Fenner Nature Center

All winter long I've been receiving eBird emails listing species I have not reported seeing in Michigan. (If you are a birder and you don't participate in eBird, you should.) Fenner Nature Center in Lansing came up over and over again. One of the reasons is a Townsend's solitaire had been hanging out at the feeders there most of the winter. A bird native to the Western U.S., this bird was apparently injured, missing a leg. No idea if that contributed in some way to it's being so far from home. At any rate we had wanted to get out there to see it (a nice life list addition) but never made it.

As the weather has warmed up and spring had exploded in Southeast Michigan, Lori and I have made more of an effort to get away from our computers and drawing tables and get outside. I decided Fenner sounded like a good place to go to explore something new.

I am somewhat wary of nature centers. My experience is the facilities are often old, out-dated and filled with mildewy taxidermy that looks like it came out of great-grandpa's attic. The grounds are usually not much better, little more than overgrown city parks--the "nature" part being that they are not maintained like a park, but left to "grow wild".

Unfortunately, Fenner is exactly that. At 134 acres, it's small, but manages to cram a lot of diverse habitat in to that space. There are several ponds, second or third (or fourth?) growth forest and a meadow. But none of it is quality habitat. The woods were filled with garlic mustard, the extent of which I have never seen before, except in photographs showing severe infestations. The trees are choked by Oriental bittersweet, another nasty invasive, and in the meadow I saw only two native plants. In their defense these places are usually underfunded, and if they don't have a strong volunteer group they are limited in what maintenance and restoration work they can do.

That said, there were some interesting birds on the property, so we did our best to overlook the shortcomings of the place and focus on the wildlife. At the nature center building we checked out the dry-erase board listing recent wildlife sitings and saw a pair of wood ducks had been seen on the Woodland Pond, so we headed back that way. I have never gotten a shot of a male in breeding plumage, and I would love to do a wood duck piece.

As we walked around the pond to the far observation deck the ducks flew in and landed on the water. Bad timing, as it turned out, since they are skittish birds and the slightest movement sends them into a panic. I got a few images of the male, which I guess I can at least use for composition, but would need other images for detail.

Male wood duck. I think they are one of the prettiest birds out there.

We managed to make our way to a nearby bench without scaring them, but they had moved to the far side of the pond behind some grasses and deadfall, which made them hard to see.

Female wood duck on some dry grass. The pond held a nest box but we didn't see them go near it.

We sat on the bench for a while, then I moved over to the observation deck. I hoped I could avoid scaring them but I had hardly walked around the corner before they flew away. I sat and watched an Eastern phoebe instead, who may have been building a nest under the deck.

Eastern phoebe. Looks like it might have a bit of spider web in its beak.

We have a very small, short window to watch for migrating warblers in the tree tops before the trees leaf out, so we spent a lot of time scanning the canopy. I spotted this blackburnian warbler when I was watching a pair of Northern cardinals. I only got a few shots of this gorgeous bird, which, believe it or not, are better than the ones I had before!

Male blackburnian warbler. I had one heck of a stiff neck by the end of the day.

Lori spotted three deer who bedded down in a patch of garlic mustard under a honeysuckle, another invasive plant. With the deer around any native vegetation doesn't stand a chance.

Very un-afraid white-tailed deer.

The highlight of the day came in the meadow, where we saw lots of tree swallows. These birds get a bad rap for competing with bluebird for nest boxes, but in reality their numbers are about the same, and I suspect tree swallows, who feed on the wing, eat more of the insects that pester us than bluebirds do.

A pair had staked a claim to a nest box, but it seems the second nest box was put too close to the first (only about 20 feet away) and every time another swallow flew by one of this pair would fly over to the other box, then back again. Going to be hard to be a successful breeding pair when you're guarding two boxes.

Tree swallows. They were so intent on guarding this box that I was able to walk out there and sit very close.

I find them to be striking birds.

Keeping an eye to the sky.

Here one of the birds has gone to the other nest box.

The pair were constantly on the move, taking to the air and returning over and over again.

On the way back to the car we passed another pond, where this painted turtle was hauling itself out of the water and into the warm sun. I hear ya, buddy--we are all craving that sunshine!

Our Real Life Bambi

A few posts back I showed you some photos from our trail cam. In one of them was a doe with a fawn. The doe looked pretty beat up, but the fawn looked OK. Since then, we have been seeing a lone fawn hanging around our place, no sign of a doe anywhere. We checked the trail cam the other day, and while there were pictures of the fawn, still no doe.

We appear to have our very own real-life Bambi.

The little fella is pretty unafraid. He'll be in the front yard while we are unloading groceries from the van, hangs out by the back door or the chicken coops. The other day I was out on the back deck shucking corn and I looked up to see him grazing about 40 feet away, behind the propane tank. I tossed some squishy tomatoes in his direction but he spooked and ran up the hill. But I could hear him walking around in the brush, and he emerged five minutes later near my studio. I snuck in the house to get my camera while he munched on grass and young trees.

Of course I worry about him. While I know he will grow up simply to become the target of a hunter's gun, I feel a strong desire to take care of him. I've been leaving food otherwise destined for the compost bin in certain spots around our property, and took all the corn cobs and dumped them in front of the trail cam to see what's up. We had some heavy rain overnight a few days ago, and it got quite chilly, and I worry that he may succumb to the cold--he looks pretty thin. I might buy some deer feed--corn or carrots--and put that out too.

While I watched, our neighbor's dog started barking. The fawn's ears pricked up and he listened for a moment...

...then he started walking towards the sound. Interesting, you'd think he'd move away from the sound of a barking dog.

He eventually moved behind my studio and I decided not to follow him. I haven't seen him for several days now, but if he shows up again I will get some food and put it right here by my studio so I can keep an eye on him!

More Trail Cam Imgaes

I gotta tell ya, this trail cam is the bomb! To be able to see what is roaming the far reaches of our property (all five acres of it!) without having to sit in a blind is wonderful.

At a show in early July, a kettle corn vendor named Wolf Runner (no kidding, he's Native American, his wife's name is Bunny) brought us a bag of waste corn after the show. I dumped some of it in front of the trail cam and waited a week before I checked the card.

I was surprised how long it took for anyone other than the rabbits to discover the corn. The first image of something other than a rabbit was three nights after I dumped the corn, but I couldn't have been more excited by what I saw unless it had been a bear--a gray fox!

A gray fox nibbles on kettle corn

I had never seen one before, and while I still technically haven't, just to know we have them around is really neat. He showed up several times over the next week, often in the company of a raccoon, which I thought was really odd.

Much of the piles had been consumed by the time this doe and fawn came by. She is really ripped up, and I can only imagine what might have happened to her. Was she protecting her fawn from coyotes? Was she hit by a car? It's any one's guess, but we have not seen her since these images were made, either on the trail cam or in person. I've seen the fawn on a number of occasions so I imagine she is nearby but still I wonder.

Here's the same fawn the next day, sans doe.

Very late to the popcorn pile was this coyote, clearly skittish. This is the only shot we got of him.

 
We got a couple of nice images of the fox later on in the week. I have noticed a number of images where the animals are looking/listening off to the north east. Past these trees and shrubs that make up the corner of our property the land opens up to a natural gas pipeline easement that seems to serve as something of a corridor for animals moving through the woods. Could be he's about to have visitors.



 

Ten days later this little one made an appearance. I think this is a younger fawn than the one we saw before. There were also no images of this fawn with a doe.

Most recently, and one that brings me great joy, is this image of a wild turkey hen and her poults. I saw this family several weeks prior to this, on the hill in front of the small woods at the top corner of our property. The poults took to the air and flew up into the oaks while mom walked up the hill, keeping a close eye on me.

I read Joe Hutto's book Illumination in the Flatwoods over the winter, about his experience raising several clutches of wild turkeys.  Having raised several broods of chickens (we're working on one right now) this was very interesting reading. PBS Nature produced a documentary as well called My Life as  Turkey that you can watch here.  Wonderful stuff, and as with most Nature films, beautifully shot.

Gotta get that camera card back in the trail cam and see what other surprises await us!

Fawn In The Lawn

One day last week Lori was on her way to the mailbox via a trail mowed through the front of our property. She came hoofing it back up the driveway moments later.  "There's a fawn, out front, bedded down in the grass," she said breathlessly. I ran to get my camera.


 Sure enough, there just five feet from the path was a fawn, perhaps a week old.

We have a lot of deer around here, and it is not uncommon to see them in groups of four or so from time to time. We have to fence everything we don't want mowed to the ground because of them. But even though they are a nuisance we like having them around, and we have had does and fawns nearly every year. This however is the first time we've seen one this young.

Such a sweet face. It has a cut on its forehead, between its eye and ear, but it doesn't look bad and I am sure mom is keeping it clean.  After Lori brought me down to see it, I went and got Lisa and showed her. By this time mom was snorting from the bushes so we left them alone.

I sure did want to pet it, though.

Trail Cam Images

This past Christmas Santa brought us Bear Track girls a trail camera.  We'd talked for years about getting one but never got around to it, so I was very excited when one showed up under our tree.

We have five acres of mixed habitat.  Historically it was black oak barren, but years of human abuse have left it covered with autumn olive and other invasive species.  It's part open grassland, part shrubland, part mixed hardwood/conifer woods.  We have lots of critters, some we knew, some we only suspected.  The trail cam would help verify who is here and when they come around.

The biggest challenge was figuring out where to put it.  We first put it by the chicken coop, but didn't get any pictures of anything but the dog.  We next tried behind my studio, where the bird feeders are, thinking they would draw in critters.  We did get a few good shots, like this white-tailed deer...

...and this terrible twosome, angling for the suet and getting a drink from my wagon bird bath. 

But mostly we got pictures of me filling the feeders, or of the dog, or of nothing at all.  I think most of the action took place so far away the sensor just didn't pick up the movement.

It is recommended that the camera be placed where it faces north to reduce glare from the sun on the lens.  We were finding it hard to find a tree of the right size in the right place facing a worn path, but finally one day, out looking for morel mushrooms, we found the perfect spot.  The trail it faces passes into our neighbor's property and through this sheltered spot, and it has proved to be a good choice.

Right off the bat we got lots of rabbit photos.  Rabbits are good because they're a prey animal and will bring other animals into this area.

Then the camera captured this wonderful pose by a doe.  I laugh because I could not have taken a better shot than this if I'd been sitting in a blind being eaten by mosquitoes.  This is much more pleasant!

This next image was a big surprise.  I have only seen a turkey on our property once in six years, so to catch this hen crossing the trail was a thrill.

Nice shot of two white-tail rumps.

Finally we got a shot of what we had been hoping for--an animal we knew was out there but had never seen on our property.  This gorgeous coyote paused briefly on its way to our neighbor's open field.  We have heard their cries and calls from time to time, sometimes distant, sometimes no more than a few hundred feet from the house.  This was validation.  Now if we can only get one facing the camera!

And just last week, this buck paused for his portrait.  More than just a button buck, I'll be curious to see how his rack develops this summer.

 My show season kicks off in earnest this weekend at the East Lansing Art Festival.  Check it out at www.elartfest.com!

A New Resident

It appears we have a new resident at our place.



The white-tail doe was back again yesterday, slurping up mulberries. Good for her, I hate to see them go to waste.

She is not wholly comfortable. The kitchen window was open and certain sounds made her jumpy. Here Lisa was spraying a pan with cooking spray--heaven knows what she thought the sound was but she didn't like it. The doe wandered off towards the garden but came right back when she decided there was no threat.



Such a pretty, innocent-looking face.


Hey! Don't eat the tree, for cryin' out loud!!


She also noshed on my petunias and munched a bunch of leaves off the black-eyed Susans. Time to get the soap and mesh bags, I guess.

The chickens were out for their evening free-range time, and Sister Joan wandered up to the doe, eating mulberries (which by the way seem to give chickens very loose stools). The two animals eyed each other but apparently decided neither was a threat. Ah, peace and harmony in the back yard.



Louis watched the big brown dog with the pointy ears for a while too.

White-tail

We had a visitor to the mulberry tree this morning.


A lovely white-tail doe was picking the berries out of the grass, not 30 feet from the house.



I took a few shots through the closed window and screen, then tried to quietly open both. She was having none of it, and walked calmly from the back yard.



This may be the same doe that Lisa and I saw last week out on the trail. She stood her ground on the side of the hill, stamping her foot and snorting at us. Then she walked down the hill, across the lane and into the brush. We looked but did not see a fawn.

I wish she would eat all of that invasive crown vetch but no, she prefers the native plants too--like the purple coneflower out of my garden and the wood anemone along the trail. She sure is pretty, though.



Lori and I are heading up to Traverse City today to meet with folks at the Boardman River Nature Center to talk murals. We are excited about working with them and for the opportunity to put our artwork in their facility. Hoping to get a bit of hiking and bike riding in while we're up there.

Have a wonderful Summer Solstice!

Artwork--"Aces and Eights"

With a show at an expo called "Outdoorrama" coming up at the end of the month, I decided I should have at least one game animal. This show covers everything from guided hunting trips, outdoor gear, fishing and hunting supplies etc, to boats and things for your cottage. I've done the show the past couple of years and I can't tell you how many times I've been asked if I have a buck.

Well, folks, here ya go:



I usually try to come up with some clever name for my pieces, although I don't always succeed. This one I was struggling with. I wanted something to do with eight, since he's an eight point buck. We tossed some ideas around, then I mentioned one that had come to mind a few days ago--"aces and eights". Lori liked it right away, and while I knew it had to do with poker I didn't know why I was familiar with it, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Turns out it is the "dead man's hand", the cards Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot by Jack McCall in Deadwood. I was delighted! What better title for an eight-point buck, who carries his dead man's hand on his head in the form of those gorgeous antlers.

I haven't done a mammal in quite a while so this was a lot of fun. The main pose came--ironically--from a taxidermy at a nature center, but most of the detail is from some photos of a doe I took several years ago at another nature center. She, I am happy to say, was alive and well.