Jean's Hobbies

Day one of the Lakeshore Art Fair is complete. As I often do for this event, I'm spending the night with author friend Jean.

See link below if you don't remember Jean. She often takes a chicken to events. She mainly writes Sci-Fi, but she now has three children's books about chickens.

She has quite a menagerie at her house. This is Jack the India Runner Duck. If you are friends with Jean, you might remember when handsome Jack was just a fluffy duckling.

Jack is friends with Lucy Goose.

The big excitement of the day is that her chicken Laya, who often goes to shows, has been sitting on eggs. Two of them hatched this morning. This one may be an "ordinary" chicken.

This one will be a Silkie, with the naked neck and a sort of pom-pom hairdo.

Jean also has a flower bed she is trying to reclaim. These huge hostas got weeded, and they gained a woven fence since a tree came down earlier this year thanks to the wind.

And this border looks good. It's a huge job to reclaim a garden on a hill that hasn't been cleaned in a while. I know!

Tomorrow we go sell books again. I thought you'd rather see this than more pictures of vendor tents. I certainly don't find those very exciting any more.

See Bring Your Chicken to Work Day

Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge

 Driving home today, I made a stop at a place that I can write about for my next "Get Off the Couch" column in the paper. Did you know there is a national wildlife refuge over near Saginaw? It's the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

Some refuges have more hiking trails than others. This one has multiple choices. I did all of the Woodland Trail (almost 4 miles), and sampled the Fergusen Bayou Trail. It's over 4 miles long, but I went in as far as the first observation platform and back out. The two areas are quite different. The Woodland Trail is through a wet woodland. The Bayou Trail is on dikes through a marshy area with wildlife observation decks.

This will just be a sampler. Of course I came home with too many pictures. For you, I have 2 trees, 2 flowers, and 2 wildlife picture.

The Swamp White Oak, Quercus bicolor is supposedly found in Mason County, but it's a lot more common south of here. It's easy to spot. The leaf is much wider at the tip than at the stem end, and the leaves are very white on the back side-- "bicolor."

Another one I don't see too often is Red Hickory or Pignut, Carya glabra. The odd thing is, this is pretty much an upland tree, but it was in this bottomland hardwood area. But the bark and everything I can see at this time of year makes me fairly sure of the ID. Anyway, another cool find I don't see locally.

Flowers in abundace were the Canada Anemone, Anemone canadensis. This is a really handsome late spring flower, and it will agree to grow densely enough that it could be used in flower beds.

And yet another wild rose that I have trouble sorting out because I can't seem to remember what to look for. However, I'm pretty sure this is Smooth Rose, Rosa blanda. Ha! The U of M Herbarium says R. blanda does not grow in Michigan. Well... it has very few thorns and the leaves are very blunt at the ends. The wet habitat makes me suspect it's Swamp Rose, Rosa palustris, which would make sense here. But the leaves aren't right, and of course I didn't look for other key characteristics when I was there. I can definitively say, "it's pretty."

There was the requisite spring picture of a family of Canada geese. Actually, I saw several families, but the babies were smaller and cuter in this group.

I saw a number of birds, but getting pictures of those was illusive. The birds were pretty active for mid-day. Several great blue herons, a pileated woodpecker, a brown creeper, and all the usual suspects.

Here's another typical spring picture. Mama was there, but stepped out of the picture. The baby stood completely still, as they are "supposed" to do.

I think there is a particular kind of beauty in wetlands, sometimes even the places that some people might not find so attractive. Here are two examples.

Busy day. Chatted with my host, took two walks, drove 3.5 hours, unloaded the car. Tomorrow, another adventure is planned. Stay tuned

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 243.7.

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, Woodland Trail and part of the Ferguson Bayou Trail, total 6.3 miles

See Montezuma Wildlife Refuge

Hart Montague Rail Trail at White Lake

  The vendor event went really well today, and the park we were at is right beside the Hart-Montague Rail Trail. So after we were done for the day, I went for a little walk. For a rail trail, it's pretty nice. There isn't a lot of it that is right out in the blazing sun, but this piece is particularly pretty.

I'm not a big fan of Canada Geese, but I'll admit they are handsome birds. The event and the trail are right along White Lake. The geese are literally ON White Lake.

This is a planted rose bush, but it's a variety that has blossoms more like wild roses. And the color is stunning. I did not play with this photo at all.

Another rather ordinary bird, a Redwing Blackbird, but he was showing off for me.

There are a lot of art installations along this trail in Whitehall, and I was very curious about this one, which was slightly off the trail, but you could walk to it. I thought there would be an interpretive sign, or at least the name of the artist. Most of the art pieces have a sign. Maybe this one is new. I don't remember it. Anyway, no sign. But I couldn't figure it out from a distance.

When I got right up to it, I learned that it's pretty cool. There are constructions of natural elements made with old tools or mechanical parts on the three legs. This part is cattails. The heads of the cattails are old springs.

In other news: I did well at the event, and it continues through tomorrow, so I'll be back there in the morning.

Hart Montague Rail Trail, Muskegon County, MI, 3+ miles north side of Whitehall

See Holiday Bike Ride

Shadbush Shines

  Took another 10.5 mile hike today, continuing north in Newaygo County. The primary feature of the day is that the shadbush (serviceberry, juneberry) is nearly in full bloom. This is one of our early signs of spring. Although it has bright white blossoms,

the trees themselves are usually small and the blooms sparse. What that ends up looking like is little white lights sprinkled throughout the brown woods.

The temperature hovered around 40 degrees, and I kept my gloves on all day. But it was comfortable for hiking. The big surprise of this section was how hilly it was. The rest of Newaygo County has been gently rolling. Today, I got quite a good workout!

Again, there were several kinds of wetlands. This is an acidic bog- full of leatherleaf and sphagnum moss. I looked for pitcher plants, but didn't find any. The MI Plant Atlas shows it growing in Newaygo County, so it's probably there somewhere.

This wetland has filled in to the point where it has become a wet meadow. It's filled with grasses, and probably sedges. I didn't have time nor footwear to go swamp-stomping today. Interestingly enough, there is one big shadbush on the opposite shore. In the understory they usually have multiple stems and remain small. But if they have sun and little competition, they can become nicely shaped trees. And, I might add, they produce luscious fruits. However, it's pretty hard to beat the birds to them.

Note the top of a tree to the left of the shadbush is getting red. Probably a red maple. And a smaller tree to the right is turning orange. I am guessing another shadbush.

The third wetland is, I suspect, also acidic. However, it does have permanent open water in the middle. It even shows on maps although it has no name. The geese have made this one their home. It was nice to see something moving around. The sudden cooldown made all the other critters hunker down.

This section also has a small but nice stream, Mena Creek. Appropriately sized trail bridge over it.

Got some other pix, but I'll save those- maybe tomorrow. I did see a red-shouldered hawk. Got a really good look at it, but had no chance to get the camera turned on in time to get a picture.

North Country Trail, Newaygo County, MI, 6 Mile Rd to 3 Mile Rd and back, 10.5 miles

North Country Trail Miles to date in 2021 is 200.

In other news: I have a meeting tonight. That is all.

See 10 More Newaygo County Miles

Five Miles with Cathy

 

I was hoping Cathy might be free to do a fast road walk this afternoon, and she was! This was great, because it makes the pavement miles seem to go much faster. You aren't thinking about your feet when you are visiting.



And I got to see some miles I don't walk as often because we went out from her house instead of mine.

I've showed you wild clematis seeds (Old Man's Beard) before, but not for a long time, so I guess you won't be tired of it.



Next mile had a couple of handsome horses.



The geese were moving and honking overhead. Not sure if these are some late migrators or just a local bunch that stays.



We didn't start walking till 4 pm, so it was getting on toward dark when we finished. I like the sun on the trees.



Same time as yesterday- 90 min for 5 miles, which is 18 minutes a mile. Not bad. It's a real treat to have these relatively mild days in December. I'm happy to get limbered up. Too much sitting this month.

In other news: I wrote in the morning and did more formatting in the afternoon. Went to the grocery store after we walked. Hopefully that is that last shopping before Christmas. You may remember that we pretty much celebrated at Thanksgiving when Steve was home. However, we got stuff for a nice meal on Wednesday, and have some activities tomorrow night. All will be calm, and that is FINE with me.

See Singin' Between the Rains

Seneca Park Zoo - Birds

 
More snow and cold here. We did go out for an appointment for Irene and a few errands, but I think you should see more zoo pictures. I believe all these birds were new to me, except the Snow Geese at the end. Also, they are all from Africa, except the geese.

The first two are pretty awesome. Who knew there were starlings so gorgeous? This is the Golden-Breasted Starling. Take a look at his shoulder. The back is that shade of purple.



And here is the Superb Starling. Like our starlings it has a lot of vocalizations. Keep in mind that these pictures are all through glass and mesh, so they aren't too crisp.



Next up, we have a wading bird, the Cape Thick-Knee. I think you can see how it got that name.



Here's a Buffalo Weaver. Weavers get their name because of the elaborate nests they build.



These are White-Faced Whistling Ducks. I know, you can't see their faces very well. But what I love are the feathers on the side



And, just as we were getting ready to leave, I found they have a pair of Snow Geese in a pond near the gate. I love watching them fly over in the wild, and I think I can identify them, because they sound so different from the Canada Geese. I didn't realize they have that black "lip." So pretty!



I finished a fairly long chapter today! Now I'm only about two days behind on the writing schedule I need to keep.

	See Mammals
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In Loretta's World

 
I started the day slowly with some computer tasks, but Loretta had already gone to church to help with a yard sale. I awoke to rain, but got to enjoy her views from the deck.



This waterfall feeds the pond in front of her place. She lives at Renewed Spirits Ranch.



And the family of geese is growing nicely.



I went over to help with the cleanup from the yard sale and after that was done and we had some lunch, it was pretty much time to head out for supper! That's because we had to collect a group of people, and then we drove a ways to get to this place. Here are Marleen, Loretta, Randy and Annette.




You'll have a chuckle. For a week, I've been bringing you pictures of sandstone caves and rocks in recreational areas and natural settings.

Tonight I bring you Rattlesnake Saloon, a sandstone cave that's been made into a restaurant!



There was a country singer who was pretty good, and his drummer was eleven years old. That was pretty amazing. A bunch of kids came up and danced. One of them was about four, and he was good enough that he gave us all a great show.

Loretta always finds ways to show me a good time!

	See Renewed Spirits Ranch
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