Author: turndoozie

We have been
on the road. This past weekend we were in Oak park, Illinois for the Chicago area
Masters Water Polo Tournament. In addition to a tournament it was a referee
training session. So every referee had an understudy. Whites and whistles in
stereo.

Just try to get away with something.

Molly with the ball. As she says, water polo is not a flattering sport.

Molly, under pressure but she gets it off.

The
tournament was held at Fenwick High School, home to perennial Illinois swimming
and water polo championship teams. They are a Catholic private school that can actively
recruit athletes. Their mascot is the Friar which I’m having some difficulty
seeing as a rallying cry. Let’s go Fighting Friars, hit ‘em hard. Molly’s senior
year Okemos beat Fenwick in a tournament, the only loss Fenwick had that year.
Next tournament Fenwick was gunning for us and Okemos suffered their only loss for
the year.

Oak Park is
a pretty interesting place. At one time, Oak Park was a community surrounded by
farms but it has been pretty much swallowed up by the Chicago metropolitan area.
It has some interesting buildings and architecture from the turn of the last
century. Hemmingway was born in Oak Park and Frank Lloyd Wright had his studio
there. In 1905 the Oak Park Unitarian Church burned down and Frank, a congregation
member, designed the new one. At the time, Unity Temple was pretty hot stuff,
but I think it has kind of a forbidding appearance. Something like a Mason
Temple or a prison. The inside, however, is supposed to be impressive. Drainage
was never one of Frank’s strong points and he really seemed to like flat roofs.
Like a number of his structures, this one seems to need a good bit of maintenance
and upkeep. We couldn’t go inside because it was closed for rehabbing.

Unity Temple.

After the
tournament, we headed to the Great White North. We’ve been thinking about
Marquette as a retirement home and wanted to spend some winter time here. So we
have been checking out neighborhoods, birding, hanging out with our friend
Joanna, and just enjoying the outdoors. While wearing a lot of heavy clothes. You
can tell you’re in the UP when you have to use snow shoes to get to the
outhouse.

That is the outhouse in the background. The path was trampled by snowshoes, not dug out. (Joanna Mitchell photo)

Birding in the McCormick Wilderness. The gray beard hides the frost encasing it.

Joanna, modelling appropriate winter attire.  

Tree full of evening
grosbeaks.

No lifeguard
on duty, but there were some guys fishing from kayaks off the beach. 

Lake Superior ice shelf at Presque Isle Park.

Meet Sparky, the newest member of Clan Schools.

Sparky, our female bearded dragon. (Lindsay Hall picture)

We had some play time this weekend. We just found out about
some cooperative long-eared owls up at Maple Rive State Game Area so we did a
little trip up there Saturday morning. With the help of  someone that already had the owls staked out
we got nice views of them. The pictures are not too good since they like to
roost back in the pines behind all the branches. We drove the area and got some
other good species like harriers and rough-legged hawks too. Our 2017 species
counts now stand at 79 for me and 73 for Lise.

Long-eared owl. These are right handsome birds.

After our little birding adventure we drove down to Ann
Arbor for a water polo tournament. Yet another season for us to live
vicariously through our daughter has begun. Molly came down with bronchitis so
she only played in the first game on Saturday. I went back down Sunday to take
more pictures of the team. Where else am I going to be able to take 500
pictures at a sitting? This is one instance where I am really glad I’m not
shooting film anymore. Good thing there is a delete key.

Molly doing what she loves to do.

Hope
everyone had a happy Grundsautag. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so it’s
another six weeks of winter. Phil has been getting a little soft as of late.
Instead of living in a burrow and coming out to check the weather, he now lives
in the Punxsutawney library and is taken up to Gobbler’s Knob for the shadow
test. Michigan’s lame upstart version of Phil, Woody the Woodchuck, saw her
shadow too, validating Phil’s prediction. Given the uncertainties in long range
weather prediction this is likely as good a prediction as any.

Lise had her
annual Groundhog’s Day party last Sunday. Social event of the year. Around 30
people showed up for eating and socializing.

The past week
or so we haven’t gotten in much birding, photography, or any other outdoor. Partially
our daily routines have been keeping us tied down a bit. The weather has been a
larger factor though. Lately the weather just hasn’t been very conducive for
outdoor fun. Winters here can be described in a couple of words; cold and gray.
Cold weather is quite tolerable under the right circumstances. Like, if we had
enough snow for outdoor sports. Here, we get just enough snow and ice to make
driving miserable. The gray would be a lot more tolerable if we had some
scenery to go with it. We have corn fields and subdivisions with very little
public land. So, when the sun does come out it makes for a celebration. Unless
it means the groundhog sees his shadow and we have another six weeks of blah.

Lake Lansing North on a rare sunny day. The trail was mostly ice.

Lake Lansing North on a rare sunny day.

Well the
idiot is now president. I’m not terribly anti-Republican. I can think of a
couple Republicans that I would seriously consider voting for as president.  But I am anti-Trump. Hard to believe that
almost 63,000,000 people voted for that egotistical narcissist. Scary, and it
doesn’t say a lot for the intelligence of the American electorate. Lise went to
the anti-Trump Women’s rally here in Lansing. Somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000
people showed up. I’m sure that in Trump’s narcissistic fantasy world of
alternative facts, otherwise known as lies, the number was just eight or nine
nasty women.  

Women’s anti-Trump march, Lansing MI.

We have
settled into something of a routine since getting back from our Christmas trip.
Lise has been busy with her business. I’ve been putting in a lot of time working
on the garage and basement so I can do some woodworking in the garage. I could
make a shop without too much ado but, Lise has reminded me that the garage was
designed to park our cars inside it. Given that paradigm, I’ve started beating
back the insidious spread of stuff slowly filling the garage and basement. I’m think
the stuff has been reproducing on its own. Or the neighbors have been throwing in
something new whenever we leave the garage door open. Stuff has been slowly growing
inward from the walls for the 16 years we’ve been here.  It’s a bit of a Gordian Knot to make some
space, but I am seeing some progress. I should be able to do more woodworking
within a week or so. 

Things haven’t
been all work though. We both have regular workout routines and we walk a
friend’s dogs on a regular basis. We have been getting out some for short hikes
or birding too. Mostly stuff at local parks. We chased a Townsend’s solitaire
at Island Lake State Recreation Area, about an hour from here. The Townsend’s
is a far Western bird but they show up sporadically in Michigan during the
winter. This one was in an area was once mined for gravel and then reclaimed as
an addition to Island Rec Area. It was a mishmash of gravel piles, ponds,
two-track roads, and paths, but we managed to find the bird. A drab gray bird
on a drab gray Michigan winter day. But, a good Michigan bird and at least we weren’t sitting around the house. I’m now at 72 bird species for the year and
Lise is at 66. Still no dragonflies yet.

Townsend’s solitaire. A small, drab, gray bird on a drab, gray Michigan winter day.

Things have been slow here at the ranch. We are mostly
getting back into routines after the Delaware trip. Lise is doing her work and
I am working through the list of things that have been put off for a couple
years.

In the not pleasant category, within a 24-hour time span we
found out that two friends both have lung cancer. Both are in our age bracket
and neither are smokers. Both had a cancer that started elsewhere and
metastasized to their lungs. I have some aches and pains but this is different
by a couple orders of magnitude.

So this has redefined our social life a bit. I’ve picked up
the walking of three golden retrievers. Which is one way to get in your cardio
workout. For a number of years most of my cardio workouts have been on machines
in the gym. These dogs have changed that. One of them is quite happy running at
a full tilt boogie for the mile loop around our neighborhood. Stopping only to
make a quick fecal deposit in someone’s yard. So I’m running full bore for a
mile alongside this mongrel while carrying a plastic bag of dog dookie. Not
quite what I had in mind for retirement but, you do what ya gotta do.

We have gotten a few new bird species since the Delaware trip,
plus added some species to our Michigan list for the year. I have 67 total species
for the year and Lise has 61. We both have 19 species here in Michigan. No
dragonfly species yet.

We are not crazy bird listers. There are some in the birding
community that are kind of nuts about listing. Following is a request from a
statewide listserve for personal lists in the following categories. I’m pretty
sure there are some birders that do in fact maintain lists in these categories. For
reference, a tick means you have seen the species in the particular local. A Big “defined time span” is where you are trying to see as many species as possible, within the
defined time span, within some geographic boundary. BIGBY is a green big year
where you don’t use fossil fuels for your Big “time span“

list.

County Life Lists (PLEASE SEND COUNTIES IN ALPHABETIC ORDER!!)

Average Birds Per County

County Life Lists (PLEASE SEND COUNTIES IN ALPHABETIC ORDER!!)
Average Birds Per County
Total County Ticks
Annual County Ticks
Counties with 300 Species
Counties with 250 Species
Counties with 200 Species
Counties with 150 Species
Counties with 100 Species
Site Life Lists:
 Townships
 Municipalities
 Other Sites
Site Big Year
County Big Year
County Big Day by Month
Regional Lists
 Upper Peninsula Life
 Upper Peninsula Total Ticks
 Keweenaw Peninsula Life
 Lower Peninsula Life
 Northern Lower Total Ticks
 Southern Lower Total Ticks
 Metro Detroit Life
State Lists
 State Life List
 Self Found State List
 State List by Month
 State Big Year
 State Big Month
 State Big Day by Month
Green Lists
 Green State Life List
 State BIGBY
 County BIGBY
 Green County Life List
 County BIGBY on Foot
 County Green Big Day
 Total Green County Ticks

A whole new year, with a clean slate.

We finished 2016 with Lise at 331 bird species and me at
329. Helped in no small way by the 128 species we had between us in Costa Rica.
With no exotic trips planned for 2017 we will need to ramp up our lower 48
birding to get anywhere close to these numbers.

We started this year by doing the Prime Hook National
Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count. As part of the count, I joined 15 other
birders on a little boat that was something of a cross between the S.S. Minnow
and the African Queen. We went around the breakwaters and ice breaks at Cape
Henlopen for a couple hour tour. Unlike the Minnow, our trip didn’t last for 98
episodes. We had good close views of some bird species that are
typically far away. We also had harbor seals. I’ve been coming to this area for
over 30 years and didn’t know there were seals here. I think they are only in the winter, and far out on the breakwaters. Now our pinniped species list stands at one for the year. Can’t wait to see how Lake Lansing will increase that list.

Returning safely. Sixteen of us, all packed into the aft part of the boat.

Great looks at a glaucous gull (the white one). Usually we are looking at a flying bird, at a long distance, in freezing weather.

Couple of harbor seals.

Once the boat trip was over, Lise and I hit a couple other
places to build up our 2017 list. We saw the caracara again, this time at a
little close range. In a good start to the year I finished the day with 55 bird
species and Lise has 51. No dragonflies yet.

Crested caracara. Trash bird in Costa Rica, pretty rare in Delaware.

Last day of the year. We’re in Delaware for the holidays. Thus,
the Delaware centric Night Before Christmas post. Great food, good birding, Dogfish
Head brew pub, and the ocean. Things can’t get much better than that. But wait,
yes, they can. Ocean vistas, impressive gales, tides and waves, sunrises and
sunsets. Did I mention the ocean?

Cape Henlopen

Cape Henlopen 

Cape Henlopen

Sunrise, Indian River inlet

Sunset, Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Molly came with us but flew back on Wednesday. We had to
take her to the Baltimore airport so we made a day out of it and hit the
National Aquarium at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It cost $40 per person but was
worth every penny. It’s just plain impressive. Way beyond just fish in
aquariums. One display was jellyfishes. I could just about watch them all day
long.

Fish

Jellyfish

Jellyfish 

Jellyfish 

Jellyfish

We’ve been getting out and trying to up our yearly bird
species list a bit. Got some species like snow geese, gannet, brant, western sandpiper,
and purple sandpiper that range from difficult to almost impossible to get in
Michigan. Late in the game we found out about two species, ash-throated
flycatcher and created caracara that are rare to this area but have been sighted
recently. So today we went chasing and got them both. Only to find out when we
updated our list that we had seen crested caracara in Costa Rica last January. Lise
was even thinking about how common they were in Costa Rica while we were
driving all over the place looking for it. We were in good company though. We
pulled into one place that had cars with license plates from Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and Ontario.

Snow geese. At one point I had thousands of them flying around me.

Western sandpiper

Ash-throated flycatcher.

Caracara groupies.

The “We already had one for the year caracara”.

Season’s greetings greetings from Delaware.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the place
Not a creature was stirring, such is the case
Stockings are filled, all stuffed full with care
‘cause that’s how it’s done, here in Delaware
The ladies were nestled, snug in their beds
While visions of scrapple danced in their heads

Sitting there thinking, I finished my nightcap
Was settling my brain for a long winter’s nap
When deep in my mind there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

A voice was calling, it demanded to know
What did you do this year, where did you go?
My brain was so cloudy, nary a spark nor flash
Do something and quick, but don’t be too rash
When what to my wandering eyes should appear,
But the whole year laid out for me, ever so clear

Costa Rica was first, I clearly could see
Lifers we tallied, for Stefan, and we
Our guide was named Melvin, he was lively and quick
We knew in a moment, we made the right pick

More rapid than eagles the species they came,
Melvin whistled and shouted and called them by name
Now guans, now toucans, now highland tinamou
A trogan, a quetzal, and a bananaquit too
On top of the porch, on top of the wall
Now look at them, look at them, look at them all

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
My visions were swirling, up to the sky
I tried to focus, and do the year in review
I saw them all twirling, now get them in queue!

With Barb we went North, winter birding the Soo
We three and Ellen, met Joanna there, too
Snowy owls were the best, always a treat
Almost locked in the dump, to finish the week

To the U.P. for bats, in the Spring season,
Detected too few, a disease is the reason
Quick trip to Delaware, early in the summer
Too late for migration, bit of a bummer.
Molly did Oklahoma, so sunny and hot
An internship, where she learned a lot

We went with Joanna, Limberlost up in Canada
Hiking, and paddling, some new Odanata
Visited Lynn, upstate Pennsylvania,
Place would be great, except for Trumpmania
Appalachian Trail, with my brother Rich
Ninety miles and a hundred, the rocks were a bitch

My mind was still struggling, coming to grips,
What else happened, it wasn’t just trips
Retired in June, they gave me a chair
Took up the bagpipes, Lise’s nightmare

We almost lost Lindsay, her kidneys had failed
She hung on and fought it, she finally prevailed
She had a tough go, it was breaking our hearts
But she got a transplant, her Dad had spare parts
Speaking of miracles, the Cubs won the Series,
They took it in seven, defying the theories

The year has been mixed, some things not so good
Our lizard passed on, but we did what we could

We elected an idiot, he’s all bluster and blow,
and taken our country to a very new low.
This Country’s on track for a historic collision,
‘cause he’s sunk us as low as the Dred Scot decision

To sum it all up, we did the year right
we did what we could, and fought the good fight
The new year is coming, a new ray of light
So, happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.  

Classes are over, grades are posted, and I can turn my
attention to others things. I did three courses this past semester, two for
Lansing Community College and one for MSU. The MSU class, in particular, kept
me jumping. At least I wasn’t trying to work a regular job too. That would have
killed me.

Yesterday, Lise and I helped Barb with her area of the East
Lansing Christmas Bird Count. Barb doesn’t have what you would call a prime
territory. We do mostly driving. Not a small bit of it in trailer parks, looking
for bird feeders. We also check out the Granger Landfill. I love the smell of
methane in the morning.

We’ve helped Barb in this count area for a number of years
and are starting to appreciate its nuances. Like the trailer that always has a blow-up
Harley Santa on it, the inability to safely pull over when car birding, and the
kidney wrenching lack of public bathrooms. This year we had the additional
benefits of six inches of snow the night before, and light freezing mist as we
were finishing. What better way to spend a Saturday?

Santa needs a little air to inflate his Harley.

Prior to Christmas Bird Counts there was an American
tradition where teams of hunters tried to kill as many things as possible on
Christmas Day. The team with the largest carcass pile won the contest. About as
intelligent as voting for Trump because you didn’t think he really had a
serious chance of winning. In 1900 ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed doing a
bird count instead of trying to blast everything living thing out of the sky.
The idea caught hold and now there are over 2,000 individual counts. Mostly in
in the U.S. and Canada, but also in other countries too. National Audubon’s
Christmas Bird Count represents the largest and longest running citizen science
effort in the world. There are counts scheduled while we’re in Delaware for the
holidays so I’m sure we’ll do at least one of them.

We bitch about Barb’s crummy area, but there is some logic
to it. The area wasn’t always trailer
parks. Surveying the same area over time allows for the examination of change
over time. Sometimes science isn’t pretty. For bragging rights, this year we
got the only rough-legged hawks, ruddy ducks, and ring-necked ducks on the East
Lansing count. You gotta get your pleasures where you can. We didn’t go to the
final tally, but I’m sure the other teams were so jealous.

This morning we experienced a winter rarity here in
South-Central Michigan. Fairly fresh snow and clear sunny skies. We hopped on
our skis for our first cross-country skiing this winter. Only did a couple
miles, but it was a great way to start the day.

Skiing at Harris Nature Center