WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

I did a recap in January 2022 of my favorite photos from the previous year and decided an annual recap would be a fun feature going forward. Besides my 2022 “favorites and fabulous finds” I’m adding the calendar page idea which I stole from fellow Michigander and blogger Ruth, i.e. sharing a different calendar page with an inspirational quotation for every month of blogging.

Above is my new calendar’s January 2023 page. The locale for this header image is Slovenia.

In addition to my favorite 2022 photos, that I’ll insert in a slideshow at the end of this post, I also made some new and fabulous finds, none that were on my perpetual Birdie Bucket List, so that was exciting. You might be surprised to know that in all the miles hiked at various woodsy venues, I had NEVER seen a chipmunk. You haven’t met him/her yet since that story has not unfolded in this forum; I just sorted through those photos over the last holiday weekend.

Ta da! My first “Chippie” is below:

But first … in 2022, the bird was the word!

Believe it or not, every Wordless Wednesday post from August 10th until December 31st, featured a bird, some of them which I spun into fun posts with quirky titles/headlines. I still have a few oddball photos to use.

My 2022 Birdie Bucket List runneth over!

This was last year’s list of hoped-for bird sightings as 2021 came to a close. As the year progressed, I began ticking off several birds on the List:

Canvasback Duck.

I finally saw a Canvasback Duck after years of patiently standing near the water’s edge at the Dingell Park pavilion. On February 27th, I strolled along that park’s boardwalk at the Detroit River as far as I could go, even treading onto private property to view a large raft of these copper-headed beauties. I was happy for that experience, plus some photos, BUT, the very next day I got an up-close view of a Canvasback which spent several days hanging out with the resident Mallards at Council Point Park. Patience is a virtue sometimes.

Bald Eagle.

Likewise, every February and March, I would position myself at that same Dingell Park pavilion, alongside photographers with especially long lenses, as we collectively hoped for photos of the many Bald Eagles that visit nearby uninhabited Mud Island during these two months. The eagles are savvy as they know steam from U.S. Steel, a nearby industrial plant, keeps that portion of the Detroit River from freezing. Thus the eagles will show up like clockwork, scanning for fish, then dragging their find onto an ice floe to devour it. Sadly, that plant has closed down, so likely the eagle sightings will be hit or miss going forward. So, after several years of coming home with brown dots in the trees, I finally had some success and was lucky to fulfill another Birdie Bucket List item, albeit more of a silhouette due to the gray day.

Mute Swans with Cygnets.

After countless trips to Dingell Park hoping to see a Mama Mute Swan with her cygnets nestled in her back feathers, I had to settle for a swan family outing instead. The long-coveted sighting of Mute Swan(s) with cygnets finally happened during a long walk over Memorial Day weekend at Lake Erie Metropark. The family was clear across the marsh, so my shots from the overlook were not stellar, but I crossed that item off the List.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Finally, even with two hummingbird feeders at the house, all I ever got was a shadowy image of Hope, the hummingbird who visits my feeders. This shot, taken at the Oakwoods Metropark at the Nature Center was closer than I’ve ever gotten and I happily ticked “Hummingbird” off my wish list.

I also saw and photographed a Baltimore Oriole, another coveted bird, but it was in the middle of the forest, and not a very good shot.

Brand-new bird discoveries in 2022.

For me, 2022 was a year of feathered friends that I was lucky to encounter and photograph and below are some of those lucky finds.

In my 1,284 miles walked last year, definitely my most-exciting meet-up was with the Sandhill Cranes on June 18th. There I was, exploring a new (to me) grassy cut at Lake Erie Metropark, clicking away happily as a Killdeer crossed my path …

… when I heard some very loud squawking noises overhead. My head swiveled upward and soon thereafter I watched three large birds descend onto the grassy field. I recognized them immediately as Sandhill Cranes, birds I’ve only seen in photos, never up close and personal. They weren’t bothered by my presence in the least, so I took a slew of shots and blogged about them in two posts.

Pied-billed Grebe.

First, I really don’t consider myself a birder, although I have always enjoyed watching and learning about birds and we had many pet birds over the years. I do follow the Detroit Audubon Society’s local adventures on social media and maybe someday I’ll join them. But for now, I glean a lot of info about birds from the photos they post of their year-round trips. So, on July 3rd, standing on the wooden overlook at Lake Erie Metropark, I recognized a Pied-billed Grebe. In between its repeated dives, I was able to get a few shots in, like this one below.

Osprey.

I’d heard and read about the nesting pair of Osprey that live on the fringes of Lake Erie Metropark, yet never glimpsed them. Luckily, I recognized an Osprey overhead during the same trek where I saw the Pied-billed Grebe. After I identified the Osprey, I went to see their nest at the Brownstown Fire Station, just down the road. In the searing hot sun at mid-day I witnessed some serious home renovation with the Osprey’s repeated excursions for new sticks and nesting materials. This was my favorite shot from that day.

Lavender Guinea Fowl.

On September 17th, at the end of a long day of walking, I stopped at Heritage Park. Had I not read fellow blogger Rebecca’s post about Guinea Fowl, I would have had no idea what these plump, rather odd-looking birds were. These Lavender Guinea Fowl were escapees from the Petting Farm at this venue. I helped herd them toward their home and got a few photos of these fast-moving fowl – this shows them scurrying along.

Northern Flicker.

Autumn brought a few more bird finds, which I forgot about until wading through some of my 2022 photos last weekend.

I finally identified an odd bird call I heard in the still of the morning while walking at Council Point Park. The loud call was that of a Northern Flicker, a type of woodpecker and in 2022 I finally caught up with one. Too bad this male (identified by the red, heart-shaped spot on the back of its head) would not pose and instead gave me the cold shoulder.

Belted Kingfisher.

Then, while meandering along the Rouge Gateway Trail, home to several types of birds (including a Wood Duck which I hope to one day see and I have put it on my 2023 Birdie Bucket List), I spied a Belted Kingfisher. I’m not sure if it is a male or female as I can’t see its chest colors. This bird perched on a branch across from the bridge where I stood. Yes, if you squint just right you can see it, but I had to include this Kingfisher with my batch of new bird finds in 2022.

A ducky day for sure!

Then, with just a couple of weeks before year-end, I made my last new bird find of 2022 and I’ve not written about it until now.

That discovery began the evening of Saturday, December 10th when I was perusing my Facebook feed which is flooded with posts by the parks and nature venues which I frequent. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (“DRIWF”) in Trenton had a Facebook post about a unique duck visitor to the pond.

The car needed a run and even though stubborn clouds and gray skies persisted, after I walked at Council Point Park, I headed out to the Refuge. The Park ranger that posted about this unique duck wrote “pond” but I assumed (correctly) it was the larger body of water known as the Monguagon Delta.

As I neared the long boardwalk that crosses the Delta, I didn’t have to wonder if this was the spot for viewing this duck as two photographers with lenses as long as their arm were sitting cross-legged on the boardwalk, cameras trained on the duck which was splish-splashing and diving, seemingly enjoying being the solo waterfowl in the Delta. I joined the two photographers and soon we were trading bird sighting stories and tips, a few which I tucked away, like the DRIWF’s resident Kestrel. I’ll pursue that bird in 2023.

I admit it was a tad disappointing to learn this was a Juvenile Male Long-Tailed Duck, so it did not yet have that extra-long tail feather as you see in this photo from the “All About Birds” website.

But forget about that long tail feather, because this young duck had some unique plumage; just check out the head with its black cheeks!

I last visited the DRIWF on October 10th but just two months later, on December 11th, I was astounded to see how much the water level had dropped since then. The Delta was so shallow I could see the sandy Delta bottom, plus many schools of minnows scurrying about. With no Herons or Egrets to gobble down those tiny fish, this duck dived over and over again to feast on the minnows, much to the delight of the trio of humans who watched, while merrily clicking away.

How lucky we were not out Christmas shopping, but landed here instead and enjoying Nature’s gifts.

After about an hour’s time, we parted and headed to our respective cars. I learned later in the comments section of the original DRIWF post, that this duck is not uncommon to our state, just not usually found in SE Michigan. That’s fine – it was a lucky find for me.

My 2023 Birdie Bucket List is considerably shorter!

Now, if you’re still here ….

These were my favorite shots of 2022, all which I have blogged about, so if you’ve been following this blog in 2022, you’ve already seen them. I really enjoyed watching Mama Goose at Heritage Park, first while sitting on the nest in early April to seeing her examining her eggs, then seeing her goslings toddling around after her.

With all that is going on in the world these days, I treasure my alone time on each and every walk, especially when I have unexpected nature encounters.