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**

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**

Birding Days in the Sunshine State

March 22, 2024

Most of the year I’m out taking pictures in my home state of Michigan, but I always look forward to our change-of-pace visits to Florida during the winter months where I can go looking for all the beautiful birds that I rarely, if ever, find in Michigan. This was our first trip back in three years; a welcome change after more than two years of COVID, and the deaths of our two very old dogs.

Brown Pelicans on the pier waiting for a handout from the fisherman

One of my favorite Florida birds to photograph is the brown pelican. It is both charmingly elegant and absurdly acrobatic. I have found them posing stoically on a pier waiting for a tasty handout from the fishermen, and I have watched in amazement as they soar into the air, contorting their bodies like pretzels, and then plunging head first into the water. What a fun bird to watch and photograph!

By comparison, Florida also has the American white pelican; an equally fun bird to photograph, but without the acrobatic skills of its cousins, the Browns. White pelicans are scoopers not divers. They glide gracefully along the water and scoop up fish, often working cooperatively with their peers to herd a school of fish into a dense ball or toward shallow waters where it’s more difficult for the fish to escape. Cooperative herding catches more fish!

American White Pelicans sharing a funny joke in the early morning hours

A much smaller, less obvious shorebird that scurries about on the Florida coastlines is the willet. I’ve found at least one willet, usually more, on every one of my beach walks. They skitter tirelessly in and out of the waves searching for crabs, crustaceans, and mollusks in the water-soaked sands, and provide endless entertainment for me as I amble along the shore.

Willet hoping for a tasty snack to show up in the receding waves

Running around with the willets at an even faster pace, are the tiny, two-ounce sanderlings. It doesn’t seem possible that these little birds can run as fast as they do! Their little black legs are a blur as they race back and forth along the beach like cartoon characters, stopping only for a millisecond to probe the wet sand for crabs and other invertebrates left by the receding waters. Rachel Carlson, in her book Under the Sea Wind, poetically described the sanderling’s breakneck run as a “twinkle of black feet.” What a perfect description!

Mixed in with the willets and the sanderlings, I might also find the ruddy turnstone; a smaller bird than the willet but bigger than the sanderling. Its name aptly describes both its appearance and what it does! This is a stocky, reddish-brown shorebird that flips over stones, shells, and seaweed looking for food. Sometimes there are dunlins in the mix as well; a little shorebird that looks similar to the sanderling but is slightly bigger and has a longer bill.

Then there are all the gulls, terns, and skimmers either flying overhead or taking a break along the shore! I took hundreds of pictures the other day of the Forster’s terns soaring above the ocean waves, then plunging into the water to catch a fish; and hundreds more shots of the black skimmers gliding just above the surface of the water with their lower beak barely touching the water as they scooped up fish! It’s always a fun challenge trying to catch these birds in flight!

Another bird in flight that’s fun to catch is the Osprey. We have osprey in Michigan, but I rarely find them. In Florida, you can find them everywhere, hovering over both large and small bodies of water, preparing to plunge feet first into the water and grab a fish with their sharp talons! I like to catch them as they emerge from the water, a good-sized fish in tow, lifting into the air with a thousand beads of water spinning off their feathers in all directions.

When I’m not walking along the ocean beaches looking for birds, I’m stalking the smaller bodies of water in search of herons, egrets, ibises, storks, and the mostly elusive roseate spoonbills. On this particular visit to Florida, my first wood stork and spoonbill were standing at the edge of a retention pond, behind a locked fence along a busy roadway near a strip mall! It was not an easy picture to get! The herons, ibises and egrets, on the other hand, have been much more cooperative!

Then there are birds that I’ve seen on previous trips to Florida, but have yet to find here in St. Augustine; birds like the black-bellied whistling ducks, black-necked stilts, crested caracaras, glossy Ibis, gallinules, painted buntings, and sandhill cranes with their babies. To find some of those birds, Mel and I took road trip to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Florida.

Merritt Island is one hundred miles south of where we are now and is billed as “one of Florida’s premier birding sites.” It was established in 1963 for the protection of migratory birds and provides a wide variety of habitats including coastal dunes, saltwater marshes, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks. It is home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals!

Black-necked Stilt at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

To get to Merritt Island, we left before dawn and arrived by 8:00 a.m. Mel and I wanted to have the entire day to wander around the refuge –and take a ridiculous number of pictures! We found black-necked stilts, common gallinules, reddish egrets, glossy ibises, roseate spoonbills, and a variety of other delightful birds. It was a day well spent!

In less than two weeks we’ll be heading back to Michigan; just in time for the daisies and the daffodils, the chatty red-winged blackbirds, the rose-breasted grosbeaks, and the comforting sounds of the spring peepers drifting through the screens on a warm April evening; all the sights and sounds I love to welcome me home!

Sandhill Crane and colt from our last trip to Florida in 2020

Morning Light

November 19, 2023

Note: Most of the pictures in this post were taken on earlier picture walks

I was sitting in my favorite chair at 5 a.m. on this cold November morning, enjoying a toasty fire, drinking a hot cup of tea, and contemplating the day ahead. Every once in a while, I’d look out the window to see if the sun had come up.

By 7:45, I could see just a hint of light on the very top of the trees along the far side of the creek behind our house. I wrestled with my choices for the day– stay warm and cozy inside the house, or go out into the cold November air and take pictures. The conditions were perfect: early morning light, no wind, and clear skies. I thought maybe a northern shoveler would unexpectedly drop by, or that a few wood ducks might swim out from the reeds as they sometimes do, or that a great blue heron would be scouting for fish along the opposite bank. I might even see a rare mink scurrying by. Anything was possible!

There was no choice, really; whether to stay inside or to go outdoors. The morning light beckoned. It would be impossible for me to stay home on such a beautiful day! There was such promise in the air! But, it was only 32 degrees! I wasn’t ready to face the cold! And getting dressed would be a challenge– because cold weather photography, where I might not move for hours on end, takes careful planning. Should I wear two layers or three? Do I need mittens or gloves? Boots or shoes? There were too many decisions to be made this early in the morning!

**All bundled up for the cold on an earlier picture walk**

By 8:15, though, I was out the door. The sun had risen a little higher in the sky, the water in the creek was perfectly still, and I planted myself in the very best spot I could find where the sun would be at my back.

**Cherry Creek in the early morning light**

I stood quietly and waited. The squirrels were scampering through the leaves behind me and running across the branches overhead. Now and then, I’d hear a red-bellied woodpecker tapping on one of the nearby trees. A handful of birds were greeting the new day with their joyful song while a solitary goose flew by.

Not far from where I was standing, I could hear the familiar sound of the male red-winged blackbirds as they flitted among the cattails. They have a short, one-second song that starts with an abrupt note and turns into a musical trill. The females usually respond to the singing males with a chit-chit-chit sound, but I never heard their replies. Perhaps, the females have already flown south for the winter.

**Male Red-winged Blackbird in the reeds along Cherry Creek**

After about an hour of standing and waiting, I took a seat on the bench next to me; my hopes slowly dwindling. There had been no signs of any shovelers, wood ducks, or herons. I would have been happy at that point if even a mallard had floated by!

Eventually, the cold air settled into my bones, and I had run out of things to talk to myself about. I tried, instead, to concentrate on all the different birds I could see or hear in the trees around me, like the chickadees, tufted titmice, cardinals, robins, cedar waxwings, woodpeckers, sparrows, and blue jays. They provided a symphony of songs and a bit of entertainment as I sat watching for the elusive ducks and herons to appear on the creek.

By 9:30, I was ready to throw in the towel and go for a walk in the sun so I could soak up some of its warmth. Before leaving my temporary roost, though, I moved closer to a nearby bush where I had been watching the cedar waxwings gobbling up berries, hoping I could maybe get a picture of them! With all the foliage obstructing my view, it was more of a challenge than I expected!

After managing to get a few waxwing shots (and one fat robin), it was time to move on to more promising grounds. I headed over to the business park next door thinking I would find a red-tailed hawk, a migrating duck, or maybe even a bluebird. All I found were pigeons.

Where was everybody??

It was almost noon and the temperature had climbed from a chilly 32 degrees to a toasty 50. I was so HOT! I had taken off my hat, mittens, and scarf and stuffed them into the pockets of my coat; the pockets that were already jammed full with two rechargeable hand-warmers, one cell phone, and a set of keys. Eventually I had to take off the coat as well and tie it around my waist or I would totally disintegrate from the heat! It was time to head home.

**A big fat Robin enjoying the same berry bush as the Cedar Waxwings**

In the end, I didn’t have much to show for all my efforts: no wood ducks, no hawks, no shovelers, no mallards. It’s always disappointing when this happens, but I just can’t force the birds to show up when I want them to– or to get them to sit still in the right light while I adjust my settings.

On a particularly slow picture day, like this one, I have to remind myself that the most important thing is the walk itself, not the pictures. At my age (76), spending the day outdoors traipsing about is a gift; one that I treasure. Having my camera along, just makes all that exercise more interesting.

And that’s what keeps me going out the door–even on the least promising of days.

Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve

September 27, 2023

A few weeks ago, my husband and I made our first trip to the Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve in Arcadia, Michigan. What a wonderful place to walk and see a wide variety of birds, plants, and butterflies at relatively close range! Over 250 species of birds have been identified at the marsh (17 of which are considered endangered or threatened) and at least 200 different species of plants have been recorded. Best of all, there is a wide, well-maintained ¾ mile boardwalk through the middle of the preserve that makes it easily accessible for everyone.

**Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve Boardwalk**

Arcadia Preserve is one of only a few remaining coastal marshes along Lake Michigan’s Lower Peninsula shoreline. Sadly, most of all the original Great Lakes marshes have been destroyed, making restored marshes like this one extremely important ecologically. Thanks to the extensive restoration efforts by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC), countless volunteers and dedicated partners, this beautiful nature preserve is healthier than it has been in decades. As a result, Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve has become known as one of the best birding locations in the entire state of Michigan!

In my short, two-hour visit on September 15^th, I was able to photograph eleven different birds, two of which I rarely ever see, one of which I have never seen in Michigan, one I’ve never seen anywhere, and one that’s usually so elusive that I rarely get to photograph it at all!

Rusty Blackbird

Up until about two years ago, I’d never even heard of a Rusty Blackbird and had no idea what they looked like. A fellow-birder/photographer had seen a few of them at one of our local birding spots, the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery. Not long afterwards, I went searching for them. When I happened upon a small group of birds I’d never seen before, I thought, this must be my mystery bird! It was the last time I’d see a Rusty Blackbird– until this visit to Arcadia Marsh.

According to the Cornell Lab’s website, All About Birds, “The Rusty Blackbird has undergone one of the sharpest and most mystifying recent declines of any North American songbird.” Some researches speculate that the severe hunting of beavers across hundreds of years has contributed to the reduction of suitable habitats for Rusty Blackbirds. Fewer beaver ponds mean fewer Rusty Blackbirds. Some attribute their decline to the loss of habitat caused by human ignorance or indifference. Others report that Rusty Blackbirds, particularly from the northeastern areas of North America, have been found with unusually high levels of mercury contamination; a contributing factor in all likelihood.

Savannah Sparrow

Not far from where the Rusty Blackbirds were perched, I watched a much smaller bird dart back and forth across my field of vision. It looked like a fairly nondescript bird from where I was standing on the boardwalk, but when I zoomed in, I could see a tiny bit of yellow above its eye. That got my attention! But it wasn’t until I returned home that I was able identify it as a Savannah Sparrow, a bird I’d never seen before!

Surprisingly, Savannah Sparrows are one of the most numerous songbirds in North America! They don’t visit backyard feeders, but they may come to your yard if you have open fields nearby. Or, if you keep a brush pile on your property, you might be lucky enough to see a small flock of them swoop down and take cover in the pile during migration or over the winter depending on where you live.

Cedar Waxwing

Also flitting about in the same trees as the Rusty Blackbirds and the Savannah Sparrows, were the Cedar Waxwings. These are such beautiful birds! Cornell Lab’s website All About Birds came up with one of the best descriptions I’ve found so far, “…the Cedar Waxwing is a silky, shiny collection of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow, accented with a subdued crest, rakish black mask, and brilliant-red wax droplets on the wing feathers.”

The one I found at the marsh was doing what waxwings do best, catching dragonflies out of the air and bringing them back to a nearby tree to eat.

**Cedar Waxwing with a tasty dragonfly**

Northern Harrier

Not far beyond the trees where I had been enjoying the Rusty Blackbirds, the Savannah Sparrows and the Cedar Waxwings, there was a large bird of prey flying low over the marsh, periodically diving into the vegetation and then reappearing. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked a lot like a Northern Harrier I had once seen in Florida a few years ago. I had never seen one in Michigan, but the Northern Harrier is a distinctive looking bird even from far away. It’s a slim, long-tailed hawk that likes to glide low over marshes and grasslands, holding its wings in a wide V-shape. Northern Harriers are mostly looking for small mammals and small birds, but they can also capture larger prey like rabbits and ducks!

Great Egret and Great Blue Heron

Wading through the shallow marsh waters on the opposite side of the boardwalk as the Northern Harrier, I could see a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron in search of their next meal. I have way too many pictures of Great Blue Herons, but very few of the Great Egret, especially here in Michigan. The Great Blue Herons can be found all over Michigan throughout the year, but the Great Egrets only pass through during migration.

The Great Egrets and the Great Blue Herons are both impressive looking birds, but the Egret is slightly smaller and more graceful looking. These two herons hunt by standing motionless or by wading ever so slowly through shallow water to capture a fish using a deadly jab with their large bills.

Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction for their feathers in the late nineteenth century, sparking some of the first laws to protect birds. The National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America, uses the Great Egret as its logo.

Green Heron

Just below the boardwalk where I was standing, there was a beautiful, little Green Heron who was also waiting patiently, like his much bigger cousins, to catch a quick lunch. All three of these birds are masters in the art of patience. They can stand motionless seemingly forever waiting to stab or grab an unsuspecting fish, frog or tadpole with their dagger-like bills.

Most interesting is the fact that the Green Heron is one of the world’s few tool-using bird species! It often creates fishing lures with things like bread crusts, insects, or feathers, dropping them on the surface of the water hoping something tasty will take the bait!

Belted Kingfisher

Most of the time, this is the bird that’s hardest for me to ‘capture.’ It is very skittish, and I swear it knows that I’m on my way to take its picture long before I even leave the house! At the Arcadia Marsh, though, the Belted Kingfishers seemed oblivious to humans. I’m guessing these kingfishers are acclimated to all the foot traffic on the boardwalk and have learned to just ignore the movement. As a result, I was able to take a dozen or more pictures before this particular bird decided she wanted to go elsewhere to fish.

Belted kingfishers are one of the few bird species where the female is more colorful than the male, sporting a chestnut or rust-colored band across her chest. Males are all blue-gray and white. In the pictures below, the kingfisher on the left is female and the one on the right is male.

Red-winged Blackbirds

Red-winged blackbirds are one of the most abundant birds across North America. Wherever there’s standing water and vegetation, you’ll most likely see or hear a Red-winged Blackbird! In late February or early March, it’s the familiar sound of the returning Red-winged Blackbirds that warms my heart and foreshadows Spring’s impending arrival.

Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is a relatively plain looking, little bird that can be easily overlooked and underappreciated, but every time I see one belting out a song from the top of a tree or a nearby bush, I can’t help but call them endearing. Song Sparrows seem so earnest in their attempts to sing a beautiful song, that they can make any ordinary day feel happier!

Black-capped Chickadee

Last, but certainly not least, is the affable little chickadee. I never grow tired of trying to capture them. They are almost universally considered “cute” thanks to their oversized heads, tiny bodies, and insatiable curiosity about everything– including humans. Black-capped Chickadees are one of the easiest birds to attract to your feeders and one of the first birds to come to your outstretched hand for seeds.

**Feeding a Black-capped Chickadee by hand (taken at a different preserve)**

Even if you’re not a birder or a photographer, the Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve is worth putting on your bucket list if you just want a nice place to enjoy a little slice of nature with an easily accessible trail. Before your visit, check out this website for directions, rules, maps, and more detailed information:

Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve (UA)

On the Road Again

June 5, 2023

We just returned from our first real get-away adventure in almost three years. For the better part of the last three years, we had stayed close to home waiting for the pandemic to end. When it was mostly over, and we were ready to travel, our aging dog could no longer go with us or stay in a kennel. She needed a great deal of care. On April 18^th of this year, we had to say our final goodbyes. It was a bittersweet moment in time. After a stressful, isolating pandemic and a heart-wrenching year of doggie hospice, we needed to cut loose.

Our dear, little dog, Brandy who had a long, slow decline.

We headed out to the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. My husband, Mel, had registered to attend a Tenkara fishing get-together/campout near Westby, Wisconsin and I tagged along to take pictures. After three years of home-grown subject matter, I was eager to explore a new environment.

**A beautiful columbine growing along the roadside**

The Driftless area is approximately 8500 square miles of land, mostly in Southwest Wisconsin, that was untouched by glaciers during the last ice age. The term “driftless” indicates a lack of glacial drift, the deposits of silt, gravel, and rock that retreating glaciers leave behind. As a result, the landscape is characterized by steep, limestone-based hills, spring fed waterfalls, deeply carved river valleys, and the largest concentration of cold-water trout streams in the world! It was a perfect place for Mel to go Tenkara fishing.

Tenkara is a method of fly fishing that originated in the mountains of Japan. It uses very long rods with fixed lengths of casting line attached to the rod-tip, and simple, wet flies as lures. This method of fishing was developed to catch trout in free-flowing rivers like the ones found in the Driftless Areas of Wisconsin. I don’t fish, but I was happy enough to go wandering down the back roads near where Mel was fishing to look for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and flowers; but not GNATS!

Those little buggers came at me with a vengeance! They were in my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. They were on my sweaty skin. They landed wherever they could find moisture! Gnats are drawn to the carbon dioxide we exhale, as well as the sweet, fruity smells of our shampoos and lotions. There’s no way to get away from them! I was just one giant, sweet-smelling moisture buffet!

**Deer on the edge of the road who was curious about my presence**

I hustled back to the car as fast as I could to see if my insect repellent Buff would help. (https://www.buff.com/us/insect-shieldr-neckwear) A Buff is a long tube of thin material that you can pull over your head to cover everything but your eyes. My eyes were protected, at least somewhat, by my glasses. The Buff was a tremendous help; it allowed me take pictures, but it didn’t stop all the gnats who really wanted to get me from crawling into my Buff or going behind my glasses! I did have bug repellent on, but it was no match for these guys! Later, we went to a store and found a repellent that was recommended for gnats and it seemed to work for about an hour before needing to be replenished. It was a welcome relief!

**Me and my Buff fending off the gnats!!**

In spite of the gnats, and the unseasonably hot temperatures, it was good to be on the road again; to engage in our favorite hobbies in a new environment, to sleep outside in our tent and hear the barred owls calling, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you?” and to wake up in the morning to the sound of birds filling the air with their joyful noise. It was a welcome respite from the unwelcome ‘noise’ in our everyday lives.

**Dot-tailed White-faced dragonfly in the obelisk position to cool off**

In just a few days, we’ll be on the road again; to the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota for a five-day canoe trip with friends.

Can’t wait!

**Great Blue Heron overhead (note the shadow of its head on the lower wing!)**

**A teeny tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird high up on a utility wire!**

**Snapping Turtle feasting on the tadpoles**

A Dog Named Norman

April 10, 2023

One of the many joys of a picture walk is never knowing what I’ll find or who I’ll meet along the way. Yesterday, I met a dog named Norman. It brought a smile to my face. Why would anyone name a dog, Norman, I wondered? It seemed like a very formal moniker for such a small, scruffy little beast. So, I posed the question to the human attached to the other end of the leash, “Why Norman?”

“Well,” she said, “I named him after my dad who recently passed away.”

**White-tailed deer, a common visitor on my walks**

That was even funnier, I thought, to name a dog after your dead parent, but I kept my chuckle to myself. Instead, I shared the fact that my own father was also deceased and was also named Norman! For the life of me, though, I couldn’t even imagine naming a dog after my dead parent! It just didn’t seem right–and it conjured up an unappealing visual in my head of walking my dad on a leash and cleaning up all his messes!

Earlier in the day, long before I met up with Norman, I had been walking along the creek behind our house hoping to find a wood duck in the early morning light. I expected one to swim out from the cattails along the bank, but it splashed down suddenly in the water next to me and jolted me out of my quiet reverie! Later, I was pleasantly surprised to find a female northern shoveler and a male blue-winged teal swimming in close proximity to the newly-arrived wood duck. What a great find! Both the shoveler and the teal are rare visitors to our creek!

Once the early morning light started to change, and no longer had that soft golden glow, I wandered through the woods adjacent to the creek and headed over to a nearby preserve where I hoped to find a loon. I had never seen a loon here in Michigan, but knew that one had recently been spotted on the lake at the preserve and hoped I’d get a picture!

It took me awhile to find the loon. It’s not a very colorful bird, and it does have a habit of swimming rather low in the water. Even on a relatively small body of water, like the one I was visiting, loons can be difficult to spot.

**The painted turtles were out in droves!**

While I had my camera focused on the loon, something in my peripheral vision distracted me. It was an Osprey flying towards me on the left with a good-sized fish in its talons!! I turned to take its picture and didn’t have time to change the settings on my camera. I just started shooting as fast as I could and hoping for the best! In photography, this method of shooting is often called ‘spray and pray!’ Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s always worth a try.

**My ‘spray and pray’ shot of the Osprey with the fish!**

As I continued walking around the lake, I was delighted to find two great blue herons in relatively close proximity to one other! I’ve never seen two blue herons at the same time except at a rookery. A short time later, I spotted a third!

One of the birds that never takes me by surprise is the Canada goose! It’s absolutely everywhere, but quite easy to overlook as a desirable photography subject. Even the most mundane of subjects, like the Canada goose, though, can make for a beautiful photograph given the right circumstances and a little bit of ingenuity. If nothing else, Canada geese are great subjects for practicing one’s photography skills; they’re not hard to find, they’re easier to photograph than smaller, flightier birds, and they really are stunning in their own right.

**Canada Goose in peaceful repose only a few feet from where I was taking pictures of the wood duck**

**A busy little muskrat taking a snack break along the edge of Asylum Lake**

On this particularly warm spring day, I also saw swans, turtles, grackles, and one very busy muskrat chewing away on something tasty; totally oblivious to my presence. Up in the trees surrounding the lake, there was a musical assortment of robins, chickadees, bluebirds, red-winged blackbirds, golden-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, and one little brown creeper scurrying up a tree.

**Little** **Brown Creeper** **scurrying up a tree**

I always head out on these picture walks wondering what kinds of surprises I’ll find or who I’ll meet along the way. Yesterday, my best surprise was the osprey with the fish, but the funniest surprise was the dog named Norman, and the story of his name. I’m still smiling!

Winter Morning Musings

December 27, 2022

As I sit here in the early morning darkness on a late December day with a hot cup of tea in my hand and a toasty fire in front of me, I’m thinking back to the warmer, brighter days of summer where I would have already left the house by now; where I would have had my camera slung across my shoulder as I rushed out the door, not wanting to miss that “golden hour” of photography just past sunrise. This time of year, though, there’s absolutely no need to rush. The sun won’t rise for another two hours and the golden hour (if the sun comes out at all), won’t happen for at least three!

Pileated Woodpecker during the ‘golden hour’ just before sunset

Male and female Mallards during the morning ‘golden hour’

Female Ruddy Duck and a male Gadwall during an evening ‘golden hour’

We haven’t seen much of the sun this December. In fact, it’s been “mostly cloudy” or totally overcast every single day. When the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies rather than mostly cloudy, I’m elated! It means there will be at least a few moments of sunshine to enjoy during the day! But then I wondered: if there’s sunshine to be had on a partly cloudy day, what’s the definition of partly sunny day? According to the National Weather Service, they’re exactly the same thing! If I ran the circus, it would always be called a partly sunny day –a much happier outlook than cloudy!

Male Green-winged Teal during a morning ‘golden hour’ and a Northern Flicker during an evening ‘golden hour’

Even on the sunniest of winter days, though, taking pictures is never easy, especially when it’s bitterly cold and the temperatures fall into the single digits, like they did this past week during our “blizzard of the century.” One day it was only 3 degrees above zero with a wind chill of minus 17! I went outside anyway, mostly to see if I could stay warm enough under multiple layers of clothing and still propel myself forward!

Testing the elements: Wind Chill minus 17 degrees!!

On that particularly frigid day, I went for a walk without my camera just to see how it would feel. Surprisingly, I was so hot under all those layers that I worked up a sweat! It wasn’t so much the multiple layers of clothing that made me hot, but the act of walking. If I had been standing still taking pictures, I would not have stayed warm for very long! Luckily, whenever I do get the urge to take pictures on a bitterly cold day, I can just step out our back door, take a few shots, and pop back in as soon as I get cold. There’s plenty of wildlife right outside our door to keep me entertained for hours.

“Eh, what’s up, Doc?” (One of our backyard visitors)

Male and female Northern Cardinals in our backyard

The Red Squirrels provide plenty of entertainment on a daily basis!

Most of the time I can keep my body quite warm, but my fingers eventually freeze. I’ve tried a wide variety of mittens and gloves with varying degrees of success, but any mittens thick enough to keep my fingers from freezing, are too thick to operate the tiny buttons on a camera! It’s a frustrating dilemma that I’ve been trying to solve for quite some time.

I thought these Canada Geese looked beautiful in the late afternoon sun!

Female Dark-eyed Junco and a male House Finch in our yard.

Great Blue Heron on a fishing expedition over the open ponds at a local fish hatchery

A few years ago, I started adding hand warmers to my pockets. They were a really big help initially, but none of them ever stayed warm enough, long enough to keep me happy. So, I went online to research what other outdoor enthusiasts were using and ultimately ordered a pair of Ocoopa Rechargeable Hand Warmers that would reportedly stay hot for 15 hours!! They will arrive just in time for an unseasonably warm break in the weather and a dismal forecast of rain. Perfect timing!

Female Common Goldeneye and a male Hooded Merganser

I love the challenge of winter photography and all the unique picture opportunities it affords, but I really miss all the colors, and all the creatures, and all the different ways that taking pictures in the warmer months is so much easier!!

Another one of the beautiful deer in our backyard

American Tree Sparrow on a very snowy day

Male Northern Pintail and a male Red-breasted Nuthatch

Most of all, I miss the sunshine—and my warm fingers.