Birding for Mother's Day

In helping Calvin prepare for is Science Olympiad bird test, the two of us spent a number of days out hiking nearby woods and preserves. We've always enjoyed nature, and birding was a casual pastime for me—casual as in I put out feeders and make sure they're filled, and when out on hikes I keep my eyes peeled and snap as many pictures as I can. But this more recent involvement has pushed this casual pastime closer to full blown hobby.

And the timing of the Olympiad couldn't have been more perfect. Not only because it took place in spring, when the birds are busy mating and nesting in a leafless tree canopy, but also because it aligned almost perfectly with peak migration time. Hike after hike we found ourselves surrounded beautiful birds we rarely get to see, some of them just brief visitors in our area.

For Mother's Day this year I requested two things. The first was a breakfast of eggs benedict, which my two boys delivered with great success. The second was an early morning hike through prime birding territory, and they delivered that, too. Eggs benedict, birding in a beautiful spring sun, a relaxing afternoon in the yard, and a delicious dinner with extended family at my parents' house. It was a perfect Mother's Day.

Some of my favorite shots from our recent birding expeditions:

Sandhill Crane (turning an egg in her nest)

Sandhill Crane

Yellow-rumped warbler

American bullfrog (not a bird)

American Redstart

Yellow warbler

Black-throated blue warbler

Common garter snake (again, not a bird)

Nashville warbler

Red-bellied woodpecker

White-breasted nuthatch

Magnolia warbler

Rufous-sided towhee

Rufous-sided towhee

Baltimore oriole (female)

Warbling vireo

Veery

Palm warbler

Wilson's warbler

Two birds of a feather

Blue-gray gnat catcher

Tree swallow

Chipping sparrow

Canada geese and Red-winged blackbird (female)

Tree swallow

April, just a blur

As fast as March went past, I think April went faster. It was a blur of warm days mixed with a still bitter chill while we tried to get back outside and back on our feet. Calvin was in rehearsals twice a week for the Wild Swan production of The Wizard of Oz in early May and had practice twice a week for Science Olympiad, also in early May. Add to that the usual homeschool meetings and it felt like we were always on the move.

Festifools parade in Ann Arbor

testing the garden soil

playing with garden soil

chalk on a warmer evening

tracks left by the deer that walked through our garden and nudged over all our solar lights.

spring in the butterfly garden

math on the floor

o_o

Soaking up the sun

We did battle with the house sparrows that wanted to move into the bluebirds' digs

game playing on a warmer day

petting a skunk on a field trip with our homeschooling group

Spring egg dying

first signs of life

Broadway in Grand Rapids

bird watching (practicing for Science Olympiad)

first day of nature camp

Stretching it further

And following vacation, how about vacation? Harbor Springs. Possibly my favorite place away from home on earth. Although Jon had to go home and get back to work (I felt sorry for him, I really, really did), Calvin and I spent the rest of the week staying with my Godmother, Lonnie, and soaking up sun, love, good food, and fresh air. If camping hadn't been so relaxing, and it was, the rest of this week would have done the trick. We built a sort of routine, spending a little bit of every morning on school stuff, the afternoon at the little local beach in the water and sand, and the evenings at some activity together.

We read some books, we watched some TV, and Calvin's Aunt Lonnie kept him busy with a couple of crafts and playing with her pup, Blue. We played putt putt (who can ever get enough of putt putt?), walked the cemetery looking for Ghoul Gates (you'll know them if you've ever read The Graveyard Book), and drove over some rather forsaken road to middle-of-nowhere lake in search of loons (where we found a tern and a yellow-rumped warbler, but no loons). We had dinner once at Noggin Room and once at Keyhole, two of our favorite places, and twice at home, just the three of us lounging on the deck watching the bay and the birds and listening to the wind in the trees. And we were happy together and having fun.

The hardest part about being there, is the coming home (except that this time, of course, Jon was waiting there for us, and that made coming home pretty okay this time).

17—really 17, they didn't all fit in one picture—turkeys in the yard

Pirate's Cove Golf

arrrrr, he's a pirate

arrrr, he's giving Nonnie golfing lessons

Sand pants

walking to the cemetery

ghost turkeys!

possible ghoul gate

sand, sand, and more sand

Sturgeon Bay

Yellow-rumped Warbler

County Park Tour #6: Ervin-Stucki Preserve

Calvin and I decided that a great project or goal for this summer would be visit all of our county's parks and preserves. Several of them we are already familiar with and visit on a regular basis, but following an event that took us delightedly into uncharted territory, we decided to become more familiar with our area's offerings. Of course, it is already August and so far we have only visited only 2 of the 10 parks, and 4 of the 15 preserves, albeit some of them more than once. I am comforting myself with the knowledge that we did visit three National Lake Shores and will be camping at a state park next week, but fall should be a good time to take on the rest of the county parks anyhow.

Yesterday we went to the far southeast corner of our county to visit the Ervin-Stucki Preserve. It was a small park, with only a third of a mile of marked trails, but it still provided us with many beautiful sights. Part wetland, part wooded area on the river's edge, much of the trail was a narrow path between two privately owned farm fields, and that added to the variety of wildlife sightings, like Sandhill Cranes. We were also reminded that it is getting to be serious butterfly time around here.

the bluebird's tree...

Bluebird

Cattails

Sandhill Cranes

Checkerwing butterfly

Cedar Waxwing, watching me closely

Viceroy Butterfly

Viceroy Butterfly

Orange Sulphur Butterflies

Wildlife

Swans stop for no man. And they don't slow down for contruction zones, either.