October 26, 2026
Yesterday morning was cool, crisp and still with the promise of sunshine waiting in the wings–perfect conditions for a picture walk at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, where several large ponds and an abundance of trees attract a wide variety of birds, both large and small.
I love these early morning walks! The anticipation of what I might find feels a bit like Christmas morning as a child. Will I see something new? Will there be birds migrating through? Will the Wilson’s Snipes be back? I dress quickly, pack up my camera, and contemplate all the surprises I might encounter.
I arrived at the fish hatchery shortly after sunrise, hoping to capture a variety of birds in the warm glow of the early morning light. It wasn’t long before a flurry of activity in one of the nearby trees caught my eye. The birds were close enough to photograph, but were flitting about so quickly that it was impossible for me to identify them or get a decent shot.
The dilemma I often face, when the ambient lighting is wonderful, but quickly fleeting, is whether to stay and wait for a bird to cooperate, or move on and hope something better comes along. In today’s scenario, I took a few ‘Hail Mary’ shots of the elusive birds and moved on, hoping I could identify them later on my computer. The frenetic little birds turned out to be Ruby-crowned Kinglets! If I had stayed in one place, I might have eventually gotten a good shot, but would have missed all the other birds I saw later in my walk–bird photography tradeoffs!
Every year around this time, the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery drains some of its ponds. The drained ponds, which I call mud flats, draw in both shore birds and songbirds. The birds I was hoping to see again this year were the Wilson’s Snipes. They shows up every autumn, but are always so well-camouflaged that finding them can be a significant challenge.
Wilson’s Snipes are medium-sized, pudgy shorebirds with short, stocky legs and a long, straight bill. Thanks to their cryptic brown and buff coloration and secretive nature, they can be very hard to see. Snipes favor muddy pond edges, damp fields, and other wet, open habitats where they forage by methodically probing in the mud for earthworms and other invertebrates. As they feed, their heads move up and down like a sewing machine running at slow speed. Wilson’s Snipes are migrating through Michigan right now and the fish hatchery seems to be a regular stopping point for them.
There were dozens of Killdeer out in the middle of the mud flats, which were much easier to find and photograph than the shy, reclusive Snipes. With their bright white neck and belly, contrasting black bands, and noisy chatter, Killdeer are impossible to miss and beautiful to capture.
Other visitors on the mud flats yesterday include Rusty Blackbirds and American Pipits. The Rusty Blackbirds are such darkly colored birds that they blended in perfectly with the mucky remains of the pond. Later in my walk, I was able to get a few shots of them up in a tree, where they could show off their beautiful rust-colored feathers against a much more forgiving background. Sadly, these birds are one of the fastest declining North American land birds; climate change, habitat loss, and the poisoning of blackbird flocks are listed as contributing factors.
The American Pipit– which I probably would have missed entirely if another birder hadn’t pointed it out–was a bird I’ve never seen before. It’s a small, slender, ground-dwelling songbird with grayish-brown plumage, a thin bill, long legs, and a habit of constantly bobbing its tail. For a few brief minutes, there were two Pipits on the mud flats, and then they were gone. They’ll be headed south soon along with the Kinglets, Snipes, and Rusty Blackbirds.
After a relatively long photo shoot at the first mud flat, I wandered over to a second one to see who else might be visiting. Within a very short time, I was totally distracted by a flutter of bird activity along the far edges of the muck. When I zoomed in to check it out, I discovered they were Eastern Bluebirds. Slowly and cautiously, I moved in closer, trying to get a better angle and hoping not to scare them away. Once I found a good spot, I started noticing dozens of Cedar Waxwings darting about overhead and plucking berries from the branches.
Cedar Waxwings and Bluebirds are migratory birds, but if Michigan has an abundance of persistent winter fruits and berries like crabapples, cedar berries, and hackberries, both birds will stay in our area for the winter. Bluebirds may also visit backyard feeders if you put out mealworms, suet, sunflower chips, or bark butter–a soft, spreadable high-energy bird food designed to be smeared directly onto tree bark, branches, or specialized feeders.
It was a quintessential fall day and I was totally immersed in the wonder of it all: crisp, colorful fall leaves, cool morning air, sunny skies, flocks of geese honking overhead, and the heartwarming sound of the Sandhill Cranes in the distance.
It doesn’t get much better than that!
