Dog Days of Summer, Van Buren County Style, Part II

Checking for more turtles!

Today Storm joined me for a walk on the trails at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery. Storm is our ten year old male Landseer Newfoundland. As he left answers to the p-mail he read on the bushes and posts, I remembered that it really is a lot more fun to walk Shine, most of the time. But after a few minutes, I reminded him that all those obedience titles before and after his name should be good for something in everyday life. Being the good-natured dog he is, he settled in to walk with me.

The big soft-shelled turtle was sunning itself again today. It uses one of the big logs in the small pond immediately south of the viewing platform. If you walk up quietly, as I did today, it might not spook. We ran across another big turtle on the back side of the big pond. Storm was highly intrigued by the big snapper we found sunning itself on the shoulder of the trail. I was relieved to find that I'm younger than I thought, or maybe we're both just equally old, because I was able to drag Storm back before the snapper latched on to him. It had a couple of good chances to get him, but was actually pretty mellow for a snapper. It didn't even hiss much.

After a refreshing stop to soak his paws in the pond, we made our way back to the car. Storm gathered in a few new fans around the visitor's center and parking lot. He loves people and it shows. After we shared a bottle of water, he surprised me by being able to leap lightly back into the car, since often after a walk he needs a boost.We headed home happy that we made the most of this beautiful day, in this amazing place.

Signs of Spring

One of the local sign of impending spring is the appearance of the blue barrels on 45th Street. The old maples here have been harvested for their sap for many years.

 

Waiting for the sap to rise

Diving Duck Bonanza at Maple Lake

Oodles of diving ducks were concentrated at the north end of Maple Lake in Paw Paw today. This is the area where the boat launch ramp is located. The ice situation presently steers the birds close enough to shore for some excellent viewing opportunities. Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and Redhead are all present, numbering in the dozens for each species. Common Goldeneye are also numerous, although less so than the others. There is still a single Ring-necked Duck hanging out here, as well as the ever present semi-domesticated Mallards, etc. I'd suggest that if you want to see these birds, you go soon. The next few days are forecasted to be warm, and the ice that is concentrating the birds will soon be gone.

Hooded Mergansers

Common, Goldeneye and Merganser

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Some of the many Mergs and Goldeneye

For directions on birding Maple Lake, see the post previous to this one. Good luck, all!

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery New Years Day

New Year's Day we trekked to Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery, which is on the south side of M43 in Van Buren County, about five miles east of M40.  Waterfowl diversity is down, but there were still some nice birds to be seen, including eleven Trumpeter Swans, the most I have ever seen there in twelve years. For five or six years there was only one Trumpeter out here, but numbers and nesting success have gone up since Mute Swan control began.

Trumpeter Swan - no that isn't a yellow spot - it's some ice

Trumpeter family circles

 

                                                                 This nice male Pintail was very cooperative. 

 

American Wigeon, Gadwall, and Mallard - hunters sometimes call Mallards "Greenheads!"

 

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery - go there if you are in the area. It is a great way to start a New Year of birding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

Another Kind of Blossoming

This time of year it takes me forever to get anywhere. I am distracted by the color, the harvest, birds, farm stands, and just the beautiful light that it seems only happens in the fall. This morning was typical. I was on my way to the library for some research. It's about a fifteen minute drive. I left home at 10:00 AM. About a mile down the street I had to stop and take this picture.

The earth rests after the harvest.

I'll spare you the other four pictures I took. Then I made pretty good time for another 3 miles or so until I came upon these characters. I was able to roll down the window, get the camera out of the case, boot it up, zoom in and still catch them before they quite got away.

Sandhill crane family

And another look

Then I made it all the way to the bank, where I spent about five minutes. Now I was about .2 miles from the library, but somehow my car didn't turn in there - Briggs' Pond and Maple Lake are right down the road. Why not? 

Briggs' Pond from Red Arrow Highway

This female Peking Duck disturbed the serenity of the pond by quacking loudly at me until she realized I really DIDN'T have any bread for her! Her two following males just looked embarrrassed.

After this, I finally headed to the library - total elapsed time since I left home - one hour. I'm not sorry!

Harvest time

The grape harvest is in full swing - suddenly the rural roadsides around the vineyards are filled with parked cars, trailers, crates, porta-johns, and dozens of people bent over the vines. At the winery in town, large trucks are loading up the pulp from the pressings and taking it away. This is what the fuss is all about!

Wedding flight - Bug alert

I caught this termite flight in the woods behind our house the other day. So fascinating! Of course, I hope they don't wind up starting up a new colony under my porch!

This shower almost caught Shine and me during our morning walk. I love the cloudscapes this time of year.

 

The sun is never too far away, though. 

 

But what's this I see peeking out from amongst the trees? 

 

Yes, folks, I think it's autumn I see in the distance over the ripening bean fields. The blackbirds know all about it. They are gathering in their fall flocks already. Most years a few thousand of them do this in the trees around our house. It's like being a in a stadium full of bird baseball fans! They chatter and swear and argue for a couple of days. Then suddenly we realize what the ringing quiet means. They are gone. 

 

 

They Are Everywhere!

I checked out the lakeshore at South Haven yesterday afternoon. There were a few Barn Swallows moving through, but that was pretty much it for birds, except for the expected gulls and hybrid mallards. It was still a great day to be outside, however.

South Haven Lighthouse 9-3-2012

There were a couple of young Northern Cardinals in the shrubbery, and I found a beautiful pokeweed plant.  I love pokeweed. It looks like it is from another planet. The fruiting stems look like the tentacles of a monster from a 50's Hollywood B movie, and I am not sure what is going to grow out of those fruiting bodies! : ) 

Happy Fall to all!

The Box Turtle

The sun felt good on his back. He did not understand the passage of time as humans count it, but he knew when it was time to sleep and time to wake up. He knew every stick and plant and rock in the small area he had lived all of his long life. Generally, he managed to stay out of the notice of humans. Today was different, however. As the sun warmed him, a loud noise rushed by him and made him draw in his head a little. The noise faded in the distance, then reversed itself and grew louder again. A sharp banging noise made him draw his head in farther. The gravel crunched, crunched, crunched. A human crouched over him and made clickety click noises, all the while making some kind of mouth noise. He watched her curiously. Then she picked him up from his sunny spot and put him in the grass off the road, all the while making mouth noises. Then she left him. He felt a moment of faint annoyance and then forgot her.

The Gracefulness of Swans

The water is still quite shallow in portions of Briggs' Pond, forcing these Mute Swans to abandon their gracefulness as they cross the sand bar into the deeper portion of the pond. They remind me of a toy that I had as a child - I pulled it behind me on a string and the head and feet bobbed up and down as it rolled. I guess I am dating myself here! : ) See if you can tell when the mosquito landed in my eye!

And maybe someone out there would be willing to help me with my tree cataloging project in my yard. Most of the references I have are pretty confusing. When it comes to tree knowledge, I am about 5 years old. Today my question is, do these trees look like shagbark hickory.  They are so tall, I can't get a decent picture of the leaves, unfortunately. 

tree a

tree b

another view of tree b higher on the trunk

Any and all help gratefully received!

Ok, one last picture - this one is leaves. 

Thanks, again!

This Old Tree

This is one of my favorite trees in Van Buren County. It stands on the East side of 48th St. just a little bit north of 48th Ave. It always makes me think of the Tree of Life, and when I think of the Tree of Life, I think of this tree.It stands defiantly on the edge of this cornfield and creates its own crop circle because it shades the corn from the sun. I imagine its tough roots diving deep for the center of the Earth and its branches reaching up to touch the sky, and it feels like it will always be here, immune to time.

Van Buren County Roller Coaster

Looking north on 60th Street from 48th Avenue in Van Buren County.

     My mom used to shudder when the Midwest was mentioned. "I can't stand it there. I need mountains, it's so flat!" I grew up with mountains myself, and when we were contemplating moving to Michigan, I thought about what she said, a little uneasy. What if I needed mountains, too?
     Well, luckily for me, the perfectly flat topography I was imagining turned out to be nonexistent in real life.  Actually, Van Buren County turned out to be quite rolling in spots. While they aren't mountains, the Webster Hills are tall enough generate quite a thrill for low level risk takers such as myself. Periodically, I drive to the top, roll down the windows, 'push off', and let the wheels turn as they will until I get to the bottom. Sometimes, I might go as fast as fifty or sixty miles per hour!  And sometimes, I just coast down with my foot on the brake so I can enjoy the view.

48th Avenue at 60th Street in Van Buren County, looking west

I am not sure why I took this picture.  I love the rusted old gate that goes nowhere, the fact that there are three padlocks of various ages, but the only one that is locked is the one on the end of the chain, not accomplishing much.  What does it make you think of?

    

Until next time.

Rain!

Our area of Van Buren County has been particularly hard hit by the drought.  Storms go north of us, storms go south of us, but we just haven't been able to catch a break.  On a personal level, I have been doing everything I can to help out.  I watered bushes and trees that I have never needed to water before. I have negotiated with every deity that I think might have an interest.  Today I even went so far as to hose off my car.  That must have been what did it, because when I came home from Kalamazoo on I94, I could see gathering clouds in the distance.  By the time I got to Paw Paw, I could see rain falling off in the distance.  Instead of going to the library as was my plan, I turned off by Maple Lake toward the north, then west, then north again, trying to intercept the storm.

Success!

Some thirsty soybeans get a drink

    I drove through roadside puddles that momentarily floated my car, and I drove with the window down and my arm hanging out so I could refresh my memory of the sounds, the feel, the smell of the rain. When I completed my interrupted trip to the library,  two little boys were dancing around in the library parking lot with their tongues out.  Their mom put the skids on their plans to take off their clothes so they could take a shower with the soap suds appearing on the asphalt. A family of crows didn't need to take off their clothes to shower.  They flew up into the high top of a bare tree and started preening and shaking their feathers as the rain washed the dust from their plumage. All around, people were going about their business with relieved smiles on their faces, commenting on the rain. I don't know if this is the end of the drought, but it certainly feels as though Mother Nature at least threw us a life preserver today.

Can you find the Great Blue Heron?

Great Blue Heron, Maple Lake, Paw Paw

Well, maybe he isn't that hard to find, but I love the way his legs look like branches and the curve of his neck follows those of the branches in front of him.

This Cedar Waxwing was playing flycatcher using the same perch that hosted a Belted Kingfisher the other day.

                                                        

This spot is getting drier and drier. What was good shorebird habitat is turning into grassland.  Farmers in Van Buren County are starting to plow under some crops that have died in the drought, both corn and soy beans, and even some young blueberry patches. These are the kinds of times that remind us that we do not exist independently from the natural world.

Endangered barns

I took this picture today, to remind myself why I have decided to focus on taking pictures of the old barns of Van Buren County.  This pile of rubble is all that remains of one of my favorite barns.  It was a white Gambrel style barn with clerestory windows. It sat near the intersection of CR 374 and 45th Street.  I frequently travel this way, and I would almost always say or think to myself, "I love that barn, I should take a picture." Well, last year it fell down from the weight of its years, and I never did take those pictures.

Cr 374 and 45th Street, Van Buren County

So today, I kept my promise to another old barn. This one is at CR374 and 41st Street in Van Buren County.

CR 374 and 41st Street, Van Buren County

     Barn Swallows fly in and out through the gaps in the siding, and zip back and forth across the fields that surround it.  This spring, Dickcissel, Red-winged Blackbirds, Field Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlark kept it company with their songs.