Birds and Turtles at Kensington Metropark

Arrowhead with beetle.

Several weeks ago we took a weekend morning and visited Kensington Metropark, a wonderful park not 20 minutes from our house. At 4,481 acres it's a pretty big park. Kent Lake sits in the middle of it, and there's a golf course and 8 mile paved bike path. There's also a farm center, disc golf course, boat rentals and waterpark.

In addition to all of this is a nature center and accompanying nature trails. Wildwing Lake, next to the center, has a heron rookery, and there are birds galore along the nature trails as well as the park in general, an oasis in the midst of urban sprawl.

Male and female red-wing blackbirds at Wildwing Lake.

As is to be expected we generally stick to the nature trails when we visit this park. It sits right off of Interstate 96, and the traffic noise can be overwhelming, especially on the lake. The nature center and trails offer a more secluded and quieter experience.

Kingbird in flight--not bad for a hundred feet or more away! (image is cropped)

A boardwalk with railings provides easy viewing access of the rookery, which is situated on an island in Wildwing Lake. It provided me with a place to rest my camera (this is pre-Canon 60D) to get some shots, since I decided against my tripod. The rookery was empty by this time, of course, but several Eastern kingbirds were putting on a show along the island's shore, gleaning insects.

One common sight on a warm sunny day such as this are painted turtles, sunning themselves on logs and, in this case, water lily rhizomes.

Mr. Grumpy Face!

Another turtle provided a somewhat different view.

As I watched he wiggled and stretched, repeatedly grabbing his shell with his front foot.

Males can be identified by their long claws, which are much longer than the females.

I was excited to catch this cedar waxwing flying over the lake, apparently gleaning insects. I've never seen them do this before, I only know them as fruit eaters.

A female wood duck plied the waters, well hidden in the lilies.

We stopped several times and fed the chickadees. These birds, along with nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and titmice are habituated and will readily come to an outstretched hand with seeds or nuts.

As we made our way around the loop and back towards the parking lot, I caught movement in the understory, and was able to get one quick shot of this bird before it flew off. I had to wait until I got home to identify it. I believe it is a female blackburnian warbler, which apparently is not a common sight at Kensington. I sent the image to the head of the area Audubon Society to see if anyone else comes up with a different bird.

Female blackburnian warbler? We shall see....

Chestnut-sided Warbler at Sand Point Marsh

Pictured Rocks con't:

One of the reasons I wanted to walk the Sand Point Marsh trail is that I knew there would be birds there. Sure enough, one of the info signs talked about the various birds that could be found at the marsh, including the Marsh wren. I'd never seen one so we spent some time hanging out at a boardwalk overlook of one of the wetter areas but did not see any wrens. We did see Eastern kingbirds (I think!) hanging out in a ragged old white pine. (This is also where we saw the American restart from the last post.)

Pair of kingbirds, one right, one left of the trunk.

The trail moved through some woods of cedar, pine and spruce, then the boardwalk picked up again as the trail cut across the marsh. I could hear twittering in the shrubs so I stopped and waited to see who was about. I didn't know what it was when I first saw it, but finally figured out it was a Chestnut-sided warbler!

Playing peek-a-boo

I saw some of these at Tawas Point last year, hopping around in the canopy directly overhead, but did not manage to get very good shots of it. I hoped this one would move closer. I followed him through the cedars but he kept his distance.

The girls were waiting for me so I followed along. It was not long though before we heard a distinctly warbler-esque song very near the trail. We crept around a corner to find another Chestnut-sided warbler singing from the top of a cedar! I was really afraid he was going to fly off as we approached but he couldn't have cared less about our presence.

Again I wished I had my tripod, but it was a bright enough day and I was able to hold still and get some shots.

The blue background looks like clear sky but it is in fact a storm that just skirted us. Thunder rumbled but we stayed dry. The warbler sang and surveyed his territory from his lofty perch.

Next: more marsh finds!

Artwork--"Cattail King"

If you've ever wondered why I don't post all that often, this is part of the reason why--I'm actually working!

"Cattail King" Colored pencil and ink on Bristol board, 14" x 7"

This drawing of an Eastern kingbird was made from a bird I watched and photographed last year at one of the lakes in the Brighton Rec Area, perhaps Chenango.  Lori and I were out doing a little birding one spring morning.  I remember there was a family of Hairy woodpeckers in a dead tree near us but the hole was on the marsh side of the tree and I couldn't see them very well.  In any case I noticed this kingbird flitting about catching bugs out over the water so photographed it instead.

This is only my second attempt at doing background and so far I am happy with the results.  For a subject that is more in a scene (versus my more portrait-like pieces) I think I will continue to add background.  Otherwise there's too much white and I feel now that it too stark.

This week we'll be getting ready for our Open House, coming up this weekend on May 5th.  Hopefully I'll have time to start a new piece, but I might not get back to the studio until next week.  Hmmm, what should I do next....

Birds on the Beach Pt. 1

As with any birding festival, there were lots of tours and things to chose from. Many of them took place at Tawas Point, a little spit of land that juts out into the Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, here is a map of Northern Michigan...



...and a closer map of the Tawas area. The tip of the peninsula is a state park, and I had decided to camp there rather than incur the additional expense of staying in a hotel. Therefore, I didn't sign up for any of the tours at the park, figuring I would have time to explore it on my own.


The Tawas peninsula is a perfect stop-over spot for the birds who move up the Lake Huron shoreline and then fly across the Saginaw Bay. During the festival this year, 174 birds species were recorded at Tawas Point and surrounding area--this in just a four day period!


After the bus tour along the Au Sable I had dinner with a couple I'd met on the tour, then went back to the park, grabbed my gear and hit the trail.

The section of trail that leads to the lighthouse is paved. As I walked along it I could hear scores of birds in the trees and shrubs around me.



To my left I heard a bird singing and stopped to watch. I saw this bird in a pine tree and was so excited, certain it was a new bird to me. I realized later, looking through Sibley's, that it was a young Baltimore oriole, his head not yet all black. Ah well, a girl can dream, right?



I never did make it as far as the lighthouse. The birds calling from the trees on my right drew me in. The habitat was open and grassy in places, treed in others. I knew there'd be lots of birds here!



While I stood under the trees and watched, trying to figure out what birds were making all the noise, a male Yellow warbler flew into view.



After watching for some time I realized the birds making the most racket were Eastern kingbirds. This one posed nicely on a twig out on the beach.



As I watched the kingbird, movement caught my eye among the short willows on the beach. I was amazed to see a male Ruby-throated hummingbird feeding on the blossoms. I had never seen a hummer outside a garden or sugar water feeder. There were three or four of them nearby, filling up on nectar.



The sun peaked through a gap in the clouds and I spotted this little fellow hunting bugs on the sand.


What gorgeous colors! I had seen a Palm warbler last year in Florida but I had not gotten this good of a look at it. I am not sure how it got its name since there are clearly no palm trees here, but I guess the same can be said for all sorts of birds--Baltimore oriole, Nashville warbler.... Perhaps the first person to see one--well, the first white Western European, anyway--saw it in a palm tree.



Whatever the case, it's a lovely little bird and I enjoyed watching it.



Next: dance of the swallows