FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS

And the really big show is just beginning.  More to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO NEW FINDS

I was traveling the boonies when I came across two new birds for my life list.  The first had a long bill and I immediately thought sandpiper.  Turns out, this American Woodcock is part of the sandpiper family.  I watched it rock its stocky body back and forth as it probed the ground for earthworms.  The other new find was a raptor, a Northern Harrier.  It was mantling prey and watching me with its bright yellow eyes so I didn’t stick around long.  I guess I don’t have to travel to exotic places to see new birds.

 

 

 

 

 

DAFFIES GIVE WAY TO TULIPS

So many colors and varieties!  As a good friend would say:  Oooooooeeeeeeee!!

OLD MISSION SUNSET

When the sun came out Saturday afternoon, my first thought was SUNSET.  So at 8:10 Gracie and I headed to the scenic turnout on Old Mission Peninsula.  Right away, I saw the site was perfect for a spring sunset.  I arrived a half hour early and got the last front row parking spot.  In my side-view mirror, I watched others jockeying for the next-best place.  Even though it was 44 degrees, people were out of their cars watching the sun set across West Bay and the Leelanau Peninsula.  It did not disappoint.

TWO CRANE FAMILIES

My two sandhill crane families have safely returned to their regular spots in Kingsley farm country.  I caught the non-breeding pair drinking from a vernal pool and wondered if this would be the year they’d finally breed.  I found the other pair feasting in a cornfield with their eleven-month-old adolescent tagging along.  It will leave its parents once they begin breeding.  From the looks of the dancing energy going on between the parents, that will be soon.