They like hanging out on the tall stalks as they look for love. But they’re so well camouflaged that it’s almost impossible to find them! It’s like the ultimate Where’s Waldo challenge, but without the red and white striped hats to distinguish them! Sometimes, I’ll find 10 or more on a single walk; today I only found one, but it was almost as exciting as winning the lottery! And there were more surprises ahead!

After spotting the praying mantis, I very quietly and cautiously headed over to the small pond across the road where I once found a giant snapping turtle draped across a large rock. On rare occasions, I’ve also found a great blue heron standing motionlessly along the edges waiting for its his next meal to swim by.

**Giant Snapping turtle that I found on a previous visit to the pond behind Floyd Hall**

I’d barely crossed the road when I spotted the great blue heron! He was standing on the opposite side of the pond in his familiar stoic pose. From experience, I knew this bird might not move for a very long time. Great blue herons are extremely patient birds as they wait for their next meal. I took a few pictures as he stood there, and then I too waited, hoping for a better shot. Eventually, this magnificent bird very cautiously moved one of its legs, and then the other as it crept forward into the water. It occurred to me in that quiet moment of concentration that we were both doing the very same thing; standing quietly and watching our prey, then moving ever so slowly towards it, hoping to make the catch!

From the pond behind Floyd Hall, I headed over to another pond where I hoped to find one of the green herons that visited regularly. What first caught my eye, though, was a mallard hybrid of some sort that had a wide band of white around its neck. It was wider than I what I usually see on a male mallard and I worried that it might be a piece of plastic. So, I zoomed in and quickly realized that this was just another goofy looking duck. Mallards breed with a wide variety of other ducks including domestic ducks, American black ducks and Northern pintails– all of which result in some very odd-looking offspring, including this one!

**The odd duck with the wide white neck band**

But my best surprise was still waiting for me.

I went to the footbridge that crosses over the pond hoping to find the elusive green heron. As I stood at one end of the bridge with my camera pointed towards the pond, a red-tailed hawk landed on the railing to my left at the other end of the bridge– only 20 feet away! It took my breath away! I really, really wanted a picture but I didn’t know if my settings were right, and I knew if he saw me move, he’d fly away. So, I very, very slowly turned my camera in his direction and quickly took a burst of shots, hoping for the best. Perhaps he noticed my barely perceptible movements or heard the click of my camera; within fifteen seconds, he was gone! Wow! I’ve never been that close to a hawk before!

**Red-tailed Hawk on the footbridge 20 feet from me!**

**The hawk turned in my direction and took off as quickly as he came**

After the hawk flew off, the green heron flew in and I got the shot!

**Green Heron contemplating his next meal**

On my slow amble towards home, a few butterflies posed politely for pictures and my picture walk was complete!

**Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on spotted knapweed**

It was the best day ever– among a bucketful of best days where I’ve been lucky enough to still do all the things I love.

**Monarch Butterfly on spotted knapweed**

For the Love of Dragonflies!

I love dragonflies! But I didn’t know this until I started taking pictures. Without my camera, and without the ability to bring up pictures on my computer, I had no idea that dragonflies were so beautiful, that they came in such a wide variety of sizes and colors, that their wings were such masterpieces of engineering, or that there were so many different kinds!

**Twelve-spotted Skimmer** **Dragonfly**

Over the course of my photography journey, I’ve found almost every color dragonfly imaginable including red, white, blue, green, purple, orange, black, brown, and pink! These little creatures are not just candy for the eyes, they’re amazing acrobats as well; flying deftly in all directions like miniature helicopters!

For clarification, there are both dragonflies and damselflies. Collectively, they are known as Odonata. To the casual observer, dragonflies and damselflies probably look the same. They both have 6 legs, a head, and an abdomen; both have two pairs of transparent wings, bulgy eyes, and stick-like bodies. But there are a couple of features that help differentiate the two: body shape and wing position.

Dragonflies have bodies that are much thicker and bulkier than damselflies and because of their heftier size, it’s more likely that you’ll notice a dragonfly long before you’ll ever see the tiny, delicate-looking damselflies. When dragonflies are at rest, they hold their wings perpendicular to their bodies like an airplane. Damselflies, on the other hand, fold their wings up and hold them together across the top of their backs.

I much prefer the dragonflies to the damselflies, mostly because they’re bigger and much easier to photograph, and because I can more readily capture the details in their wings. Had I been around 300 million years ago, when dragonflies were first evolving, it would have been even easier to get a picture! Those early insects had wingspans of two feet or more! Today’s dragonflies have wingspans of less than five inches!

Common Green Darner Dragonfly recently emerged

Over the years, I’ve found so many different dragonflies that I’ve lost track of how many. Worldwide, there are at least 5000 different species, with dragonflies being much more common than damselflies. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. Here in the United States, there are about 450 different kinds of dragonflies and damselflies. In my home state of Michigan, we have about 165 different kinds, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found most of them!

What is most interesting to me is their life cycle, and their peculiar sex lives! Dragonflies have three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. The female lays her eggs in the water throughout the summer where they hatch and grow into nymphs. Some of those nymphs will remain in the water over the winter and emerge as adults the following summer. Some will remain in the water for years! While underwater, the dragonfly nymph will eat just about anything it can grab —tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, other insect larvae and even each other!

**Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly depositing eggs in the water**

When the nymph is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it stops eating and makes its way to the surface of the water where it climbs up a reed and crawls out of its larval skin or exoskeleton. Once it emerges from its exoskeleton, the dragonfly becomes a skillful and prolific predator. Nearly every minute of its day is spent devouring the insects that annoy us —like mosquitoes, gnats, cicadas, and flies! One dragonfly alone can eat hundreds of mosquitoes a day! Predators that like to eat dragonflies include birds, fish, frogs, bees, bats, spiders, and other dragonflies!

**Eastern Kingbird feeding dragonflies to her babies**

Dragonfly sex is a rough-and-tumble affair. Their sexual coupling requires the flexibility and acrobatic skill of a “Cirque de Soleil” performer. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male’s secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming a “heart” or “wheel” shape. In the process, females get bitten, males get scratched, and sperm winds up all over the place! After the deed is done, mama dragonfly lays her eggs by tapping the surface of the water repeatedly with her abdomen, or by shaking the eggs out of her abdomen as she flies along, or by placing the eggs on vegetation.

**Halloween Pennant Dragonflies mating (male at the top)**

**Female Shadow Darner Dragonfly depositing eggs**

Unfortunately, loss of wetland habitat is a big threat to our dragonfly populations around the world. At least one in ten species of dragonfly are threatened with extinction, according to the first world survey of their numbers. The loss of a dragonfly population threatens the loss of other creatures in that food chain. Ultimately, the loss of any one species is a loss for all of us.