Gifts of the Earth

Sometimes the first few days of Spring feel like a series of presents from the Earth. Even though I am often just doing errands and not really birding, my mother taught me that it is rude to ignore an offered gift. So, this morning while I stood waiting for Shine the Whippet mix girl to finish her business, I got goosebumps watching a group of three Red-tailed Hawks soar over head, followed shortly by a Sandhill Crane. Then I was roaring down 38th Avenue on my way to Kalamazoo, when out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed something white out in the corn stubble. Some quick action on the brakes and the letter R on the gear shift got me into position to see these guys. You can't really see the yellow spot on the bill in the photo, but it was obvious through binocs. 

Tundra Swans, Van Buren County

I did make it to Kalamazoo eventually, and on the way home decided to make a quick stop at Briggs' Pond in Paw Paw. Lucky for me, it is on the way! : ) In addition to a few coots, I saw a few of these guys - this one looked like he was just climbing out of his winter bed in the bottom of the pond.

Painted Turtle, Briggs' Pond

Earlier in the week conditions were definitely more winter like. We saw this Sandhill Crane at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery on Monday. You can barely see our first Green-winged Teal of the season facing away from the camera a little to the right of the crane.

Sandhill Crane, Green-winged Teal and Gadwall, Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery

And these Northern Shovelers standing on the ice at Three Oaks Ponds on Saturday were wondering what happened to the water.

Northern Shovelers and Ring-billed Gull, Three Oaks

Come to think of it, it feels like this week I had a front-row seat to the show I have been looking forward to all winter - The Coming of Spring. Don't change the channel now, folks. The show is just getting started!

Birding Maple Lake and Briggs' Pond

Briggs' Pond from the Red Arrow Highway side (dam side)

         As the word gets out about Paw Paw, Michigan's great birding, more and more people are asking, "Where the heck is Briggs' Pond? How do I find all those herons, ducks, and geese?" So I thought it was time for a tell-all post people can refer to!

          Basically, Maple Lake and Briggs' Pond are in the heart of Paw Paw. Briggs' Pond appears under several names depending on where you look, so I decided I like Briggs' Pond and I am sticking to it.  From I94, take Exit 60 towards Paw Paw. This puts you on Kalamazoo Street, which is also M40.  All the locations I describe are entirely west of M-40, except for the last one. All of these locations are mostly surrounded by private property, so please behave appropriately. Keep in mind that waterfowl move, so check all locations before giving up on a particular bird.

1. Marshy area of Briggs' Pond - From Kalamazoo Street, turn west on Commercial Street. The St. Julian Winery is on the northwest corner and is hard to miss. Follow Commercial until it deadends at Briggs' Pond, next to the old Paw Paw Press building. A missionary group is slowly renovating the building, but they told me it is fine to bird from the corner of the building. This spot overlooks the marshy area of Briggs' Pond. Depending on water level it can be good for shorebirds in season. This is where I usually find American Black Duck. Green and Great Blue Herons are resident, and I often see Great Egrets here. This is the spot where I most recently saw Greater White-fronted Geese and Cackling Geese. In summer, this is a great spot for watching the resident ducks, geese and swans raise their broods. Green Herons also nest here.

2. Dam Side of Briggs' Pond - When you leave the marshy area, go back out to the first stop sign (Gremps Street) and turn left. Follow this street to the traffic light, which is Michigan - this is the name for Red Arrow Highway where it goes through Paw Paw. Turn left. After you pass the state police post, you can either find a spot to park along the road to bird Maple Lake to the north, or you can continue on the parking lot for the dam trail on the south. Check both the pond on the south and the lake on the north side of Michigan. The hybrid goose featured in my last post hangs out around the dam trail. If you bring bread, you will get to see all the local resident geese and ducks. Or even if you don't bring bread. They are always hopeful. The little trail over the dam can be productive at times. I once found a snapping turtle laying eggs back there!

3. Maple Isle - Maple Isle isn't open in the winter time, but, in season, it can be a great vantage point. Parking is across the street next to the nursery. From the Dam Side parking lot, turn right back onto Michigan and go back to the second light (Kalamazoo Street). Turn left. After you pass all the in-town residences, you will see the gate and sign for Maple Isle on the left.

4. Boat launch ramp - On the north side of the lake from Maple Isle you will see the boat launch area. Depending on the ice situation, this part of the lake can be great for diving ducks. The only access to check the east arm of the lake is from here, scoping from the sidewalk.

There are a couple of other areas where you can get some frustrating peeks at the lake, but please be mindful of commonsense, traffic laws, and privacy issues. And let us know what you see! Good birding!

This Ring-necked Duck and his odd companion hung out around the boat launch ramp this winter. 

 

Briggs' Pond from Commercial Street

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!

A Goose Birder-ing?

 

I was startled to find this Canada Goose grazing at my feet when I tore myself away from the view through my scope at Briggs' Pond today!

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!

Cooperative Green Heron

Recent rains have pretty much flooded the shorebird habitat at Briggs' Pond, but I was able to digiscope this cooperative juvenile Green Heron. He was working very hard at ridding himself of his natal down. I even managed a short video. 

If you look closely you can see his tongue sticking out. Also note all the down wrapped around his bill..

Feet are also useful in the process of getting rid of that itchy down. 

 There is always something to see when you are outside. You just need to look.

Sandpiper Season

Well, shorebirds are starting to move through. Today there were around a dozen on the mudflat area of Briggs Pond. The species present were not too exciting, but still fun to see. And maybe an indication of things to come. I saw Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper and Solitary Sandpiper. I managed to get this picture of one of the Spotted Sandpipers - I think it is a juvenile.

Good birding to all!

Being Patient is Good

Birding teaches patience. Maybe that is why it is my karma to be an obsessive birder, because, over and over, it feels like I am learning this lesson for the first time. I learn it when I meticulously sort through thousands of Canada Geese and am rewarded by finding the one Ross' or Snow Goose out there. I learn it when I ignore the pain in my neck as I sort through spring warblers and am rewarded when a Blackburnian Warbler steps momentarily into the sun at the very top of an oak tree. And I learned it again this am when I made one of my regular stops at Briggs' Pond in Paw Paw. When I first got out of the car and took a quick scan around I thought, "Well, wow, absolutely nada." Then the single Great Blue Heron caught my eye. This is one of my favorite birds, and they are always photogenic, so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful light and see what kind of pictures I could get. I mumbled, "Wait right there," to the GBH and ran to get my scope and my camera.  He waited, and you see the so-so fruits of my work below.  As I fiddled with my camera trying to improve the exposure, the pond slowly came to life. I heard a Belted Kingfisher rattling away, a bright yellow American Goldfinch flew into the top of a nearby shrub, and I realized that behind the GBH was a sleeping female Wood Duck.  The Great Blue was feeding actively and successfully, being rewarded for his patient stalking. He must have caught four or five fish of varying sizes while I watched, and I learned that this bird, at least, drinks a bunch of water after each catch, to help it go down? I was also interested to see he caught and ate a fair amount of green matter with each fish. Salad to go with his sashimi!
Be patient! It's fun!

Ha! Got one!

Taking a break

 

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.