Van Buren County Summer Chorus

        As I go about my outdoor activities around the homestead, I am constantly reminded of how very lucky I feel to have put down roots here. Today a Scarlet Tanager has been singing almost nonstop from the treetops behind the garage. A Gray Catbird skulking in the lilac bushes near the workshop makes me giggle with his attempts to imitate the tanager, his catbird accent clearly audible. The local House Wren attends to his many nests while clearly announcing this is his place. A little deeper in the woods behind the garage the beautiful flutelike voice of the resident Wood Thrush sings counterpoint to the tanager. A Red-eyed Vireo holds up his end of the concert, as well. Holding up the flycatcher section is the Eastern Wood-pewee and Eastern Phoebe. And for occasional variation, a Baltimore Oriole and Yellow-throated Vireo chime in every so often. My favorite musical performances happen in my yard, on a summer day, in Van  Buren County.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is my evening guest

This time of year spring migration is heating up, and the cast of characters in my yard changes daily. I usually walk my dogs with the leash in one hand and my zeiss binos in the other. Usually I am sorting through various warblers, sparrows, vireos and flycatchers. While I was doing this tonight, however, I was distracted by the honking of a Canada Goose that flew over. I looked up and immediately saw another bird tagging along behind the goose. As it skimmed the treetops I thought, "Great Blue Heron - no, WOW Black-crowned Night-heron, which was exciting in its own right, as I have never had one in the yard. But as the bird startled me by swooping up to a perch in a dead ash tree, I realized it was a yard bird/county bird/state bird for me, and one that is extremely hard to find in Southwest Michigan - a Yellow-crowned Night-heron. I watched it for about ten minutes as it croaked and kept a wary eye on a crow that was very interested in the stranger. Finally, I decided to take a chance and run inside for the camera. Not only did it wait for pics, but it waited for the scope, AND the pics were in focus, mostly! Here he is, a totally fabulous Yellow-crowned Night-heron, complete with nuptial plumes!

Bird on!

One Summer Day

It is worth a blog post. Today we had summer. It was hot. It was buggy. It was humid. It was great.

This beautiful cicada was near the end of its long life. The wings looked like someone had spilled golden glitter on them, but I couldn't make that show up in the photo, except for a hint on the edge crossing the back.

 

Cardinal flowers are blooming abundantly along the Paw Paw, at least at the bridge over 48th Avenue. Unfortunately, these long-distance pics with my digital point and shoot were the best I could do.

These mushrooms were growing out of the heart of a half dead maple tree next to the East Arlington Baptist Church. They were the size of salad plates! They looked vaguely oriental to me.

And, yes, we also have birds. A pair of Sandhill Cranes and their single surviving chick were crossing 44th Avenue yesterday between 48th and 50th Streets. They paused long enough for me to take a few pictures from the car.

 The local turkey family is also doing well, but they don't cooperate for photography. I am happy to report that the two hens have managed to raise eight chicks to the half-grown stage. It has been great fun to have them hanging around the yard. We see them almost everyday.

I hope you all have managed to find a little bit of summer to enjoy this year. Until next time.

All photos by Dixie Burkhart. Use with permission only.

Idle Summer Thoughts

Like most of the rest of Michigan, we have slipped into the fullness of summer here in Van Buren County. The corn is as high as, well, maybe not the elephant's eye, but certainly his elbow. Young rabbits are everywhere, making me think of renaming the months according to their most noteworthy features. Julius Caesar has been gone for a long time, but hundreds of bunnies are risking their young lives on the roads now. I would rename July Leveret. Yes, I know the word leveret refers to a European hare in its first year, but leveret is such a great word, isn't it? It deserves to come out and play more often. Or I could call it Nuthatch Moon, for the broods of noisy nuthatch fledglings chasing their parents through the trees in our yard as I am writing this. Or Blueberry Moon. Goodness knows, blueberries are a striking feature of July. Or maybe I won't name the month at all. Maybe I will just let it be what it will, let it define itself by its own events, playing its part as the wheel of the seasons turns.

Yummy!

Farmer's Market Livens Up Lawrence

Welcome to the Lawrence Farmer's Market

The village of Lawrence, (exit 52 off I94), is usually pretty sleepy - the sort of town that you can drive through on Red Arrow Highway without even realizing it. But on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 1 pm, it wakes up and becomes a lively place. The cause is the Lawrence Farmer's Market, and today was the first market of the season. When I visited around noon, there was still quite a bit of foot traffic, and lots of visiting going on. Several of the local organizations had fund raising booths and there were a variety of crafts, baked goods, and honey and soap products available. Produce is still on the light side, but there were a few berries, flowers and herbs available. A local woodworker operating under the name Wood Be Beautiful had a nice selection of his wares on display.

Intriguing handmade wooden boxes

This hickory bench was priced at $70

This local landmark, the Circus House, is across the street from the farmer's market

  Local lore states this house was a wintering residence for a circus family, and that, even though it has changed hands a few times, each owner is asked to commit to maintaining its bright color scheme.

I never know what I will find at the Lawrence Farmer's Market, but, as the produce starts to come in, I know it will be on my weekly list of shopping stops. There may be  live music, free range meats, or a selection of artisan cheeses. Whatever is available, I recommend checking it out if you are in the area. 


All photos by Dixie Burkhart
I am not affiliated in any way with the Lawrence Farmer's Market or any of its vendors.

Migration Heats Up Van Buren County

    Today's walk at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery coincided with what was, for me, the first true day of spring. There was so much bird song that it was hard to sort through it. We found Gray Catbirds building a nest behind the equipment barn. The Trumpeter Swans were working on their nest, as well. The male pulled vegetation off the bottom, piled it at the edge of the nest, and the female arranged it to her liking. We had three species of vireos, five species of warblers, and eight species of shorebirds.
     Speaking of shorebirds, we saw this guy, who stood out in the crowd of Least, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers.

Photos by Dixie Burkhart

   

I have seen tons of Pectoral Sandpipers. I thought I knew what they looked like, but this guy did not look like any Pectoral I have ever seen. I was forced to realize that, although I have seen a bunch, I guess I have never had one at my feet where I could actually see the details. My toolbox for sandpiper ID is not comprehensive. 99 percent of the sandpipers I have seen have been at the outer limits of my optics, where I am dependent on size and shape relative to the other birds present, and one or two obvious plumage issues, like the clearly defined breast markings on the breast of the Pectoral. So I guess the question of the day is, is it possible to see a bird too well? : ) And the lesson of the day is that you are never done getting to know a species of bird, even ones that you see all the time. There is always different lighting, different substrate, different distances, that can change what you thought you knew.

We wound up with 48 species for the day, at the hatchery, at least. I added a few more at home, as did some of the other people who joined me for the walk. It is some kind of an indicator of how dramatically things have changed today that I added nine species to my year list, even though I have been out birding almost every day for weeks, at least for a few minutes a day.

For those who would like more details, here is a link to our checklist on ebird.

Email me at dixieburk@aol.com for more information about birding Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery. Until next time, Bird on!

Trip Report: Closing out April at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

It was damp, it was windy, it was overcast. The sensible people (everyone except me) stayed home. I almost got back in the car and headed back home for some hot chocolate. Then I decided, since I hadn't been there for about ten days, I would at least check and see how the Trumpeter Swans were coming along. As I geared up, I found a Pine Warbler singing in the trees over the parking lot.
  
This fellow was hunting the show pond.

Great Blue Heron

I headed back around the hatchery buildings where I found this little guy sitting on the fence. The fuss with the scope and camera didn't bother him and I was able to get a few nice shots.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow, as opposed to the Southern Rough-winged Swallow

        Yes, there is such a beast, but it has never been seen in the US, as far as I know, and I really don't want to try to separate the two. I have enough trouble telling them from Bank Swallows!

     Yellow Warblers were everywhere - my first of the year for Van Buren County. The female Trumpeter Swan was busy building her nest while the male kept watch near by. Most of the ducks are gone, but there was a single American Coot left of the hundreds that were there two weeks ago, a few Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddies, Mallards, and a really gorgeous pair of Wood Ducks. 

      From the big pond I went through the woods, where I picked up my FOY Warbling Vireos for Michigan. Towhees were also everywhere, as well as Yellow-rumped Warblers. 

       The first pond I came to was still dry, but there wasn't even a Killdeer to be seen. I hit the jackpot when I got to the ponds beyond, however. The first clue was the Spotted Sandpiper that flew by on stiff wings. It landed along the edge in the pond where the gallinules nested last year. Then I saw a second bird which I thought was a peep at first. It turned out to be an American Pipit, though. Before I could look as much as I wanted a Red-winged Blackbird chased it off. 

       Maybe it is just me, but I can casually look at a mudflat full of shorebirds and not see a thing. It is only after I look carefully through scope or binocs or both that the birds slowly start to take shape to me. That was what happened today. First I saw this guy stuffing himself with some fat tadpoles. 

Greater Yellowlegs

 Then I spotted my FOY Solitary Sandpiper.

Solitary Sandpiper

There were also a few Least Sandpipers, early enough that when I put them in ebird, the check box came up asking for more details. 

Least Sandpiper - note the brownish color and the yellow legs.

Just to confuse matters, there was also this Least, definitely not as far along in his spring molt as the first one. 

The real excitement of the day started, though, when I got the scope on this bird. 

?! Note the bright orange legs.

There are two species of a shorebird called a Redshank - Common and Spotted. They look a LOT like this guy. And you probably have a better shot at winning the lottery than seeing one in the lower 48. After some sweating and stalking and a few dozen pictures, and a shout-out to Kip Miller (thank you, Kip!), I was able to confirm that it was just a really orange-legged Lesser Yellowlegs, before I wound up in the ER with a heart attack! If you Google Common Redshank and look through the photos, you can see why I was getting worked up about this bird. I now feel I am well prepared for the next Redshank that crosses my path. As a public service, I will get down to details in my next post. : ) 

In all, I had great looks at around thirty shorebirds of five different species. The total for the day was 48 species for the hatchery only. 

 

Don't forget that the weather is improving, the birds are moving, and we will be walking the hatchery again next Wednesday, May 7, starting at 9am. Drop me a line if you need further details. Hope to see you there.  Until then, Bird On!

All photos in this post by Dixie Burkhart. Feel free to borrow, but give credit, please. It is just nice! : )

Winter in the Rear View Mirror at Last!

After a winter that seemed like it would never end, a few brave wildflowers finally raised their heads last week. I think I have the ID's correct - any corrections more than welcome!

Rue Anemone

Spring Beauty peeks out of last fall's leaves.

Dutchman's Breeches is one of my favorites. Too bad they bloom so briefly.

Toad Lily dresses up the junk pile.

May Apple always tickle us with its sudden appearance - like an alien army that appears overnight.

All photos by Dixie Burkhart. 

Thrill of the Chase

Recently birders in southwest Michigan were in a frenzy over the presence of, not just one, but two birds that are megarare for the state. A Black-bellied Whistling-Duck found a haven for a time at the dairy at Andrews University. And, after some initial confusion, a Snowy Plover was identified at the harbor in New Buffalo. In general, I am not much of a chaser when these rarities show up. But these birds were withing fifty miles or so of where I live, and even if I didn't find them, Berrien in the spring is always a worthwhile birding destination. Results of my chase are in the photos below, even though the duck photo deserves some kind of award for Worst Identifiable Picture. Plus, I share with you the gorgeous Glaucous Gull that shared the beach with the Snowy Plover and his Sanderling buddy that day.

This first winter Glaucous Gull was hanging with the gull flock at New Buffalo.

 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

    Hmm. Somehow I managed to take a picture that showed only the field marks for this duck. I wish I could attribute it to quirky awesome photographic skills. I can't.   

 

Sanderling, left, Snowy Plover, right.

            This little western plover stayed close to his Sanderling buddy throughout his stay. Actually, the Sanderling was unusually early, and elicited a details request on ebird. For some reason, most viewers only used him as a landmark for the Snowy Plover. "Look for the Sanderling." "He's still there with the Sanderling." "He's to the right of the Sanderling." Sort of like the rare bird stepchild. : )

All photos by Dixie Burkhart. Use with permission only. (Except for the duck - use that one anywhere, as long as I don't get credit!)

Trumpeter Cygnet - Journey's End at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery

As forecast, October has been a crazy month for us, so far, and I haven't been anywhere near Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery since we ended our fall walks there on October 3. However, some folks who do get out there every once in a while drop me an occasional email that keeps me in the loop about what is going on out there. The last couple of days, however, the news coming from the hatchery, via Carol Beurkens-Borden, was sad. She walks there almost daily with her dogs, and she wrote yesterday to tell me that the Trumpeter cygnet was sitting on the trail near one of the ponds, and didn't look well at all. She notified the visitor center staff, and, apparently, they were attempting to get help for the sick swan. By the time a wild bird shows signs of illness, however, its condition is usually extremely critical. This certainly applied to the young swan, as Carol found today when she walked that it had died.

We don't often get the chance to see more than the most fleeting moments of a wild animal's life. Getting to see the same individual repeatedly, to watch it almost from hatching, observe how the parents cared for it, and how its behavior changed as it grew almost to full size, is a special, rare opportunity. And to know, not only how the journey began, but how it ended, is even rarer. Most wild things live their lives unknown and unobserved. The Trumpeter cygnet's life was followed eagerly by folks from all over southwest Michigan, and it and its parents probably deserve some kind of recognition as the most photographed individual Trumpeter Swans in Michigan, if not the Midwest. It is easy to slip into our human value system, and say that it wasn't fair that the baby bird we watched grow up didn't survive into independent adulthood. It is easy to say that the parents deserved a better outcome for all their hard work and devotion. But nature has no concept of fairness or fairy tale endings. The vast majority of young things do not survive to their first birthday. It is so sad that the little gray cygnet we all enjoyed so much was a member of that majority. But I feel so fortunate and privileged that I was able to witness the family's story unfold. And I wish the cygnet peace, and better luck the next time around.

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery Never Disappoints

Be sure to check near the end of the post for future information on the Hatchery walks! : )
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A nice group of folks from all over southwest Michigan met at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery today to enjoy the lovely day. We had fun puzzling over the plumages of fall Mallards and Wood Ducks. The Trumpeter Swans cooperatively showed off their growing cygnet. And the Common Gallinule family was in their usual location. I even managed to get some recognizable pictures this week.

The gallinule chicks can hardly be called juveniles anymore. Immature sounds better!

The single Trumpeter cygnet is thriving on all the TLC it gets from the folks.

Once again, Cedar Waxwings were everywhere, as well as Barn Swallows and a few Chimney Swifts. A male Belted Kingfisher stopped rattling around long enough for us to get some nice scope views. We worked hard over a nondescript sparrow in the grass, finally pretty much deciding it was a juvenile Swamp Sparrow. All in all, the birding is more challenging as the birds have mostly stopped singing and are concentrating on getting ready for the coming migration. And when we do find them, they are often in what the field guides call "confusing fall" plumages. Well, this is the perfect time to get out in the field and get unconfused. Join us on one of the many outings scheduled in various Southwest Michigan localities over the next few weeks. For complete information on  upcoming BBC events look here. Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery walks will continue on Wednesdays at 9am, weather permitting, but the last one will be the first Wednesday in October. They may start up again in November depending on the weather. I will post to BBCchat if/when that happens. Until then, hope to see you in the field. Bird on!

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Star, the Basset puppy, recharges her batteries while Mom writes.

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.

Dog Days of Summer, Van Buren County Style

The rain the other morning left this field of asparagus plants looking like a family reunion for Cousin It and his relatives.

Shine, the Whippetish girl, and I spent a pleasant hour wandering the trails at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery today.

The birds were definitely in late summer mode, meaning they were pretty quiet, but there were still interesting things to see. A couple dozen Cedar Waxwings were pretending to be swallows, zipping around over the ponds flycatching. Actual swallow numbers were sparse, with only Tree Swallow and Barn Swallow represented. I counted at least 5 Pied-billed Grebes with striped faces, meaning they were young of the year. I saw at least three Belted Kingfishers, a Great Blue Heron, a Green Heron, and two Double-crested Cormorants out on the big pond. Waterfowl were represented by one Canada Goose, one Trumpeter Swan, and one Wood Duck. Towhees, Catbirds, Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Common Yellowthroat and Yellow Warbler were skulking in the willows.

Lots of turtles were around. A Painted Turtle was walking one of the trails with us. I spotted a few other Painted and an enormous Blanding's Turtle, but they were all pretty skittish and hard to photograph. I did get this picture of an absolutely huge softshell turtle. I think it was the first one I have seen at the hatchery. You can get an idea of size by comparing to the adult Painted Turtle on the log in front of the softshell.

 

And another shot.

 

I will be resuming regular walks at the Hatchery next week. If you'd like to join me, meet at the WLFH parking lot at 9AM on next Wednesday. Restrooms on site should be available. We'll walk the trails and meet for refreshments at That Coffee Place in Paw Paw afterward, if anyone is interested. Note the day change. I have another commitment on Mondays now that makes it necessary to make this switch. Hope to see you there!

Sad Day in This Amazing Place

Today is a life review day. We're sitting with our old Golden Retriever, Molly, watching her draw her last breaths. The end is coming, we know that, but we aren't going to stretch out her life to the last miserable second. That's why, in a little while, she is going on her last car ride. In the meantime, the family gathers around her. Shine, the little rescue Whippet mix, who loves Molly more than she loves anyone else in the family, cuddles close. When Molly tries to get up and stumble around the house, Shine is right at her side. Some of the cats are stopping by for a rub and a sniff. We rub her ears and pet her soft gray-golden fur.

We don't really know for sure how old Molly is. She came to us from a rescue group as a middle-aged dog who had outlived her previous owner. That was in 2006. We are so happy to have shared her life for the last seven years, even though it cost us many loaves of bread until she finally trained us to put it away where she couldn't get it! She is remarkable for her unfailing resilience and joyfulness. Even as she started to lose her memory and become increasingly confused, until the last few days she would still have moments where you could see her old self light up her eyes, and she would give the joyful leap in the air that meant she was happy to join you in whatever you were doing. She was Shine's anchor as the little puppy from the hoard tried to figure out how to live with people. Several of the cats think nothing of using her for a pillow. When Bob was taking his first shaky walks as he recovered from his car accident, Molly was by his side. She is the embodiment of everything that is wonderful about her breed, and we have been so lucky to have her.

We love you, Molly B. 
 

Blueberry Time

Last year’s blueberry harvest was pretty much nonexistent in Van Buren County. In fact, fruit in general was an almost total loss due to the drought. I have more of a personal connection to the blueberries, however, since my stepson has about 25 acres of them just down the road from where we live. He has worked hard on his blueberries the last few years. There were about 3 acres of them on the farm when he bought it, and he has singlehandedly planted the rest. About three years ago he put in a pond. As it turns out, it was in the nick of time, because if it hadn’t been for the pond, he would have lost all the baby plants that he worked so hard to get in the ground. As it was, he filled his water tanks from the pond and watered the young plants about every other day throughout the drought. Some blueberry farmers in our area wound up plowing all their blueberry plants under when they died, but almost all of Bob’s managed to pull through. 

Fast forward to 2013.

Some of the young blueberry plants

Maybe I'll check out the blueberries.

Poor blueberry bushes! They can't straighten up.

Here, I will help you!

      Godzilla makes sure the deer don't get too many blueberries. He is happy to work for biscuits and ear rubs.

     The blueberry patch is full of birds. Cedar Waxwings, Robins, Thrashers, Catbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Towhees and more are constantly present this time of year. I'm surprised they can get off the ground, the way they are stuffing themselves. Of course, I'm no one to talk. An awful lot of blueberries don't make it into the bucket. It's my duty to quality test them. It's a tough job. But some sacrifices must be made for the privilege of living here, in this amazing place.