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!

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!