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!

Baby Geese

  It is always reassuring to me to see the first baby geese of spring. It is as though the coming of the first downy yellow fluff balls is somehow a sentinel event that validates my trust that, yes, spring is really here, and that we really are coming to the end of the grey, icy days.  When this goose first started incubating her perfect oval eggs in the cattails, she had ice on her back more often than not, but she was hard-wired to know that this is the time, and this is the place.  Mostly, the Earth rewards her offspring for going with their gut impulses, so much so, that it doesn't even need to be a conscious choice. If left alone, natural systems follow their seasonal pulses, and maintain themselves pretty well. I wonder why, when we gained our special capacity for self-awareness, we lost our ability to listen to the heart beat of the Earth, and to be a functioning, balanced participant in those natural systems.  

Tundra Swans versus Trumpeter Swans

        It's swan season and when birders get together, the subject of how to identify swans seems to be coming up quite a bit. So what is it with these Tundra and Trumpeter Swans? They are both big white birds with black bills. Their names even sound alike, adding to the confusion. They can turn up separately or together almost anywhere. I had a flock of 60 Tundra Swans fly over my house once, for Pete's sake. If they call, that is very helpful in separating them, but what do you do when you have a bunch of swans standing silently in a corn field? I have been lucky enough to run into quite a few swans recently in these very circumstances, and I have a couple of photos that might help people start to sort them out.The idea here is to learn to separate them in less than ideal conditions - the way we usually see them. So even though a yellow loral spot (in front of the eye) or a pink lip stripe are diagnostic field marks, often times these are not useful in the field.

The Famous Trumpeter Swans of Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery

        The Trumpeter is the one with the pink lip stripe, if  you get a lucky look in good light. But we can't see that in this photo. The area we want to focus on is around the eye. In these two birds, you can't really see the eye. Notice also the angle formed by the back edge of the bill between the eye and the "chin."  Now compare these areas with the same ones in the swan in the next picture.

      

Tundra Swans, Somewhere in Van Buren County, Spring 2013

        On the Tundra Swan, the eye is distinct from the bill. Part of this is because of the structure of the bill, and part is an optical illusion caused by the yellow loral spot, in front of the eye. Most Tundra Swans have this spot, although it can vary in size and be hard to see in some birds. Also, to me, the Tundra Swan's head is more gooselike, the bill appearing shorter than the Trumpeter Swan. The Trumpeter's bill appears longer and more elegant. Look at the angle we were mentioning before. The back edge in the Tundra Swan appears more vertical, versus more angled in the Trumpeter Swan.
         If you get a great look and can see the yellow spot, or the pink lip mark, or hear them call, by all means, make the most of these clues. But if the swans aren't making it easy on you, I hope you find these tips helpful.
        Questions, comments or suggestions are welcome! Bird on!

Michigan's "Easy" Swan - the aggressive Mute Swan

       

Winter's Last Gasp, I Hope.

     It is getting so that I am so used to birding in the snow that I almost have a Pavlovian response to the sight of it falling - "Must. Go. Bird. Now." So, this morning, when I walked the dogs to the accompaniment of snow pellets bouncing off my jacket, it just seemed right to jump in the car and head to Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery. I found Trumpeter Swans at the hatchery, but also in an old corn field on 40th Street near M43, for a total of 5. Duck numbers are falling, but there are still good variety around. A remarkable 200 or so Tree Swallows were zipping back and forth over the big pond at WLFH.
     When I left the hatchery, I pulled into the boat access at Wolf Lake, across the street from WLFH. There I found this guy, who didn't seem all that troubled as I unloaded my gear and took a few pictures.

Osprey - Wolf Lake

    There was also a Pileated Woodpecker, some Common Mergansers, and a few Blue-winged Teal present there.
     At Maple Lake, most of the ducks have dispersed or moved on, but there was still a breeding plumaged Common Loon and a breeding plumaged Horned Grebe present.
     If you'd like to join me as I try not to miss any of the wonders of spring in Van Buren County, we will be meeting at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery's parking lot on Monday, April 15, at 10 AM. Hope to see you there!

Hard Core Birding

Somewhere there must be a rule written down that it must snow on Mondays at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery! Today the snow wasn't much to speak of, but the wind briskly kept us company throughout our visit. Duck-wise, most of the mergansers were gone, but Canvasback numbers were up. There were only a few geese and we didn't see a single swan of any species. The ponds past the observation platform have been drained down since last week, and some Killdeer were foraging in the mud, along with some Mallards and a Green-winged Teal. In the second pond past the observation platform, a pair of Sandhill Cranes tolerated a fairly close approach as they fed, preened, and fended off some other cranes that thought to join them.

 

The wind followed us to Maple Lake, where I have come to expect it. By the bridge to Maple Isle, a bunch of coots were joined by a couple of  Horned Grebes in close to full breeding plumage. Duck numbers were way down around the island but we did see our first Ruddy Ducks, including a nice breeding plumaged male. The Ruddy Ducks flushed suddenly when a Common Loon came up from underneath them! We were almost as surprised, because that was our first clue there was a loon there at all.

There were still quite a few ducks on the lake on the east side of the road, including redhead, goldeneye, and a few red-breasted mergs. We didn't see any Hooded or Common Mergs today.
      Once again, the tea at the end of the outing hit the spot. I'd like to thank everyone who has been taking the time to come out and share the Van Buren County birding experience, including first timer Jean Ketchum today. The only thing better than being lucky enough to live in this amazing place is being able to share it with friends! We are planning to do it again next Monday. Eventually, I just know it is going to warm up! Check with me for details on time and meeting place. Until next time, bird on!

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!

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!

Maple Lake Ring-necked Duck and friend

I was able to get some pictures recently of a male Ring-necked Duck at Maple Lake in Paw Paw, Michigan, hanging out with what I am pretty sure is a female Lesser Scaup. It makes me wonder what set of circumstances led these two individuals to be so isolated from members of their own species that they have been "forced" to be exiles together. 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

Traditions

When I was a teenage birder in Northern California, too many years ago, the thrill of the chase and competitive listing were major drivers in keeping me out in the field and birding. It was only after the life birds started to get few and far between that I started to appreciate the wealth of other reasons to watch birds. As I grow older the list figures less and less prominently as a reason for me to get out and enjoy the birds. I am thrilled and honored when I get a chance to watch birds going about their usual business for a few minutes, as though I am looking through a window into their lives for a while. Birding gets me out of the house and outdoors, something most of my other interests fail to do. Through birding I have made wonderful friends and gotten to visit some incredibly beautiful places that, otherwise, I doubt I would ever have seen.
     I admit, however, that, with the New Year, the listing bug comes out of remission for a few weeks. Even my husband succumbs - he may not go birding any other day of the year, but New Year's Day finds him out in the field with me. You see, I do keep an annual list of birds that I see, and for a few weeks at the beginning of the year, I am back in my teenage mode again, when I came back from every day in the field with fifteen or twenty lifers.  My journal goes with me everywhere, so that I can keep up with my list of species that I am seeing for the first time this year. These days, I also make a little narrative entry about the sightings - I note the American Kestrel was sitting on a wire eating a long-tailed mouse - I saw the Pileated Woodpecker from my recliner in my living room, when he landed on a sugar maple just beyond the deck railing. As I get older,  I treasure these experiences more and more, and they seem to me to be worth writing about, so that at a future time my journal will act as a key to the jewelry box that is my memory, and I can take my treasures out, one by one, and marvel at their beauty all over again.

Woman watches dog watch squirrels

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. 

 

 

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!

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!

Double-crested Cormorant Maple Lake, Paw Paw

The Double-crested Cormorant that has been present at Maple Lake continued to be present today. In addition, there was a hooded merganser, a pied-billed grebe and some wood ducks in eclipse, as well as green heron, great blue heron, and lots of swallows of the expected species.

Hanging the wings out to dry. I love this pose.

 A hooded merganser swims in from the right.

Just to the left of the cormorant you might be able to make out the merganser tucked against the side of the sleeping mallard. 

A pair of Paw Paw's resident mute swans take turns keeping watch.

Canon G12 10MP Digital Camera - Cameras & Accessories (Google Affiliate Ad)

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