Friday, February 19, 2016

In Search Of.....Something


I'm always thinking of what my next blog focus will be.  I'd been chasing a couple bald eagles off M-22 and two barred owls that sing to each other in the trees outside my porch some evenings.  I'd not been successful, however, with photographing either of these pairs.  I decided to follow the shoreline and see what other types of birds or waterfowl I might see.



Just past the Bight, I'd seen graceful swans and honking geese in past years, but on this day, I only saw miniature ice formations dotting the shoreline.



Inside the village, I visited Northport Creek, where I'd often seen flocks of ducks holed up for the winter.  But not today.



Driving through the marina, I had to stop at one of my favorite photography subjects, the red-topped gazebo.  Ducks often inhabit the shoreline, but all I saw was slushy ice.  There was some sunshine, however, and a hint of blue skies.



The waterfall still flowed at the Mill Pond, which was iced over and without waterfowl.



I decided to head towards Mougey Lake outside Omena, as I'd seen two swans there in the fall.  I feared it would be frozen over because of the cold spell we'd been having and it was.  It was still a pretty scene with the snow cover untouched by animal or human tracks.



Ahead of me, Omena Bay sparkled in the meager sunshine and tiny ice mountains lined the shoreline, but no swans there either.  



I decided to cross the peninsula to the one last place I'd seen waterfowl in the winter on Lake Michigan.  As I rounded the bend after Three Silo Farm, I gasped at the beauty of the view.  I've seen it a hundred times and have photographed it nearly as many.  The scene always grabs me.  Orchards, willow trees, Big Blue, the Manitou, the sky....all spread out before me.



About the only place to get to the shoreline is at Gill's Pier Beach, since both Christmas Cove and Peterson Park are closed off for the winter.  But the Gill's Pier Beach lacked birds too.  I didn't even see seagulls!  While I didn't see the waterfowl I'd hoped to photograph, I was reminded of how the Land and Water interact with each other to create this beautiful place we call Leelanau.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for reminding me of what I love about this place, Karen! With or without views of waterfowl, wherever we look, we are graced with views of our beautiful and peaceful Leelanau landscape.

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  2. Thanks, Jan, and, yes, we live in a really special place. Lucky us!

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  3. I love the variety of scenes you have chosen. Thank you!

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  4. Thanks, Jackie. I look forward to hearing how you finally were able to log in on your new computer.

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