Friday March 11, 2016

Yesterday I went for a hike through the Shorewood Nature Preserve. We're about 3 weeks into the Spring migration but I still haven't seen a great deal. Certainly robins and gulls but not much beyond that.

Flowers starting to bloom

I did see quite a few chickadees and some red squirrels.

The most exciting event was a fly-over by two Sandhill Cranes. I wasn't able to focus and get a good photo, but it was still really neat.

Schlitz Audubon Hike

On December 6th I went for a hike at the Schlitz Audubon Center and took a few pictures.

Lake Michigan

Moss-covered dam

Wild Turkeys

Bee Hive

Female Downy Woodpecker

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

Just a quick walk this morning with Mom. It was nice to chat. Saw a Mallard, a House Finch and an American Raven getting dive-bombed by it's fellows.

Catching Up...

I haven't been very good about updating the past few days, but I have still been going out for hikes so I do have photos. Two days ago I finally took a hike along the river. It was cold and there wasn't much out but I did see some neat tracks.

Racoon

The next day I went for a really long hike from Big Bay Park all the way over to Atwater. At Big Bay I saw some Hairy Woodpeckers as well as another Red-bellied.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Flying away

Hairy Woodpeckers

At Atwater I saw a whole bunch of female Red-winged Blackbirds. I wasn't aware the females looked so different, and I was actually kind of surprised I'd never seen them before.

Besides the blackbirds I also saw a Cardinal, which I caught in flight, more mergansers and a few song sparrows.

That was about it, I'll try to be better about daily updates from now on.

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

Didn't get to the river today, instead I went back to the lake. The most interesting thing I saw today was probably a pair of Cardinals doing some sort of courtship dance.

That's really what I love about this time of year, the chance to see some behaviors that you usually wouldn't. Down at the beach I also saw an American goldfinch, which was another colorful surprise.

Besides the finch there was a small group of Buffelhead ducks and one Mallard diving around the end of the northern pier. I'm glad the Mallard was there because he really illustrated for me just how tiny these Buffelheads are.

Buffelhead Ducks

Buffelhead Ducks

Male Mallard

The nature preserve was a bit quieter, mostly gulls and a couple Mergansers. I also saw some odd little nest I hadn't noticed before. I'm unsure what built it, and it looks like it isn't currently being used.

On the way home I saw another House Finch and was able to get some photos, so that was a nice follow-up to yesterday.

I know I keep saying it, but I really want to stop going to the lake shore. I see new things each day, but I could really use a change of scenery.