Friday, April 4, 2014
Took some time in the rain and fog to visit Maybury State Park in Northville.
Because I was wearing binoculars (in the end not a smart choice for watching nature in a dense fog) a couple of people stopped to report sightings of Pileated Woodpeckers in the wooded valley to the east of the paved trail.
Sure enough, a quarter mile after the last woman reported hearing woodpeckers, spotted the distinct large bodied bird with a teradactl-like head against the mist.
The bird moved from one dead trunk to another, but didn't make an effort to chip at the wood, though it appeared to carefully dodge behind the trunk away from my movement path until I waited still and silently until it sidled back into sight.
Not 20 feet from the original, I spotted another closer to the ground.
Both engaged in rather odd behavior, landing on bushes less than 3-feet tall, possibly because the mist made them feel more secure from predators.
My guess is I found a mating pair of woodpeckers, possibly seeking out a homestead for a new family.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
April 2, 2014
Winter has broken.
Took a trip to Lake Erie Marsh Metropark near Gibraltar to see what might be migrating through.
Spotted a cormorant skimming the lake shore side, several gulls resting on the water, and some Canada Geese flying the north south route along the shore.
Went to the site where most birders camp near the boat launch to see if there was any evidence of the raptor migration along the shoreline.
Nothing moving in the air, but there was a pattern atop a far tree between the nature center and boat launch that rated a look. Speculated it was a resting hawk, except it appeared to have a white breast and head.
Walking along the paths west of the nature center, I found an overlook back into the marsh.
Back behind a screen of branches, I spotted an Osprey sitting at the top of the tree surveying the marsh.
Winter has broken.
Took a trip to Lake Erie Marsh Metropark near Gibraltar to see what might be migrating through.
Spotted a cormorant skimming the lake shore side, several gulls resting on the water, and some Canada Geese flying the north south route along the shore.
Went to the site where most birders camp near the boat launch to see if there was any evidence of the raptor migration along the shoreline.
Nothing moving in the air, but there was a pattern atop a far tree between the nature center and boat launch that rated a look. Speculated it was a resting hawk, except it appeared to have a white breast and head.
Walking along the paths west of the nature center, I found an overlook back into the marsh.
Back behind a screen of branches, I spotted an Osprey sitting at the top of the tree surveying the marsh.
Crosswinds Marsh is shrinking.
I'm used to winter water levels on dammed ponds. Those who operate dams lower the water levels in a containment area to sudden inflows of precipitation expected during the colder months of the year. It protects the structure from suffering a breach and helps control the water levels in flows downstream from a containment area.
Crosswinds Marsh had all the indications that its water level was lowered when I visited Monday. Reeds abutted mud flats, and the posts on walkways which traverse the ponds showed at least at two foot gap between the dark high water mark and the existing level.
Sometimes normal for a Michigan November 19 on a controlled containment pond, except Crosswinds doesn't have a mechanism for lowering water levels installed in its dam.
It's meant to be a permanent wetland which replaced wetlands consumed by nearby airport runway expansion more than 10 years ago. The rule at that time was every acre of virgin wetland which is filled in for construction purposes had to be replaced with two acres of "new" wetland.
Crosswinds features a horse trail which winds around the outside of the marsh for more than five miles. The trail at the outer reaches is dry because it runs along the dam created to contain the water in the wetland. The outlet is closed with a structure which allows water to flow over the edge to maintain the levels within the confines of the outer dams.
Usually, water trickles over the top into a marl bed which filters out silt and allows relatively clean water to flow toward Lake Erie to the southeast. Monday the top looked like a narrow walkway, water far below the top level.
I'm used to winter water levels on dammed ponds. Those who operate dams lower the water levels in a containment area to sudden inflows of precipitation expected during the colder months of the year. It protects the structure from suffering a breach and helps control the water levels in flows downstream from a containment area.
Crosswinds Marsh had all the indications that its water level was lowered when I visited Monday. Reeds abutted mud flats, and the posts on walkways which traverse the ponds showed at least at two foot gap between the dark high water mark and the existing level.
Sometimes normal for a Michigan November 19 on a controlled containment pond, except Crosswinds doesn't have a mechanism for lowering water levels installed in its dam.
It's meant to be a permanent wetland which replaced wetlands consumed by nearby airport runway expansion more than 10 years ago. The rule at that time was every acre of virgin wetland which is filled in for construction purposes had to be replaced with two acres of "new" wetland.
Crosswinds features a horse trail which winds around the outside of the marsh for more than five miles. The trail at the outer reaches is dry because it runs along the dam created to contain the water in the wetland. The outlet is closed with a structure which allows water to flow over the edge to maintain the levels within the confines of the outer dams.
Usually, water trickles over the top into a marl bed which filters out silt and allows relatively clean water to flow toward Lake Erie to the southeast. Monday the top looked like a narrow walkway, water far below the top level.
April 1, 2014
Spent the late morning and early afternoon at Crosswinds Marsh in Sumpter Township.
I spotted six or eight scooting about over open water amid the melting ice sheets, and another six on the water.
The six on the water looked like three mating couples.
Later, made my way toward the north end of open water and spotted a bald eagle moving behind the branches which normally screen it from view when the foliage arrives later in the spring. It was on the nest surrounded by the waterway and marshland at the north end of the park.
Also found gulls and what is now the permanent Canada Geese flock.
The mute swan pests were gone.
Spent the late morning and early afternoon at Crosswinds Marsh in Sumpter Township.
I spotted six or eight scooting about over open water amid the melting ice sheets, and another six on the water.
The six on the water looked like three mating couples.
Later, made my way toward the north end of open water and spotted a bald eagle moving behind the branches which normally screen it from view when the foliage arrives later in the spring. It was on the nest surrounded by the waterway and marshland at the north end of the park.
Also found gulls and what is now the permanent Canada Geese flock.
The mute swan pests were gone.
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