After having lived in Pinckney for nearly three years, I have finally planted a flower garden. I think it took me that long to finally settle in, to feel a part of this place, and to have some idea of what I wanted to do with it. Being a little bit selfish, I started with my studio.

Hope the deer don't eat these!


There were bird houses all around the property when we moved in, nailed to trees, but one by one they've getting soft and falling off. This one I shored up with a few nail and attached it to the side of my studio, and am happy to report a family of wrens has moved in. Now I get to hear dad ramble the whole time I work! I need to make some new nest boxes for next year.

Mom at the nest box.


Butterflies are starting to emerge in great numbers. These little fellows--I believe they're some kind of skipper--have been all over the sage flowers, but this photo of one on a grass stem turned out better than the others. I've seen swallowtails and fritillaries, but didn't have a camera handy.

Along the back trail I saw some pine bows moving and stopped to see who would emerge. This pretty little lady finally showed herself, mouthful of insects and worms for her babes.

And while we all love the grandeur of a beautiful landscape, sometimes it's the smallest things that can bring the greatest wonder.

Back to Appleton

We finally made it back to the Appleton Lakes to do a little fishing and look for the crane family. We put in at Little Appleton and I headed over to the nest site. No sign of the cranes but there was one unhatched egg on the nest. After two weeks it was clear that this was an unfertilized egg and the family had moved on. I was surprised nothing had come by and eaten it. I paddled around the shore line (the lake can't be more than 10 acres) and did not see the family, though with a two week old colt they could be anywhere.

I paddled down the creek connecting the two lakes and saw many damselflies mating, watched one laying her eggs on some vegetation in the fast moving stream. About halfway down someone had put a 2x6 across the creek as a foot bridge, and as the creek is too narrow to turn around, I had to push myself upstream backwards back to the lake. What a workout!

Leopard Frog

After some time on Little Appleton we moved over to Appleton Lake, a bigger and busier lake, and one with some nice shallows that the cranes love. The main group had already come in for the night and were gathered on the south shore, but there were two on the north shore, possibly a mating pair that had lost their colt, and I went to see them.

They did not seem to be bothered by me watching them, but soon after I arrived they seemed to hear something in the brush behind them. They started with their amazing call, then moved off down the shore, did a little jig, and went back to feeding.

Volunteering

Since I moved to Pinckney nearly three years ago I have been wanting to do some volunteer work at the Howell Nature Center, which is only about 10 minutes from my home. Lori and I finally decided to sign up for cage cleaning in their Wild Wonders exhibit, which contains animals that are not releasable to the wild, due either to injury or to being imprinted (made tame, esentially).

Sandhill crane, scratchin' an itch.

We chose three cages: the Sandhill Cranes, of course, since they've become my favorite bird; the Snowy Owl, an amazingly beautiful bird and one not seen much around here; and the rough-legged hawk, a bird that was removed from its nest and raised by a woman illegally.

I enjoy being near the animals and also enjoy hard work, so the cage cleaning suits me. I will be able to get some really good photos too, but for now I just took our little Nikon to get some snapshots.

Rough-legged hawk, male

I also do volunteer work for the DNR doing invasive species removal, and the three of us at Bear Track Studios have sort of adopted a trail in the Brighton Rec Area that we monitor for invasive species. It's a good impetus for getting out, getting some excersise, and feeling like we're doing some good in the process.

Snowy owl, female

If you have any extra time in your day, think about volunteering. Even if it's just an hour or two a week, your help can make a big difference.

On the water at last

With only a few weeks left till the official start of summer (although we all know it starts well before June 21st) we have finally gotten the kayaks out on the lake. Pitifully late if you ask me. I had wanted to be out paddling as soon as the ice melted, but when that happened we were somewhere in Florida. Then we had a show to get ready for, then our gallery open house, then four more shows.... But on Monday we decided to take a day off and headed for Appleton Lake.

Appleton is in the Brighton Rec Area and one of my favorite spots for watching the sandhill crane. It was early in the day, though, and the flock of cranes that overnights at the lake was still out in the surrounding fields and yards feeding. I saw only one lone crane prowling the shoreline in a little cove. I did not see one but I assume there was a mate on a nest nearby.

Blue flag iris

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The area is great for watching birds of all kinds, and I saw quite a number without really trying, including belted kingfisher, common yellowthroat, yellow warblers, kingbirds, a female oriole and red-wing blackbirds. There was a pair of great egrets perched in a tree but I did not see a nest anywhere. I was also treated to a fly-0ver by an osprey, not a common bird in this part of Michigan.

Kingbird

There is a very shallow, narrow creek connecting Appleton Lake to Little Appleton Lake, and we pushed and wriggled our way upstream to look for cranes there. We were treated to a nesting pair and what appeared to be a fairly newly hatched colt. The female was still sitting on the nest so we think there will be a second colt soon. But we were worried about rain so we didn't stay long, but will go back in a day or two to see if the family has grown.

Fuzzy shot of fuzzy colt on nest next to mom

Colt can be seen between the two adults, standing on the nest.

Female is rolling her other egg.

Not always routine morning routine

We all have them, those routines that help us keep our lives in order and stay on top of things. My mornings go like this:
Get up and dressed (goes without saying, I guess); let dog out; feed cat; let dog in; feed dog; put out bird feeders on balcony (we have to bring them in at night or the raccoons get into them--yes, on the balcony); yell at dog to get out of cat food; take dog with me out back to feed birds behind my studio; let chickens out into their pen; feed and water chickens.

Most days things go off without any surprises but today we were in for a bit of a treat. I let Jackson out and within a few seconds he woofed--that funny, under-his-breath bark he makes when he's unsure about something and is looking for backup. I went ahead and fed the cat, then opened the back door to let Jackson back in. He was sitting on the top step staring across the back yard so I stuck my head around the corner and I'll be darned if there wasn't a deer standing just on the other side of the irises, not more than 30 feet away, staring back at us. I uttered a surprised "Oh!" and then no one moved for about five seconds, until finally the deer raised its flag, turned and bounded off.

I had a young buck at the salt lick behind my studio the other day but I could not see if this was a buck or a doe. I looked around a short time later and saw the salt lick was knocked off its stump, and the ends of some of the mulberry branches had been nibbled (the berries are just starting to form). I looked a little for a fawn but didn't see one. We've had fawns every year we've lived here but I've never seen a real young one and was hoping, but no luck.

Life and Death

I have always been an animal person. Since I was a kid I've been fascinated with the lives of other creatures. In addition to watching wildlife and creating wildlife art I've always had dogs and cats as well as various rabbits, mice, a rat, various birds, hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs. I love feeding the birds and have a salt lick out for the deer. And now, in addition to the usual menagerie of pets, I have chickens.

When we got the chickens a year ago I didn't think there was much to it--you provide them with food, water and shelter and they give you loads of free eggs and endless hours of entertainment. Because we let them range for several hours in the evening we knew that there was a chance we could lose a few to a fox or coyote (or a hawk, and for that story check out the post "Chicken Hawk"). I never expected that the biggest threat would come from within their own little bodies.

About three weeks ago, during a busy weekend when we had our gallery opening on Saturday and participated in an open studios tour on Sunday, one of our hens was in trouble. I was exhausted by Sunday evening and we still had to go to the after-tour party to turn in signs and ticket money. I let the girls out before we left but counted only seven--Natalie was in the nest box, presumably laying an egg. This was not unusual so we left, assuming she'd come out when she finished laying.

We returned home around 11pm, and I went out back to lock up the coop for the night (the chickens always come home to roost). Natalie was still in the box, or, as I thought, back in the box. I wrote it off as her being "broody", something hens will do when they start to think they should be incubating the eggs. But I discovered the following morning that I was wrong, as I let the girls out into their pen and went in the coop to collect eggs and feed them. There was Natalie, dead in the box. I scooped up her still warm body and took her outside. She had managed to pass the egg but the process killed her. I felt awful, and responsible. Yes, it is not uncommon for hens to die from this, but if caught early enough you can help them pass the egg safely. Her death was sudden, but if I'd been paying attention I could have helped her.

Now we face the loss of yet another hen, but this process was gradual and I didn't realize what was happening until too late. Her comb and wattles began to pale, then yellow. She developed diarrhea. Her appetite waned, and her energy level slowly dropped off until she refused to leave the coop. Finally I pulled her out and put her up in a dog crate and began to give her fluids with a syringe. Yesterday she ate some apple and popcorn and I thought she was improving. All this time I was online trying to figure out what was causing her illness, and thought yesterday for a short time that she was improving. But after a brief walk outside in the grass she too died.

Now, this may seem disturbing to some, but I have a dissecting kit and decided to open her up to see if there was some discernible cause of death. Sure enough, after inspecting her crop, I cut open her stomach and found it full of pebbles, green stuff and a few bits of plastic, massed and fairly dry. Apparently she got plugged up. I had no idea this could happen and felt stupid and ignorant for letting another hen die.

So today we are ordering books abut chicken care and health, something we should have done a year ago. I see now that there's much more to caring for my feathered friends than I ever imagined, and I plan to be a better caretaker from here on out. I was so happy that they all made it through what was a pretty rough winter and now we've lost two at the very time when the world is coming to life. It reminds me that life is precious and time is short, and we all need to take care of ourselves and others if we expect to enjoy it for many days to come.

The Chickie Girls: Honey, Trouble, Sister Joan of Arc, Marty, Fancy, and Emily

The Merry Month of May

Spring is full-on here in Southeast Michigan. Most trees have their leaves, the oaks and hickories are leafing out now, and the forest floor is covered with wildflowers. I am lucky enough to live near state land and a trail that passes through some pretty healthy habitat (not a lot of invasives). Lisa, Lori and I went for a hike yesterday and saw a wonderful variety of plants, from Jack-in-the-Pulpit to early meadow rue and rue anemone to wild geranium and blankets of trillium.

This is, in my opinion, the best time to be in the woods. The canopy is not yet filled out so the forest is bright and airy feeling. The birds are nesting and so the woods are filled with birdsong, and it's early enough that the bugs are not yet a problem. But the best part has got to be the wildflowers--we've identified 14 plants so far. Everywhere you look there's something blooming, and the woods are alive with color.

On another note, the snow leopard is getting closer to being done, albeit slowly. I am planning on entering this piece in an exhibition at the end of the month so I had better get rolling on it!