Steve’s Adventures in Nayanquing, pt. 2

Yesterday I described my early morning adventures in the marshes of Nayanquing Wildlife Refuge.  Today I would like to share a few more photos.

As the sky became lighter, thousands of blackbirds took to flight.  This shot captures a flock as they exploded from a tree.

 

A view of the marsh, with some open water,  in the early morning light.

A robin was picking away at the fruit of a sumac.  She seemed quite content to let me take her picture.

And finally, an adorable downy woodpecker was kind enough to let me approach close enough for this picture.

Well, those are the highlights of my photo safari.  As spring settles in, I hope to capture many more images of the world around me.  I look forward to the flowers blooming, and the trees greening.  Thanks for visiting.

Steve’s Adventures in Nayanquing

Saturday, March27.  Even though it is the weekend, I decided to get up early and try to catch the sunrise.  I load myself with my camera, a tripod, and a thermos of coffee.  I am out the door by 6:15 am, and I head north to Linwood, to the Nayanquing Point Wildlife Area.  By 6:50 I am set up at the top of the observation tower.  The sky is growing lighter, with shades of red and purple developing.

The air is cold, but still.  The only noise is the sound of birds.  Thousands of birds.  I hear ducks, geese, and countless blackbirds.  Occasionally a shape, or several, can be made out against the dark sky.  Gradually, the sun rises higher, and the sky brightens, changing its hue to glorious red.

Slowly the marshland becomes visible.  Birds are moving now.  The blackbirds begin to rise, and settle into the trees.  Ducks quack loudly around me, still hidden in the reeds and the darkness.  Pairs of geese take flight, heading out for their morning feast.  As the sky brightens and the sun rises, I can see them, together, always in pairs.

The sun is risen now.  I leave my perch on the tower, refill my coffee and head down the trail.  I slowly walk along the marsh.  A pair of mallards show their displeasure at being interrupted, and swim away.

I continue my walk, listening to birds everywhere, and seeing very few.  A grove of sumac rise before me, and the trail enters a tunnel formed by their branches.

Through the tunnel I slowly pass, listening.  Occasionally I catch a glimpse of a bird in the trees.  Redwing blackbirds declare their territory, and let me know I am not welcome.  I turn back, re-entering the sumac tunnel, stopping to look closely at the red fruit.

Thank you for sharing the first half of my adventure with you.  There is more to come.  Birds that liked to pose for me, and more views of the wetlands.  Tune in tomorrow for the rest of my story.

Before and After

We had our dear dog Shelby re-upholstered today.  She is a wire haired fox terrier (or foxy terror).  Thought I would post picture of her before and after her trip to the groomer.

Before:

The shaggy, pitiful Shelby

After:

The sleek and sporty Shelby   

A bit of nature

Thank you, my friends, for you patience with me.  I have been very busy with work, and life, and I have not had a lot of free time to take or post pictures.  Well tonight I had time, so I have again hit the archives and found a few shots I like, that I want to share with you.  These are some pictures I took last September, while camping with my family.  There are some morning shots, showing the sun in the mist, and the webs covered with the morning dew.  There are also some other shots that I found interesting.  I hope you like them.  I have a lot more from this trip, so there may just be a part 2 in the future.

 

 

Been Busy

Hey everyone!! No I have not forgotten my pictures. I have been busy with work and life, especially preparing for a presentation I am giving tomorrow. So I have not had much time for playing with pictures. I hope to get some more up in a day or two, so stay tuned.....

Fish Point Wildlife Refuge

Hoping to catch the spring waterfowl migration, Wendy and I paid a visit to the Fish Point Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. Fish point is a protected wetland in Tuscola county Michigan, along the shore of the Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit less than ideal. Actually, the temperature was about 32, wind was blowing off the water, and it was snowing. If you look closely at the pictures below, you may even see the snow falling. But despite this, we saw some birds and other wildlife, and I managed to get a couple of shots.

American Coot

Canada Goose

Redwing Blackbird

Eagle

I recently learned of an eagle nest only a few blocks from my house. Yesterday Wendy and I went you to take a look. The nest was empty, but we found our friend in a tree over the river. Too far away for a really great picture, but I managed to get this on. I will certainly be spending a lot more time back there looking for this fine creature.

Disturbing Food Pictures, Part 2

Here is the promised part 2 of my collection of disturbing food pictures. Bon Appetite!!

Parts is parts. But some parts are best left off the dinner table:


OK. I know that goat cheese comes from goats milk. But this product, I don't even want to think about it. What I don't get is how do you milk the little thing:


The last one. Read the label. No other comments necessary:

Disturbing Food Pictures

As a state food safety inspector I find myself in a lot of food stores. During the course of my inspections over the years I have come across quite a variety of interesting products. And now I share a few of these with you. These were taken with a point and shoot camera, in less than ideal settings, so the quality of some of them are not up to my usual standards.

For example, in the foreign food aisle of our local mega grocery, there is a small section of British products. Now, I know what this product is, and I am sure it is quite good. But did they have to name it that:


Now for a real education, read the ingredients from Potted Meat Product. By the way, beware of any food with "Product" in its name:


Waste not, want not. Be sure to use everything. And I do mean everything:



Thats all for today folks. Tune in tomorrow for more Disturbing Food Pictures!

Happy St. Patricks Day

Just a single picture to commemorate St. Patrick's Day. This is in special honor of a good friend of mine - she knows who she is.

Quack!

I found myself in Frankenmuth Michigan at lunch time, so I parked by the river to enjoy my lunch. Shortly before leaving, a pair of mallards came over for a visit. They did not seem to mind me moving around and taking their pictures.

Spring

No need to hit the archives for this one. This pic is straight from the front yard, taken today. The first crocus of the year. Sure, they may still end up buried in snow before its all said and done, but today they were in the sunshine.

A special thanks to my young apprentice Alex for his help with this shot.

Up Close and Personal

During vacation last year I started to play around with some close up photography. Nothing too fancy or extreme, I just wanted to learn a bit about the process. Here are three shots I took. I am hoping to start working on this subject more, as time allows.

Here is a small blue flower, common in the grass next to the lake:


A close up view of the bark of a birch tree (remember my creepy crawlies from a few weeks ago? The same tree, the same session. Just no bugs in this one!):


This is a close up of the fruiting bodies on some moss. Not as sharp as I would like, but I hope that a little bit (meaning a lot) of practice will help me to improve on that:


Thanks to all of you that visit my humble site to look at my pics. If you like them, let me know (I am always fishing for compliments), and tell your friends about the site. As spring moves into Michigan, and the migration picks up, I am hoping to get a new batch of bird and wildlife shots. Stay Tuned!

For the birds....

Hi there friends. I have been very busy, being taken away from home to attend training for work. That is why I have been falling behind in my posts. I decided to hit the archives tonight, and pulled out a couple of my favorite bird pics. Enjoy!

Point Iroquois Light House

Once again I am away from home, attending more training for work. This time I find myself in Brimley, Michigan. That is a small town in the Michigan's upper peninsula, about 4 miles from absolutely nothing. It is, however, the home of Bay Mills Resort and Casino, which happens to be where I am at. There is one good thing about this trip: about 7 miles north of here is the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.


I drove up there yesterday after checking in to take a few pictures. The lighthouse was closed, of course. However, the caretaker was there, and after chatting for a few minutes he opened the lighthouse and let me explore the tower. It was awesome. Here are a few shots I took, including the view from the tower, and looking up the spiral steps leading to the tower.

Here is another view of the lighthouse:


And another:


These are the steps leading up to the light. This was taken from the very bottom, looking straight up:


The view from the top of the tower. The light is gone now. The land in the distance is Canada:

Bay City State Recreation Area

It was a cold, early morning when I headed out on a photo expedition to the Bay City State Recreation Area. It is only a few minutes from home, but a nice place to go to get away from civilization. I really did not know what to expect in the way of photo opportunities. The spring birds have not migrated in yet, the snow is mostly gone, and is being replaced by mud. But I was pleased to see I managed to get some nice pictures.

Anyone who doubts that I went out at sunrise should take a look at the lone tree next to the Saginaw Bay. The sun was just creeping over the horizon at that point, painting the landscape in orange light.


My walk took me to the lagoon, which is still frozen over. It was very quiet, but the signs of sleeping life could be seen. A muskrat den covered in frost was nestled in the cattails.


Speaking of sleeping wildlife, I happened to glance up at a broken wood duck nesting box, and found that someone else had taken up residence. Although he would not show his face no matter what I did, I am sure this is a raccoon. Sound asleep, he had no intentions of waking up just so I could take his picture.

As I continued to walk around the lagoon, I heard a small flock of swans coming in for a landing. If they were expecting to find any open water, they were sadly mistaken.

One resident of the trees did cooperate, and let me take her picture. This tufted titmouse seemed very happy to let me photograph her.


Finally, I could not help but take this "self portrait" of my shadow against an hollow, burnt out stump.


I took many more pictures, especially of birds. Perhaps I will show those sometime soon. Thanks for visiting, and please leave a comment if you liked my pictures.