August 15, 2019

Even though I sometimes get tired of going back to the same preserves over and over again, the truth is, no two days are ever the same. The location may be the same but everything else is up for grabs—the weather, the time of day, which creatures decide to show up and whether I can even get the settings right on my camera!

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This past week, I went back to the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery twice, the Chipman Preserve twice and three other places for repeat visits, but not in the same week—the Kalamazoo Nature Center,  Western Michigan University’s Business Technology and Research Park, and Asylum Lake Preserve.

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The good thing about going back to the same place over and over again, though,  is that I get to know the patterns and routines of some of it’s inhabitants, particularly the birds. In the last three visits to the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, for instance, a small green heron has been fishing in the same pond, on the same log and at the same time every single day! I could practically set my watch by the regularity of his fishing expeditions.

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Also at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, I’m guaranteed to find a Kingfisher or two hanging out around the back ponds. Unfortunately, kingfishers are very astute birds and can hear (or see) me coming long before I even leave the house! They are very good at making themselves unavailable for any kind of photo shoot. So, I have decided that, in order to get any kind of worthwhile pictures of a Kingfisher, I’m going to have to set up a bird blind at the hatchery– or just stand in one place, camera in hand, until my next birthday.

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Another benefit of going to the same place repeatedly is that it increases the likelihood of noticing something that’s out of kilter, or not typical. On one of my repeat visits this week, it was a small blue speck in a tree that looked out of place.  That small blue speck turned out to be an Indigo Bunting! I rarely ever see them and was happy to get several reasonably good shots before he flew away.

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Also, as a regular visitor to our local preserves and sanctuaries, I sometimes run into other birders who have shown me the location of birds I would never have found on my own, like a Red-eyed Vireo, a Prothonotary Warbler and, most recently, a yellow billed cuckoo (Who knew we even had Cuckoos in Michigan??).

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So, when I start out on a picture walk to a place I’ve been a million times before, I sometimes have to give myself a little pep talk so I don’t feel ho-hum about the same old place. My pep talk goes something like this…

“Even if you don’t find something new, this is a great place for a walk!” or

“This might be the day you get the best picture ever!” or

“This might be the day you get a picture of an eagle, or a cuckoo or even a blue footed booby!”

It’s all good though,  I always find something interesting, even if it’s not new. And, if nothing else, I get some exercise—although, with all the stopping I do to take a picture, it sometimes takes me three hours to walk a mile! My Picture Walks might more accurately be called Picture Shuffles!

August 8, 2019

1. Oshtemo Public Library, Oshtemo, Michigan

I am always looking for someplace new to take pictures, but it isn’t always easy. Sometimes, it takes a little creativity to come up with a new venue and Mel got the prize for coming up with the Oshtemo Public Library as a possible photo walk opportunity. On the surface, a library seems like an odd choice– but this one was surrounded by wild flowers! So we grabbed our cameras and headed out the door.

My best picture for the day came quite by accident. While I was trying to be creative and shoot a flower from the ground up, a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail landed on top of it! What luck! I was so shocked, though, I almost lost the shot!

2. Portman Preserve, Paw Paw, Michigan

The Portman Nature Preserve is one of almost two dozen preserves in southwest Michigan that are maintained by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. I’ve been to Portman many, many times, but there’s always something new to discover. Today it was all the butterflies and hummingbird moths flitting among the wildflowers near the parking lot!

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3. Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, Mattawan, MI

The Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery is one of my very favorite places to visit. With dozens of ponds scattered around the property and lots of places to hide in the surrounded bushes and trees, it’s a great haven for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, foxes, frogs, turtles, rabbits, deer– and a few snakes. I never run out of things to photograph here!

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4. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, Augusta, MI

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary is another great place for a picture walk. In addition to large flocks of geese, swans and ducks, the bird sanctuary is home to many other smaller birds as well as a variety of birds that are just migrating through. On today’s visit, though, I mostly took pictures of butterflies!

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5. Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo, MI

There are a variety of different habitats to visit at the Kalamazoo Nature Center including prairies, woods and gardens. Today, Mel and I both visited the Butterfly Garden as well as the nearby wildflower patches on the edges of the entry road. Both areas were bursting with butterflies, but my favorite catch of the day was a hummingbird!

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6. Paul Henry, Thornapple River Trail, Middleville, MI

I first learned about this trail along the Thornapple River last fall when Mel and I participated in a Woodpecker Festival! Since then, I’ve made a point of driving up to Middleville a few more times to take picture walks. It’s an easy walk along a paved trail and lots of different birds are attracted to the area in and around the Thornapple River. Here’s what I found…

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7. Gagie School Garden, Kalamazoo, MI

Along one of the main roads into downtown Kalamazoo, is a small garden that was created by the nearby, privately owned Gagie School. It is a beautiful patch of color along a busy commercial road…

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8. Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve, Fennville, MI

The Wau-Ke-Na Preserve (“forest-by-the-water”) is another one of the natural areas being maintained and preserved for future generations by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. There are two different sections to the preserve made up of a north and a south tract. Mel and I took the south tract today and ambled along a well mowed trail through prairie grasslands which were adjacent to forested areas. We heard a lot of birds in the nearby trees but weren’t able to capture many. They were too elusive. The butterflies, however, were close at hand and infinitely more cooperative!

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With so many beautiful things to see out there, it’s hard for me to even sit for awhile in my comfortable chair writing this. Fortunately, my chair faces a sliding glass door where I can look up periodically and be entertained by all the birds coming to our feeders or hanging out in the nearby trees–Red-winged Blackbirds, Chickadees, Bluejays, Grackles, Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, House Finches and the ubiquitous little Sparrows. What a feast!

July 30, 2019

Dr. Seuss’s children’s book, Oh the Places You’ll Go! came to mind this evening as I was reviewing all the places I’ve been these past 10 days on picture walks:  Western Michigan University’s Business Technology and Research Park, which is right next door, Asylum Lake Preserve, which is right across the street, the Kalamazoo Nature Center, Ft. Custer State Park in Augusta, Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, Calvin Ecosystem Preserve & Native Gardens in Grand Rapids, Wau-ke-na Preserve in South Haven,  and the Oshtemo Public Library just down the road!

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We are very fortunate, I think, to have so many beautiful places near at hand to explore— but, even a small backyard can be an inviting place for birds, butterflies and other creatures to visit if the environment is enticing enough for them to stay for awhile. Sometimes I enjoy just standing outside our back door ‘capturing’ all the birds as they sit in the trees before flying in to eat at our feeders.  Our backyard itself is insignificant, but the communal yards of our condo development abut the edge of a woods and small creek– making it a haven for a large variety of birds, a small herd of deer and a rafter of wild turkeys. So even if I never left our our yard or our neighborhood, I’d still have lots of opportunities for pictures!

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Every time I go out to explore, whether I wander near or far, I always wonder what I’ll find. Here’s the rest of what I found this week….

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July 13, 2019

If Kingfishers were more like dragonflies, I wouldn’t have to work so hard trying to get a picture! Dragonflies are abundant. Kingfishers are not. Dragonflies let me stand close and take dozens of pictures. Kingfishers notice my presence from a hundred yards away and take off. Dragonflies eventually take off but come right back to the same spot and pose again. Kingfishers disappear.

Today was a perfect example. As I was walking slowly through the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in search of something interesting to photograph, I noticed a ‘blip’ out of the corner of my eye and froze—hoping not to startle whatever it might be. It was a barely visible belted kingfisher hunkered down on a tree limb! Rarely do I see them before they see me and this one was close enough (within 15 yards) for a decent picture– if I zoomed in all the way and was stealthy enough not to scare him.

Ever so slowly, I started lifting my camera –maybe an inch, maybe two, and he was gone! That was all it took! Kingfishers are so incredibly perceptive—and skittish. Or maybe it’s just me. Mel said that the kingfishers he saw along the Kalamazoo river while he was canoeing this week were easy to spot and didn’t fly away when he approached. Hmmm. Whatever the reason, I’d lost my chance. Maybe if I had a duck blind and a year’s worth of patience, I could get the perfect shot, but I have neither.

So I continued my languid walk in the late afternoon heat hoping some other birds would be more cooperative. It didn’t take long before I spotted three swallows sitting on a branch over the water, but they were on the wrong side of the sun and difficult to photograph. I tried anyway.

Not long into my attempt to photograph the swallows, I heard it, the distinctive and strident rattle of a nearby kingfisher! (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Belted_Kingfisher/sounds)

Slowly, I turned my camera in the direction of the sound and saw my kingfisher diving into the pond in search of dinner. Once the bird emerged from the water, I was able to follow its flight path into a tree on the edge of the pond. Unfortunately, the bird was so far away, all I could see was a small white dot in a sea of green. When she dove in again, I tried to follow her path with my camera– but at 25 miles an hour, it was mostly folly. Eventually, when the kingfisher landed on my side of the pond, I took a million and a half pictures hoping that one or two might actually turn out. She was still pretty far away.

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If this kingfisher had been a dragonfly, she would have landed within 10 feet of me. She would have stood around patiently for a variety of poses, flown away briefly and then come back for a few more shots. As it was, I was left with a super elusive bird that hates to have its picture taken and never hangs around for a minute if there’s any chance at all that someone might be watching!