Bundle Up!

January 19, 2020

I’m sitting here in front of a warm fire looking out at the falling snow and the hungry birds flying into our feeders for a bite to eat, and trying to decide how many layers I would have to wear to stay warm on a picture walk today. It’s been snowing (or sleeting) on and off for the past two days and my weather app says the wind chill is below zero. I ultimately decided that the number of layers I would have to wear would probably exceed the number of steps I could take trying to walk– kind of like Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story.

While contemplating the saneness of leaving my warm fire and my comfortable chair to go for a picture walk, I decided to sort through the pictures I’ve already taken in the last three weeks and then re-evaluate!

I’ll start with New Year’s Eve. The weather was relatively mild then and I was surprised to find so many robins out and about looking for something good to eat. I didn’t expect to even see robins because I had grown up believing that they left for the winter and returned in the spring; that they were, in fact, the ‘harbingers of spring’.

What I found out, though, was that most of our robins just stay put; that we don’t often see them in winter because they spend more time roosting in trees and less time rooting around in our yards. The robins I saw were doing both– roosting in the trees and rooting around on the ground. They had found berries up high and grubs down below.

It seemed like spring when I saw the robins out and about,
but it was still the middle of winter!

The berries that had attracted so many robins had also attracted Cedar Waxwings and Starlings. Interestingly enough, both Robins and Cedar Waxwings have been known to become intoxicated from eating too much fruit that has already become fermented!

This Cedar Waxwing looked a bit ‘tipsy’ as he grabbed for something good to eat!

A few days later, I decided to take advantage of an unusually sunny morning and headed over to the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery to catch what I could of the ‘golden hour’. It was a good thing I did because, for the next several days, the weather was gloomy, gray and wet.

Belted Kingfisher– a particularly hard bird to catch!

Trumpeter Swan flying over the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

After enduring several days of dismal weather, I was eager to get out and take pictures again– but it was still raining! I couldn’t take pictures in the rain (my camera would suffer), so I settled for a ‘picture stand’ instead of a ‘picture walk’ by positioning myself under our second story deck and shooting the birds that were perched in the nearby trees.

Mr and Mrs Cardinal braving a dark and dreary day

For the next few days after that, the weather was fairly cooperative and I managed to visit several familiar places plus one new one, the Paw Paw Prairie Fen. My biggest surprise was finding a Great White Egret fishing in a pond near the fen! I rarely see them in the summer, let alone the middle of winter. I also found a Great Blue Heron, but he decided to fly away before I could get a close-up!

On my visit to the Kellogg Bird sanctuary, I was saddened to learn that two of the birds I loved to photograph had died the previous year– a beautiful Mandarin Duck and a rare Red-breasted Goose. Both birds were one-of-a-kind at the sanctuary, so it was particularly sad to lose them.

A lovely American Goldfinch at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary

Once a month, I like to stop in at the Kensington Metropark Nature Center on my way across the state to babysit my grandson. The birds at Kensington are abundant and fearless. They eagerly anticipate all the visitors who come by and ply them with birdseed. If you stand still and hold out a handful of seeds or peanuts, the birds will land on your hand within a matter of seconds– chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, downies, and sometimes, even the bigger birds will land– like the red-bellied woodpeckers. It’s always delightful!

Red-bellied Woodpecker enjoying my stash of seeds at Kensington Nature Center

In the time it’s taken to write this blog, the temperature outside has gone up one whole degree— time to bundle up and see what’s waiting for me out there!

Here’s what I found…

So, bundle up and get yourself outdoors!

Butterfly Ears and Other Surprises

January 7, 2020

I was looking back over my pictures from these last few years and was amazed at all the things I’ve seen, all the things I’ve learned, and all the things that have totally surprised me.

I was surprised to learn that only male painted turtles have these incredibly long nails!
They are used to grab on tight to the female during mating!

I’m not sure yet what my biggest surprise has been, but yesterday morning a memory popped up on my Facebook page from January of 2018 that started me thinking.

It was a very cold and snowy January day and I had been walking tentatively through deep snow across a semi-frozen creek near my home when I happened upon a Great Blue Heron! It was standing rigidly and alone in a large expanse of snow like a one-legged sentry keeping watch over the manor. Of all the things I expected to see that day, a Great Blue Heron was not one of them! I had assumed they had all left for the winter and were basking in the sun some place far south of here.

Great Blue Heron standing sentry in the snow

When I finished my picture walk that day, I immediately went to my computer to research ‘great blue herons in the snow’. I found out that they can, indeed, be here in Michigan in January, but “generally move away from the northern edge of their breeding range in winter.” Smart birds! If they do stay, Great Blue Herons will find patches of open water to feed on small fish or crustaceans that are hanging out along the edges. But, when the fish aren’t available, herons will eat mice, voles, and small birds. “One hungry heron was seen chowing down a litter of feral kittens.” Oh my.

I was surprised to find out that dragonflies and damselflies could have mites, or parasites on their bodies– sometimes dozens of them! (Look for the small red dots on the underside of this dragonfly near its legs.)

Another thing that has surprised me over the years is how many different dragonflies and damselflies there are, how many different colors they display, and what unusual mating practices they engage in!

According to my research, there are about 5,000 species of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) worldwide; here in Michigan, there are about 162! I don’t know how many actual colors they come in, but I’ve seen green, blue, brown, black, white, red, pink, gold, yellow, orange and purple! Who knew?

During mating, the male dragonfly (or damselfly) grasps the female at the back of the head and the she curls her abdomen under his body to pick up sperm from the male’s secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the “heart” or “wheel” posture. It’s a rather peculiar set up, I thought!

Another insect that surprised me was the butterfly. I didn’t know that they had taste receptors in their feet or ears in their wings!! “The ears consist of membranes that are stretched taut over oval holes, and that vibrate when incoming sounds hit them.” Before 1912, scientists thought all butterflies were deaf, but discovered that these insects respond to the human voice and to the sounds of birds during flight. The receptors, scientists discovered, were in the butterfly’s wings! What a handy skill to have if you didn’t want to be somebody’s lunch!

I was also amused to learn that a group of butterflies is called a ‘flutter” and that a group of butterflies gathered together to drink from a mud puddle is called a ‘puddle club’! Too funny!

One more surprise came while I was out taking pictures and came across a Black-capped Chickadee that looked as if it was injured. But, when I moved closer to see if I could help, the bird quickly flew away. My little chickadee was apparently engaged in a behavior called ‘sunning’ and did not need any help from me!

“Bird sunning is the act of spreading out in full sunshine to expose plumage and skin to direct sunlight.” The main reason birds do this is to maintain the health of their feathers. Sunning can dislodge parasites. If birds don’t rid themselves of these parasites, they can infect the bird’s feathers and cause problems for flight, insulation, and appearance– all of which impact survival. Hundreds of different bird species engage in ‘sunning’ behaviors!

Every time I go for a ‘picture walk’, I learn something new!

A Holiday Collection

December 28, 2019

A beautiful wild Turkey at Kensington Metropark on a very frigid December day

In the span of just eight days, from December 19th to December 26th, my picture walk weather went from a frigid 16 degrees and 20 mile an hour winds to a balmy 61 degrees and no wind at all!

From the 19th to the 26th, I went from wearing two, three and four layers of clothing (depending on what body part I was trying to keep warm) to wearing almost nothing—no hat, no mittens, no earmuffs! It was warmer here in Michigan on Christmas day than it was in southern California! Go figure!

The hardest part of taking pictures on a really cold day, is keeping the fingers of my right hand from totally freezing off. My pointer finger (and its nearby friends) risk a bit of frostbite every time they leave the warmth and security of my mitten. Unfortunately, they are forced to venture out every single time I have to change the settings on my camera. What saved them on December 19th, though, was an early Christmas gift from my husband—a pair of toasty, re-chargeable hand warmers!

Winter days in Michigan, even when the weather is balmy and clear, is a challenging time to find things to photograph. I usually have to look long and hard to find anything at all. Fortunately, I enjoy the ‘hunt’. It’s a very relaxing endeavor to go on a picture walk because all of my attention is focused on the looking. When I actually do find something, my heart skips a beat —even if it’s ‘just another deer’ or ‘just another sparrow’. The subjects may be the same as yesterday but everything else is different—a different day, a different location, a different set of weather conditions. So I snap away to my heart’s content adding another hundred pictures to my rapidly expanding collection.

Starlings
There were dozens of these birds all gathered at the tops of the trees.

Starling, a beautiful but invasive species

Bluebird on Staghorn Sumac
I had been admiring the bright red sumac and wishing that a bird would land on one –and then this bluebird happened along!

Mute Swan
I was touched by the fact that beautiful swan let me get within a few feet of it without being scared off– so that I could take pictures of the ducks out on the pond!

Finding Waldo

December 9, 2019

I’ve been traipsing about on and off for the last week or so looking for interesting things to photograph, but it’s not always easy here in Michigan during the winter months. The trees are bare and the sky is often cloudy. Some days it feels like spring, other days it feels like Siberia. Usually I can dress for the weather and still take pictures —unless it’s raining. Like today. I don’t mind getting wet, but my camera sure does!

One of hundreds of Canada Geese at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary

Yesterday, by contrast, it was cold and windy– but good enough for a picture walk. My destination: Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. This sanctuary is home to a large number of ducks and swans and geese who like to hang out along the edges of Wintergreen Lake and create a tremendous racket with all their honking and quacking and squabbling.

The whooper swan, also known as the common swan, pronounced hooper swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan.
It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan,

On any given day at the sanctuary, you can find hundreds of mallards waddling about on the grass or dabbling about in the lake. They are great socializers and mingle freely among the hundreds of Canada Geese and dozens of swans who also call the bird sanctuary home. It was against this backdrop that I played my duck version of ‘Where’s Waldo?’, the game where you have to find a cartoon type character dressed in a red and white striped shirt hidden among hundreds of other characters and objects that look frustratingly similar.

In the duck version of ‘Where’s Waldo?’ I was looking for a lone duck, among the hundreds of mallards, that was not like the others, — maybe a Gadwall or a Wigeon or a Wood Duck. An ‘odd duck’ like this is very hard to find among so many mallards. But yesterday, I found my ‘Waldo’—and his wife! (I knew it was his wife because he made an unexpected conjugal visit right in the middle of the lake while I was trying to take a family-friendly, G-rated photo!) The ducks I was looking at were totally new to me and I just kept snapping pictures so I could, hopefully, identify them later.

‘Waldo’s’ conjugal visit in the middle of the lake. That’s Mrs. Waldo underneath his beak!

In spite of all the resources I had available, however, I could not identify these two ducks–not as a particular breed anyway. What I should have realized sooner rather than later, though, was that these two birds were mallard cross breeds.

After reading up on mallards a little bit, I learned that there are many different ducks in the ‘mallard family’ and those ducks are able to breed with one another. The offspring of these unions would then be referred to as a ‘cross breeds” by some or ‘hybrids’ by others.

The bird that we commonly call a ‘mallard’ can mate with domestic ducks as well as Northern Pintails, American Black Ducks, American Wigeons, Northern Shovelers, Cinnamon Teals, Green-winged Teals and Gadwalls.

I still don’t know what mallard mix produced the birds I saw today, but they certainly were an interesting pair!

Swimming on the Wrong Side of the Sun

November 25, 2019

Male Northern Shoveler at the Muskegon County Wastewater site
I love their huge beaks!

Almost all the snow had melted from our big, unexpected snowfall on November 13^th when my husband and I decided to take advantage of an unusually ‘balmy’ day for a picture walk. Temperatures were expected to be in the low 40’s– a relative heat wave compared to what we had been experiencing and it wasn’t supposed to rain or snow! So we headed up to the Muskegon County Wastewater Treatment Plant to see what we could find. With all of it’s man-made ponds, the wastewater site is a great place for birding!

A well-camouflaged Wilson’s Snipe at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

Until a few years ago, neither of us had any idea that a wastewater treatment site could be a great place to find birds. On our first visit there two years ago, we got to see an elusive Snowy Owl and were really hoping to see another one. What we found instead were tons of Northern Shovelers, a few Ruddy Ducks, the usual cluster of Mallards, lots of Buffleheads, a few Lesser Scaups, and a boatload of Geese and Gulls. Many of the birds we saw, however, were too far out in the water to get a decent shot, or they were swimming along the edges on the wrong side of the sun!

Killdeer at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

Juvenile Bald Eagle flying overhead at the Muskegon Wastewater site

Juvenile Bald Eagle and an adult Bald Eagle cavorting overhead
at the Muskegon Wastewater site

It’s a real challenge this time of year to even get out of the house and take pictures let alone find something interesting to photograph. The weather always plays a role in my decision making and it’s often too cold, too wet or too icy to go mucking about with expensive camera equipment. The upside, though, to winter photography is freshly fallen snow. It provides the perfect backdrop for all the birds who are out and about braving the elements along with you– and the bare trees make them infinitely more visible!

A beautiful Carolina Wren singing its heart out behind our house.

In spite of the vagaries of winter weather, I usually manage to get out for a picture walk on most of our winter days. More often than not, though, I lug my camera around for hours without finding much of anything. Fortunately, I’m easily entertained and all it really takes to keep me going, is one good shot — whether it’s a tiny wren, a solitary eagle, a wild turkey or even a common duck (just as long as it’s not swimming around on the wrong side of the sun!).

I love all the different colors and textures of the feathers on this wild turkey! (Kensington Metropark, Milford MI)

Three Amigos heading out of town before Thanksgiving!

The Wonder of It All

November 13, 2019

In the past two weeks, we have gone from balmy t-shirt weather to sub-freezing arctic temperatures and 5 inches of snow! For towns closer to Lake Michigan, it has been more like 24 inches!! Totally crazy weather for sure, but amazingly beautiful— that is if you don’t have to drive in it, shovel it, or survive in it! There have been multiple car pile-ups all over the state and I am quite thankful that I have been able to enjoy most of this ‘bad weather’ from the comfort of my home.

November 3rd: Fall colors at WMU’s Business Technology and Research Park

November 4th: An inviting path in Parkview Hills

It’s not snowing here at the moment, but it’s only 12 degrees with a wind chill of 7! I’m sitting at home all cozy and warm debating about whether I even want to go outside and take pictures!

November 7th: Northern Shoveler at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery with just a hint of snow

It’s not that I don’t love taking wintertime pictures, it’s just that there are so many challenges– mostly how to stay warm. What hat to wear? Which jacket to don? How many layers will be good enough? Then, after all those decisions are made, what’s the best way to keep my ‘shooting’ finger warm? I don’t need to have my pointer finger exposed to press the shutter, but I do need to have it bare in order to change the settings on my camera. I’ve tried all different kinds of special mittens and gloves to address the problem, but with limited success. Recently, though, I’ve discovered that if I wear the right jacket, and I stuff my gloved hand into a warm pocket between shots, I can keep my finger (and its nearby friends) reasonably warm.

November 12th: Black-capped Chickadee amidst a heavy snowfall

When it’s this cold outside, the hardest decision really is whether to even leave my very comfy chair, my hot cup of tea and my very warm fire– especially when all the birds I really need to see are right outside my window—dark eyed juncos, cardinals, house finches, house sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, tufted titmice, goldfinches, bluejays, red-bellied woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, robins, downy woodpeckers and nuthatches. So why leave?

For the wonder of it all, I guess.

November 13th: One of the many deer who let me pass by without running away

There’s always something that surprises me, or moves me, or causes me to wonder. Today it was the deer that let me pass by without being frightened, and the Red-tailed Hawk that landed in a nearby tree, and the White-throated Sparrow that was almost close enough to touch. I never cease to be amazed by it all– so I keep going out, even when it’s too cold to blink.

One of my deer friends giving me a pass.

A Photography Addiction

It’s Friday November 1^st and it’s freezing outside—literally. My weather app says it’s 31 degrees and it feels like 23! Yikes! Less than two weeks ago, it was so sunny and warm that we were out walking in shorts and t-shirts! Michigan weather is like that– happy one day, miserable the next.

Shooting in the cold–three layers on my head, three on my body (and it isn’t even winter yet!!)

Trumpeter Swans flying over the Fall colors at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

In spite of the vagaries of Michigan weather, I’ve had a surprising number of opportunities to squeeze in a picture walk here and there. When it looked like I only had an hour or two between bouts of rain, I’d stay close to home and visit the business park next door, or the nearby woods where we live, or the preserve across the street. When there was a bigger window of opportunity, I’d venture further afield to the fish hatchery, the nature center, or the bird sanctuary.

Once the season changes from warm summer days to fall and winter chilliness, it gets harder and harder for me to find things to photograph. When I was out at the fish hatchery the other day, for example, it took me forever to spot the well-camouflaged snipes, yellowlegs and killdeer out on the mudflats. It also took me beyond forever to pick out the Northern Shovelers swimming among the mallards in the adjacent pond. From a distance, those birds all looked the same. It was kind of like a ‘Where’s Waldo’ search– but without Waldo’s brightly colored clothes!

I enjoy the challenge, though, of trying to find things. It’s a big part of what makes photography such an addictive hobby. When I am concentrating on finding an elusive bird or insect or mammal, there’s no more room in my brain for anything else–like today’s politics or the devastating effects of climate change or the well being of my friends and family. So I keep going back for more, for another ‘fix’, as often as I can.

Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery on November 1, 2019

Wilson’s Snipes on the mudflats at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

Taking pictures on Lake Michigan in 30mph winds on October 23, 2019

Over the last couple of years, I’ve wondered exactly how much of an addiction to photography I really have. How many pictures does it take to qualify as an addiction? a thousand? Five thousand?? I know that I take a lot, but what, exactly, is a lot?

There are several different websites you can go to where you can determine how many ‘shutter actuations’, or pictures you have taken, for any given camera. I’ve had my current camera, a Nikon D5600, for exactly 2 years and I’m the only one who’s uses it. As of September 2019, I’ve apparently taken 109,510 pictures!! That’s a lot of pictures by any standard I expect! In fact, Nikon says that the shutter expectancy for my particular camera was met when I’d reached 100,000 pictures!

I’m going to guess, that If there’s a standard by which one qualifies as an addict, this is probably it!